It's been a rough week for Atlanta's front office. Ryan Dempster spurned the Braves, insisting that the Cubs deal him to the Los Angeles Dodgers instead -- though, that might have been a blessing in disguise, since Randall Delgado is quite the price to pay.
Still, the Braves thought they were adding Dempster, only to be spurned by him. It had been reported that Atlanta's focus shifted to Zack Greinke... who was promptly traded to the Los Angeles Angels in exchange for Jean Segura and a pair of AA pitchers.
It appears that Atlanta's focus will now be on James Shields, Edinson Volquez, and perhaps Ryan Dempster -- again.
The Braves have expressed interest in the Padres' Edinson Volquez and the Rays' James Shields. As with Johnson, it will be interesting to see if the Padres and Rays start asking for less in return as Tuesday's Deadline approaches.
Since blocking a trade that would have sent him to Atlanta earlier this week, Cubs starting pitcher Ryan Dempster has not ruled out the possibility of eventually agreeing to join the Braves. His desire remains for Chicago to trade him to the Dodgers. But these two teams have had trouble reaching an agreement when discussing potential deals over the past couple of weeks.
With Matt Garza having been shut down, teams interested in starting pitching will be clamoring for Shields, Volquez or Dempster. Josh Johnson is also reportedly available, but there is little-to-no chance that the Marlins would deal him within the division.
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