At mid-season teams pay a premium when trading minor league talent for major league talent. On top of that it appears that starting pitching is a seller's market this trading deadline.

Given the above I think the best plan for the Braves is to not trade for a starting pitcher right now. I would promote Lucas Sims and give him an audition the rest of the year. If there is an injury or something else that requires an additional starting pitcher I would bring up one of Medlen/Wisler/Blair.

Looking a bit further down the line, I think the odds are against both Sims and Newcomb passing their audition. This means there will be a need for an established pitcher for the 2018 rotation. And we have money coming off the books (mostly from the Colon and Garcia contracts). I would try to acquire a starting pitcher this off-season (either via trade or free agency) using this financial cushion rather than paying for one with prospects. I would control risk by avoiding any commitment that went beyond three years. We want to keep financial flexibility over the next 3-5 years to be able to extent the core of this team and to make the occasional judicious acquisition to fill areas of need. And we want a natural path for our top pitching prospects (Soroka, Wright, Gohara, Allard) to move into the rotation as they show they are ready.