Industry has mixed reviews for Braves trade deadline

Like many people, I’ve had no problem calling the Braves out for their lack of action at the trade deadline. This is a really good baseball team, one that’s 23 games over .500 and a near lock to make the postseason.

But there were still clear areas of need across the pitching staff. A starting pitcher with some playoff experience would have been preferred, but if not that, loading up on elite bullpen arms would have given the Braves a fairer shot at piecing together 27 outs.

The season isn’t over just because Alex Anthopoulos slept through the trade deadline. Weird things happen all the time in baseball, and as I said, this is still a really good team. But the margin for error is now razor thin — and there are two months remaining in the regular season for problems to pop up, ones that can no longer be fixed externally.

I gave Anthopoulos a failing grade for his work. Essentially standing pat and adding only on the margins wasn’t good enough for a club in the middle of its championship window, but the national media wasn’t nearly as dissatisfied.

ESPN filed the Braves under the “other losers”

“The Braves did the least of the first-place teams, acquiring only lower-tier players such as Tyler Mahle (5.13 ERA), Bailey Falter (13.97 ERA), Lane Thomas (.719 OPS) and Brent Suter (4.12 ERA),” David Schoenfield wrote. “They could have used a better starting pitcher, and Mahle is unlikely to make a significant impact.”

The Athletic gave the Braves a more respectable B-

“The Braves didn’t get the starting pitcher who can start a playoff game they were searching for, but did get quality depth for their roster,” Jim Bowden wrote. “Mahle is a veteran and a solid back-of-the-rotation starter, Thomas is a fourth outfielder who rakes against left-handed pitching and can play all three outfield positions, and Suter gives them a funky lefty with a low arm angle and a much different look than the rest of their bullpen. It was a solid, not special, deadline for Atlanta.”

CBS Sports handed the Braves a C

“There was talk about Tarik Skubal and Taylor Ward and instead, the Braves settled for Tyler Mahle and Lane Thomas,” Mike Axisa wrote. “They also brought in Brent Suter for middle relief work. The Braves needed offensive help and rotation depth and yeah, they got it, but not in a way that really moved the needle. It was a fine trade deadline at a time when Atlanta had a chance to do more than fine.”

Bleacher Report dubbed Alex Anthopoulos a loser at the trade deadline

“But did the Braves really do enough to contend with the Dodgers,” Joe Tansey wrote. 

“General manager Alex Anthopoulos has a history of making shrewd deadline deals, but the Braves needed a little more than under-the-radar deals.

“The Braves didn’t land one of the top starting pitchers on the market and they filled their shortstop hole with an internal shift due to adding more outfield depth.It might be good enough to win the NL East, but probably not enough to beat the Dodgers, Brewers or Cubs in an extended playoff series.”

Perhaps the failing grade I gave the Braves was too harsh. They’re still World Series contenders. There was at least marginal improvement on the edges, and they gave up absolutely nothing of value to get it.

But there are still aspects of Alex Anthopoulos’ inaction that should disturb anyone. This is a core group that has underachieved — at least when it comes to playoff success — and they aren’t going to be together much longer. Chris Sale could be retired in a couple of years. The team-friendly extensions for Ozzie Albies and Ronald Acuña Jr. are almost up. Matt Olson isn’t getting any younger, and so on. At the moment, it feels like the chances at winning a World Series are limitless, but the window is always much shorter than anticipated.

Additionally, with two months left in the season, Anthopoulos is asking the Braves to land on the tightest of runways. Not only does he need relatively average arms with no playoff experience to have out-of-body experiences come October, he also needs this pitching staff to avoid any major injuries the rest of the way. That’s far from a guarantee with a third of the season still to play.

Given the farm system at his disposal, Anthopoulos had to do better at the trade deadline. Instead he was too scared to pull the trigger — the same story we’ve seen ever since the Braves climbed to the top of the mountain five years ago.