Braves Encouraged to Pursue Trade Involving $58 Million Reliever

The Atlanta Braves were back in the loss column Tuesday, falling 4-1 to the Milwaukee Brewers. The Braves will enter the series finale versus the Brewers on Wednesday having lost 15 of their last 19 games.

Sitting 10 games below .500, even if the Braves win one more game than they lose per week from now until the MLB trade deadline, they will still have more losses than wins.

There's still time for the Braves to go on a run -- seven weeks to be exact. But it's going to require a run of five or seven straight wins or something like 12 out of 15 victories for Atlanta to really get back in the race.

With that in mind, MLB.com's Mark Bowman named designated hitter Marcell Ozuna the "one intriguing trade chip" the Braves have on their roster. But Bowman argued the team should also see what they might be able to get for reliever Raisel Iglesias.

"The Braves should also make second baseman Ozzie Albies and closer Raisel Iglesias available," Bowman wrote. "But Ozuna would garner the best return."

With Iglesias, the question is if he would garner anything at all in return.

Technically, Iglesias is Atlanta's former closer. Iglesias lost his closer role because he owns a 6.48 ERA, 5.39 FIP, and 1.480 WHIP. His H/9 rate has absolutely skyrocketed, going from 4.9 in 2024 to 11.2 this season.

Iglesias has also give up seven home runs in just 25 innings during 2025.

For much of this season, Iglesias has struggled with his slider. His change-up hasn't been very good either.

It's not clear if his struggles with those pitches are related to age. He turned 35 in January. But the slump might simply be the relief pitcher falling back to the mean.

Last season, he registered a 1.95 ERA, 0.736 WHIP and 2.65 FIP in 69.1 innings.

Would any team be willing to give up a prospect for a 35-year-old relief pitcher severely struggling? The likelihood seems low, but it's not impossible.

If the price is right, then a playoff contender could take a flier on Iglesias. The Braves might as well take what they can get for the right-hander too because he will be an unrestricted free agent this winter.

That's assuming the Braves fall out of the race. There's been little to suggest over the past three weeks, though, that the Braves will be in a position to not sell at the end of July.