No surprise here: Braves lose at trade deadline
Credit: HYOSUB SHIN / AJC
In a season in which the most popular items have been one-run defeats, pitching injuries and runners left on base, perhaps it was unreasonable to think that a request for a Braves win at the trade deadline would be met with anything other than “Sorry, you can only order what’s on the menu. Can I interest you in a walk-off loss?”
Thursday at 6 p.m. came and went and no deals were made beyond the two trades on Wednesday – sending reliever Rafael Montero to Detroit for minor-league infielder Jim Jarvis and swapping minor-league pitcher Austin Smith with Colorado for relief pitcher Tyler Kinley.
Designated hitter Marcell Ozuna and closer Raisel Iglesias remained with the Braves.
“Generally speaking, if we thought there was a trade where we were getting some value back that we liked, we would have made a trade,” president of baseball operations and general manager Alex Anthopoulos said in an online news conference shortly after the deadline had passed. “Or two or three or four. Unfortunately, that didn’t present itself.”
So, the Braves lost, yet again. All they’ll get for Ozuna and Iglesias, whose contracts expire at the end of the season, is 50-plus games of their service in a season that is going nowhere.
The Braves could have made trades, whether for a minor leaguer or a deal just to take at least a portion of Ozuna and Iglesias’ salaries off their books
They could have done something.
Anthopoulos could have made a trade for a minor leaguer he didn’t believe had a future in the major leagues. Evidently, that was the going rate for a DH who had lost his job or a closer having the worst season of his career.
But he didn’t. Anthopoulos isn’t a GM who would make a deal just for appearance’s sake.
He could have unloaded either player to save money for the offseason, not an insignificant return. But it wasn’t something he was willing to do.
“You’re asking other guys to go play every day and grind and push and do everything and guys to show up and still perform and run balls out and do everything and still have pride and go perform and set an example – we have a lot of young players on our team, too,” Anthopoulos said. “I think the message that would send organizationally is just wrong.”
Anthopoulos’ position is debatable. If a minor leaguer has at least some chance of someday helping the Braves at the major-league level, you could make the case that it would have been better to make the trade for him rather than hold onto Ozuna or Iglesias. (One flip side, though, is that would also mean that you have to let go of one of your own minor leaguers.)
And while salary dumping is unpalatable, if it helps the team acquire a free agent in the winter who will make the Braves better, it’s a short-term loss for a long-term gain.
Braves players wouldn’t like it, but if you’ve never been a part of a business that didn’t lay off employees or make unpopular cost-cutting measures, count yourself lucky. As has been said often in the past week as trade speculation swirled, it’s a business.
However you view Anthopoulos’ inaction, the Braves lost. They lost because they couldn’t make a deal that would legitimately help them for the future or they lost because they weren’t willing to at least do something.
And, in this disappointing season, that’s probably what we should have expected.
About the Author
Ken Sugiura is a sports columnist at the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. Formerly the Georgia Tech beat reporter, Sugiura started at the AJC in 1998 and has covered a variety of beats, mostly within sports.
