Alex Anthopoulos on why Braves didn’t trade anyone

The Atlanta Braves completely botched the trade deadline.

There’s no arguing that. This is a club that features the fourth-worst record in baseball, and in a seller’s market, they were unable to swing one significant trade to improve the club for 2026 and beyond.

That’s incompetence from the Braves front office, led by Alex Anthopoulos, who gave a pretty uninspiring answer for why nothing came to fruition.

“We were not interested in just dumping players and trying to shed some money on a contract,” Anthopoulos said, via Mark Bowman of MLB.com

That answer really only applies to one player. There is a chance nobody was interested in Marcell Ozuna. Yet people who enjoy carrying the water for the organization will use it as a blanket statement, insinuating there was no market for anybody on the Braves roster.

Let’s be clear: That is not true.

The day before deadline day, the Braves completed a trade with the Tigers, sending Rafael Montero to Detroit for infielder Jim Jarvis. Yes, Rafael Montero — one of the worst relievers in baseball over the last three seasons, who posted a 5.50 ERA this year with the Braves — brought back a prospect in return.

To act as if there was no market for a guy like Raisel Iglesias is nonsense. Iglesias has a track record of being one of the better relievers in all of baseball, and it’s not like his stuff has taken a step back this season, despite some rough patches. He owns a 2.99 ERA for his career, had a 1.95 ERA just last season, and is amid a stretch in which he’s recorded a 2.29 ERA and 2.18 FIP over his last 21 appearances.

Sure… the Braves could get something for Rafael Montero, but not that guy.

The same goes for guys like Pierce Johnson and Dylan Lee. Both would have been widely coveted had they been made available, and while they are under contract past this season, neither is irreplaceable. In a seller’s market, the Braves needed to take advantage… and they did nothing.

There’s really no excuse for it. None of the other non-contenders had trouble selling off their spare parts. The Braves continue to do things a little differently, and that no longer seems like a good thing.