The Atlanta Braves have a very important MLB trade deadline period looming.
Monday marks the official two-week mark until the August third deadline, and there’s no lack of Braves news regarding speculative rumors, reports, and updates on who they might acquire ahead of the deadline.
The biggest needs feel pretty clear: starting pitching, but offensive help might be on the docket as well. Atlanta’s offense has come around and posted much better numbers in July, but infield help would be nice, and another corner outfielder as well. On Monday, Atlanta Braves GM Alex Anthopoulos made a radio appearance on 92.9 The Game to reveal the Braves’ trade deadline outlook.
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Braves’ GM Alex Anthopoulos Reveals Trade Deadline Plans
GettyATLANTA, GA – APRIL 09: Alex Anthopoulos of the Atlanta Braves aknowledges the crowd at Truist Park during the World Series Ring Ceremony on April 9, 2022 in Atlanta, Georgia. (Photo by Adam Hagy/Getty Images)
Atlanta currently sits in first place in the NL East with a three-game lead over the Philadelphia Phillies.
This week, across MLB, the Braves will host the San Diego Padres, and the Phillies will host the team with the best record in the sport, the Los Angeles Dodgers.
Here is a little bit of what Anthopoulos had to say about the Braves trade deadline plans:
“We’re definitely not a complete team,” said Anthopoulos. “I think we’ve got the upside to be a complete team, but we can add rotation, bullpen, bats. As much as we all like to say ‘I need to get this’ or ‘I need to get that,’ … sometimes you just need to take what ends up being available to you.”
“It’s been pretty obvious that if there’s a playoff caliber out there, we would jump at that,” said Anthopoulos. “But if there’s a reliever, we would jump at that. We see it all the time in the playoffs with all the off-days, not that many guys are going deep in terms of starts. Having a deep bullpen is pretty important.”
Some of the top available starting pitchers the Braves could target include: Tarik Skubal, Joe Ryan, Reid Detmers, Casey Mize, Robbie Ray, and Dustin May, plus other less notable options.
As for bats, a shortstop would feel like the most obvious position to target, but there isn’t exactly a plethora of options available.
MLBTR.com’s Steve Adams then wrote (on July 20) about the Braves’ potential approach:
“While a front office leader broadcasting such an open-minded approach doesn’t tell us much about the specific targets the team will pursue, it’s still somewhat telling that Anthopoulos doesn’t have one specific area of focus. We’ve seen some other baseball operations executives pretty clearly indicate a narrower approach to the deadline. We know the Astros will be pursuing left-handed outfield bats, for instance.”
The biggest puzzle in this entire Braves trade picture is how willing Alex Anthopoulos is (or isn’t) to part with top prospects. The Braves farm system is rebuilding, but they actually have a decent class of young pitchers (Cam Caminiti, JR Ritchie, Owen Murphy) that other teams certainly may want, and then another group of arms like Hurston Waldrep, AJ Smith-Shawver, and Spencer Schwellenbach that could be the centerpiece of major deals.
Either way, the Braves will steadily be linked to all the top names, and whether they make the biggest splashes or not, expect the Braves to make some impactful moves, as it almost feels like they have to in order to compete with the Philadelphia Phillies, Los Angeles Dodgers, and even the Brewers‘ strong starting staff.
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Atlanta Braves GM Details MLB Trade Deadline Plans