Braves Officially Need to Go All Out and Trade for Madison Bumgarner to Make World Series Run

The Atlanta Braves burst onto the scene in 2018, most would agree, a year ahead of schedule, ultimately falling to the Dodgers in five games in the NLDS.

Well, fast forward to 2019 and the Braves are now a deep team, loaded with star players. The club presently sits atop the NL East at 54-37, six games in front of the Phillies.

Their offense, which ranks fourth in the league in total runs scored, is perfect as is. However, Atlanta's team ERA ranks in the middle of the pack and leads us to believe that they should be heavy buyers at the trade deadline for a starting pitcher -- in particular, Madison Bumgarner.

The four-time All-Star may no longer be the man that boasts a career playoff ERA of 2.11 and World Series ERA of 0.25, but the talk of his plummeted production (4.03 ERA in 2019) is absolutely overblown and largely skewed by the long ball.

The Braves' rotation ranks 17th in all of baseball in ERA (4.56) and 11th in the NL. Be honest. Those numbers simply never equate to eventual World Series Champions.

Bumgarner's postseason experience -- three-time World Series champ, World Series MVP, and former NLCS MVP -- is, unmatched on the current market for pitching. He's the best postseason pitcher of his generation and would perfectly compliment the likes Julio Tehran, Dallas Keuchel, Mike Soroka, and Max Fried.

Heading into October without adding another starter would be a massive gaffe by Atlanta. Luckily for them, a potential solution is staring them right in the face, and he just so happens to want to be traded to a contender. The time is ripe, and the Braves need to make a splash.