Despite being thought of as merely a replacement when acquired from the St. Louis Cardinals, Matt Adams is now a big part of a Braves offense that has them playing .500 ball despite mediocre starting pitching. The team is so high on him that franchise cornerstone Freddie Freeman now regularly plays third base to have Big City’s bat in the lineup. Adams took the opportunity in Atlanta and ran with it. The Braves now want to keep Adams.
ATL indicating to others it will hold Matt Adams. He's cheap for them, he's been good, and it's a lousy market for position-player return.
— Buster Olney (@Buster_ESPN) July 19, 2017
The trade deadline is nearing, but it does not appear the Braves have much of a market for first baseman slugger Matt Adams. The Freddie Freeman at third base experiment was questionable, but has worked out great for the team. With the emergence of Johan Camargo, the Braves have the luxury of starting Adams against only right-handed starters and sliding Freeman back to first. Adams is only hitting .178 this season against lefties.
Camargo’s emergence and the return of Sean Rodriguez also allows the team the opportunity to send the struggling Dansby Swanson down to the minors and keep this plan in effect. Adonis Garcia may be back soon as well. Either way, a Dansby demotion would only be temporary. The Braves are trying to stay competitive, but can also use the back end of 2017 to see what they want to do going forward. Adams is only under contract for one more season. The market for first basemen is generally weak, but the Braves likely have a better chance of moving him during the winter if that is the route they choose.