The Atlanta Braves need to do something to get Drake Baldwin in the lineup every day. He's shown that he's seeing the ball too well to send back to Triple-A to ensure everyday playing time and having had only 90 plate appearances so far when the offense has been a roller coaster is unjustifiable.
There's having a good rookie season or having the potential to be great and then there's Drake Baldwin's rookie year. In those 90 trips to the plate, he's batting .357 with a .983 OPS, five home runs and 15 RBIs. He's walked it off for his team and has had no trouble coming cold off the bench. He has an approach that allows him to bring consistent, high-level results.
A knee-jerk solution would be to trade Sean Murphy. However, it's unrealistic and might not even be a wise move. The 2023 All-Star is under contract through the end of the decade at a price tag of $15 million a year. To get anything substancial in return, the Braves would have to still eat a sizable portion of the contract.
You also have a high-quality option to rotate with Baldwin. They can both play every day potentially by alternating them at a different position and that's only beneficial for the lineup.
Someone has to be removed from the equation. It could be sometime this season or ahead of the next. A prime candidate to be the odd man out might not be popular move, but it has the most logic in the long run. That is to bid farewell with designated hitter Marcell Ozuna.
Ozuna is already 34 years old and a free agent after this season. Since they have Baldwin, trading Ozuna ahead of the deadline wouldn't even be a seller move. They could make a swap that helps them elsewhere - pitching would make the most sense with Ronald Acuña Jr. coming back any time now - and Baldwin slides into the lineup every day after that.
The designated hitter's numbers compared to Baldwin's also reveal that the move could actually help the lineup. Ozuna's numbers are starting to decline. His average is down to .267 and his slugging is down to .467. Add in that he can't be trusted in the outfield anymore - manager Brian Snitker made that clear last season when he rolled the dice with Jorge Soler instead - the Braves would be wise to strike while the iron is still hot on his trade value. There are contenders that could still use his bat.
They can choose to make this move in the offseason, but that delays getting this bat into the lineup more this season.
To address an alrernative that could happen to keep Ozuna the rest of the way. In theory, Baldwin could try another postition, such as shortstop or left field - the latter being the most realistic of the two. That could work in the short term, but Jurickson Profar will be back this season. The Braves aren't going to put his contract on the bench.
Removing Nick Allen's glove from the field is hard to justify, even though Baldwin's bat is undoubtedly better. Advanced stats don't love him, but Allen does get on base at a nice clip (.324 on-base percentage). Cue the Billy Beane quote. He doesn't hit for power and that punishes the advanced stats of players (OPS+ is a major example). He's getting his job done.
It's never fun to end an era, but there's a new one waiting to go into full swing. The Braves just need to be willing to do it sooner than they likely planned on. Baldwin wasn't supposed to be here already, yet here we are. Might as well dive head first into the deep end.
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