Braves Telling Teams They Will Likely Keep Matt Adams

The Braves are informing rival organizations that they expect to hold onto first baseman Matt Adams through the trade deadline, ESPN.com’s Buster Olney reports on Twitter.

Adams has generally been viewed as a plausible trade chip, and perhaps still would be if the right offer came along. But the Braves need not strike a deal, owing to Adams’s remaining control (one more year, via arbitration) and the team’s surprising decision to play Freddie Freeman at third base.

Though Adams, 28, has cooled somewhat at the plate since his torrid opening with the Braves, he’s still providing steady offensive production over the month of July. He has been nothing short of outstanding over the course of his 199 plate appearances since arriving from the Cardinals, slashing .284/.332/.596 with 14 home runs.

That said, the resurgent slugger has continued to struggle against left-handed pitching, and he has seen the bench when southpaws take the hill. And there are more alternatives now with Sean Rodriguez back from the DL. So long as the Braves trust Freeman at third, though, Adams remains an interesting part of the roster. With demand seemingly on the light side, the Braves may simply hold Adams to see how the Freeman experiment pans out over the second half — with the team’s offseason approach to be adjusted accordingly.