Is it possible Braves’ Alex Anthopoulos made right decision at trade deadline?

What if the Braves had acquired pitcher Casey Mize from the Detroit Tigers before the trade deadline, but the cost was flame-throwing rookie Didier Fuentes?

Braves fans might have found it a shortsighted decision by Braves president of baseball operations and general manager Alex Anthopoulos. (Some could have found it an acceptable cost to pursue a World Series title.)

To be clear, Mize-for-Fuentes might not have been the actual proposed deal. However, it’s believed that potential trade partners did ask about Fuentes, the reliever whose 97 mph fastball and strikeout power have made him a valuable member of the bullpen.

For the Braves to acquire a No. 2 pitcher, he could have been the cost.

That possibility could be a helpful insight into the Braves not acquiring a playoff-worthy starter this past week.

Much of the fanbase is incensed at Anthopoulos for not making a major trade, an understandable reaction, as a No. 2 starter behind ace Chris Sale seems like a necessary ingredient for the Braves’ playoff hopes.

But the exercise of considering Fuentes as the potential cost might make Anthopoulos’ decision more understandable. At least some portion of the fanbase would not have supported a trade for a rental that cost the team Fuentes because his future value (and for this season, too) is so obvious.

On the other hand, a trade involving a prospect like pitcher Cam Caminiti or shortstop Tate Southisene might have been more palatable because A) they’ve not yet reached Truist Park; and B) their worth is more nebulous than Fuentes’.

Fans (and media) might regard Southisene as a faceless prospect, but surely the Braves have a clear picture of how he projects. And if that future is as bright as fans predict Fuentes’ to be, would it have been wise to make that trade?

Some fans might say it was worth the risk because can’t-miss prospects sometimes miss. But it’s easier to use this logic without having an accurate valuation of the prospects.

Drake Baldwin is a well-worn Anthopoulos talking point on this topic but still worth considering. In the 2024-25 offseason, the Braves sought Chicago White Sox pitcher Garrett Crochet in a trade but decided against it when the asking price included Baldwin, then a highly touted but unproven minor leaguer.

Fans probably would have approved the deal, at least until Baldwin became an All-Star.

Is it possible that Anthopoulos decided against trading prospects simply because they had valuations similar to Baldwin or Fuentes?

“We said no to a lot of things,” Anthopoulos told reporters Monday. “That’s not easy to do. But you have to do what you feel is right for the organization.”

It’s believed that potential trade partners did ask about Braves pitcher Didier Fuentes, whose 97 mph fastball and strikeout power have made him a valuable member of the bullpen. (Arvin Temkar/AJC)

Two points might be worth considering.

First, The Athletic’s Ken Rosenthal reported the Texas Rangers told ace Jacob deGrom that “they would make a deal happen” with the Braves if he approved a trade, but deGrom declined to waive his no-trade clause. This is a strong indication that a deal was in place.

That means the idea that Anthopoulos was unwilling to make a splashy trade at the deadline to help the Braves is errant.

Second, Anthopoulos isn’t bad at his job. He has made decisions that didn’t work out in the past and will again. Ha-Seong Kim’s name probably isn’t going to be anywhere on his resume.

But the franchise whose talent acquisition he oversees is headed for its eighth postseason in nine years. The Braves would not be in this position without his trades for Sale and first baseman Matt Olson, neither of which was particularly well received at the outset.

Maybe Anthopoulos is getting by on more than blind luck?

Obviously, it’s also possible that Anthopoulos botched this badly.

Like most, I advocated for the Braves to be aggressive at the trade deadline. His decision to not push more chips onto the table might be rued when the Braves fall short in the playoffs this fall — and later when the prospects he was unwilling to deal fail to become stars.