If any lead decision maker has earned faith leading into the trade deadline, it’s Alex Anthopoulos.
After all, the Braves’ president of baseball operations conducted perhaps the greatest deadline in history in 2021, when Ronald Acuña Jr.’s ACL tear prompted him to retool the team’s outfield with Joc Pederson, Adam Duvall, Eddie Rosario and Jorge Soler.
A World Series championship followed. And here the Braves are again, missing Acuña after he tore his other ACL last weekend. They’re sputtering, falling behind in the National League East while their offense looks shockingly inept.
Trade season is weeks away, but the situation is ripe for an Anthopoulos special.
“We have all the faith in the world (in Anthopoulos),” third baseman Austin Riley told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. “What he’s done in the past (speaks) for itself. He’s always working, always thinking in different ways how to get better. There’s a reason I’m a player and he’s a GM. He’s really good at it, so you trust whatever way he goes and you buy into that.”
Anthopoulos shouldn’t need to blow up his outfield this time – at the very least, he has Michael Harris II in center field – but if new everyday players Jarred Kelenic and Duvall, who previously formed a left-field platoon, don’t produce, Anthopoulos will be pursuing another outfielder later this summer (he could be regardless).
There’s nothing easier to acquire in July than corner outfielders. They’re typically available in abundance at the trade deadline. The Braves players will focus on today, as they’re supposed to, but outside focus will shift to trades in the coming weeks – and that would’ve been the case even if Acuña was healthy and the team didn’t need an additional starter. Trades always are part of the summer conversation, whether you’re a contender or seller.
“I’m going to do my job and let (Anthopoulos) worry about being GM,” catcher Sean Murphy told the AJC. “So he’ll do what he thinks he needs to do. In the meantime, it’s the next guy. We’ll play with these guys in the clubhouse today and not worry about who or what it might look like at the deadline. Alex is going to do what Alex is going to do, and we’re going to play ball.”
Anthopoulos joked around about trades during a recent 680 The Fan interview, but everyone knows they’re inevitable. Anthopoulos always has upgraded his team at the deadline, often at a minimal cost of prospect capital (which will need to be the case here given the Braves’ modest, at best, farm system).
In 2018, with his team serving as baseball’s most pleasant surprise, Anthopoulos added Duvall and starter Kevin Gausman. A year later, the Braves, desperate for bullpen help, added relievers Chris Martin, Shane Greene and Mark Melancon.
In 2021, the Braves made history with their deadline. In 2022, they acquired their future closer Raisel Iglesias, along with depth in outfielder Robbie Grossman and infielder Ehire Adrianza. Last year, the Braves added infielder Nicky Lopez and relievers Pierce Johnson and Brad Hand.
“I’ve always said the only thing he’s guilty of is probably working too hard to try to make this club better every chance he gets,” manager Brian Snitker said. “It’s nice in my situation because I don’t have to worry about it. I know if it’s out there, and he can find it, he’s going to do it.”
It might not be a splash, but the Braves will make a move – probably multiple – by July’s end. No one better understands the potential rewards of being aggressive on the trade market.
“We definitely trust him,” Harris told the AJC. “He’s only proven himself every year. We have no choice but to trust him. And we know he’s going to – if he does get anybody – he’s going to get a guy who’s going to mesh well with us and make this clubhouse better, so obviously we just have to take care of what we can with the people we have and try to win ballgames.”
Fans have started speculating. Angels outfielder Taylor Ward, under contractual control through 2026, makes sense, especially with Anthopoulos’ connection to his former assistant Perry Minasian, who runs the Angels. A’s outfielder Brent Rooker is in town this weekend; like Riley, he’s a Mississippi-area guy who attended Mississippi State and was born in the Memphis suburb of Germantown. There will be more options as teams determine their status; players such as Ward and Rooker are on the higher end of the market and will have lots of suitors.
If the Braves are adding a starter, Paul Blackburn (A’s), Tyler Anderson (Angels), Erick Fedde (White Sox) are among speculated fits who are on downward-spiraling clubs. The reality is that Anthopoulos typically acquires lesser-discussed players. It wouldn’t be any surprise if that’s the case this July. Consider how many of his trades, from Gausman to Melancon to the outfielders to Iglesias, basically came out of nowhere to outsiders.
What is certain: The individual(s) will be snug clubhouse fits, an extremely important element of any Braves acquisition.
“It’s a big thing we focus on,” Riley said. “Alex does a good job, and we’ve all bought into (wanting to be) good players with good makeup, really good dudes. We’re with each other so much in the clubhouse. That goes a long way.”
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