Is the Braves front office thinking correctly?

The fall of the Braves is due to a number of factors that have occurred since Atlanta hoisted the Commissioner’s Trophy. You don’t see teams go from one of the best in baseball to the cellar overnight. This was years in the making.

Letting pillars of the franchise walk without hesitation, inking unproven players to long-term extensions, and several abysmal free agent acquisitions have all led to a team that is littered with holes and lacking any sense of an identity. The Braves are lost right now, and the finger should be pointed squarely at the front office.

Alex Anthopoulos has not done a good enough job of constructing this roster. The magic touch that he seemed to have during the early years of his tenure as general manager has faded, and these latest reports — along with his own words — should have everyone worried about whether he will ever get it back.

A few weeks ago, Anthopoulos made an emphatic statement regarding the trade deadline. He had no intentions of selling, especially when it came to players under team control past the 2025 season.

“We are not selling, especially players with club control beyond the current year,” Anthopoulos said. “Will not happen. I never make definitive statements unless I’m going to stick to them. So, once you make definitive statements, and then you go back on them, you’re a liar and you’re done. So, WILL NOT HAPPEN!”

It just goes to show why definitive statements are foolish, because a lot has changed since Anthopoulos said those words on 680 The Fan.

The Braves have fallen completely out of the playoff race. They’ve lost 11 out of their last 14 games, and perhaps even more notably, Chris Sale and Spencer Schwellenbach have been placed on the 60-day IL. This is a bad team — one that might not even win 70 games this year — with some really good players. The Braves shouldn’t be looking to blow it up and rebuild, but a major makeover is necessary. Unfortunately, Alex Anthopoulos still doesn’t seem too interested in evaluating all of his options ahead of the trade deadline.

“Atlanta has not discussed Sale in trade talks and will not consider moving the left-hander or any other player under control beyond 2025, according to major-league sources,” Fansided’s Robert Murray reported on Thursday. 

If true, this is nothing short of moronic. Not moving Sale is one thing, and not selling low on guys that have underperformed is understandable, but to not even consider moving things around after everything that has transpired over the last two seasons is malpractice.

This team has had glaring weaknesses dating back to the start of last year, and those have only become more recognizable this season. Running it back a third time with the same group and just hoping things get better is the definition of insanity.

However, the Atlanta Braves haven’t been a well-run organization for a couple of years now, so perhaps this is just par for the course.