Utility player Mauricio Dubon was acquired by the Atlanta Braves over the offseason for shortstop Nick Allen. The Braves were looking to have a more flexible player and some offense. The Astros saved a little money and got a great defender. The returns have been pretty one-sided toward the Braves, however. Mauricio has put together a line of .259/.314/.405 with a perfectly league-average 100 wRC+ and 1.5 WAR. Dubon has already doubled his criminally underrated projection of 0.7 WAR. Nick Allen has put up
a 72 wRC+ and 0.2 WAR in a limited 70 plate appearances for Houston. Clearly, this move was quite a coup for the Braves. And it’s probably the trade of the season. But this is not the one I am thinking about, at least not exactly.
In years past, if the Braves decided to focus on the bullpen or the bench they always focused on the bullpen. This approach probably peaked in 2024, when the Snitker-proofed bullpen put up 6.2 WAR. That team had Raisel Iglesias, Pierce Johnson, A.J. Minter, a healthy Joe Jimenez, a pre-kerplosion Aaron Bummer, Dylan Lee, Grant Holmes, and Jesse Chavez. These were solid choices all around. Meanwhile, the benches in those years were pretty thin. But you probably don’t worry about the bench in a DH-adopting National League when you have an excellent first nine. Ten through thirteen were a little Charlie Culberson-y, though.
However this year, the focus was clearly on the bench over the bullpen. Now, they picked up Robert Suarez who has been excellent the last few years. But otherwise they rolled with who they had in the organization, Here’s Walt Weiss on this year’s bench from last night.
I don’t think there’s been any question [about the bench] in my nine years here. We’ve always had the everyday players that posted and played well. And nothing about the guys that have been here, but there’s been a big dropoff when you go to the bench. [It’s been] just the opposite. There’s been times when the bench has carried us this year.
So is focusing on the bench over the bullpen the best trade in years? Is having a great bench better than having eight solid options in the bullpen? This year the bench has definitely paid off with the injuries and a suspension. The bottom three of four in the bullpen have been a frustration though.
