Braves and Phillies should fight for this right-handed hitting slugger who could help either team win NL East originally appeared on The Sporting News. Add The Sporting News as a Preferred Source by clicking here.
Certain teams around Major League Baseball are going to have to make the necessary moves to improve their roster at the trade deadline, and the Philadelphia Phillies and Atlanta Braves are definitely two of them.
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The Phillies and Braves, to me, are still the best two teams in the National League East, though Atlanta has played much better and might even find itself in a bit of a fight to land similar players.
Right now, I could definitely see the Braves and Phillies going out there to try to add a right-handed-hitting outfielder, and the Baltimore Orioles might have one of those guys in Taylor Ward.
According to Bleacher Report, there's a belief that Ward could be traded, and he'd be viewed as one of the biggest right-handed bats on the market.
“If the Orioles did sell, Taylor Ward would be one of the biggest names on the trade market as a right-handed hitting outfielder with pop. Helsley, assuming health, would be one of the top relievers available, as would Yennier Cano. If you really want to get spicy, teams would definitely call on a resurgent Adley Rutschman, who has one remaining arbitration year after 2026,” Tim Kelly of BR wrote.
The Braves and Phillies are in relatively similar situations. While the Braves have been the much better team and have to feel like they're going to win the division unless something starts to really change over the next few months, the Phillies don't really have much more time with this aging core to not go out and make a big-time move for a player like Ward to improve their roster.
For that reason alone, there's a very good chance we'll see the Phillies or Braves steal a player from each other that the other team wants.
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