One bold trade deadline prediction for the Braves

The Braves’ focus ahead of the trade deadline: pitching, pitching, and more pitching, with a little side of offense. The club needs to add someone who can, at the very least, platoon in left field and at DH, but their top priorities undoubtedly surround the rotation and a bullpen that’s struggled mightily over the last month or so.

The big question, as always, is how far Alex Anthopoulos will go.

For most of his tenure as the Braves’ GM, we’ve seen him take the conservative route — focusing on extending homegrown talent and adding undervalued players on short-term deals with upside, both in free agency and at the deadline. It’s a strategy that’s done more good than bad, but it’s one I’m predicting will change at this year’s trade deadline for a multitude of reasons.

Braves bold trade deadline prediction: One of the Braves’ top three prospects — Eric Hartman, Tate Southisene, or Cam Caminiti — will be moved over the next five days.

We’ve never seen the Braves go all-in this time of year, but I want to focus on three things: Anthopoulos’ history before his time in Atlanta, human nature, and the looming lockout that makes this deadline unlike any other.

Braves fans know Alex Anthopoulos as a mostly risk-averse GM. He’s rarely made blockbuster trades, especially mid-season, and has never gone out and spent big on a marquee free agent, specifically starting pitchers. But it wasn’t always this way.

Before he was in Atlanta, Anthopoulos was the GM of the Toronto Blue Jays, where he operated much more like current Padres GM A.J. Preller — swinging blockbuster trades to chase championships whenever the opportunity presented itself, acquiring guys like Troy Tulowitzki and David Price at the deadline, and Josh Donaldson and R.A. Dickey in the offseason, all via trade.

This is a man who loved the flashy move. It never led to a championship, though, and it taught him one thing: patience.

Anthopoulos has spoken at length over the years about how those experiences in Toronto shaped him, noting that the blockbuster move isn’t always the correct one for the franchise. But intrinsically, he’s still the same guy who wants to do whatever’s possible to put his team over the top.

Humans often have a natural tendency to overcorrect, especially when that correction has led to success. Anthopoulos came to Atlanta with a much more patient approach, and it led to his first World Series title as a general manager. But that same passive approach has now put his club in unenviable positions five seasons in a row, as one of baseball’s great cores wastes year after year. Fans can feel the opportunities slipping away, and while a general manager is supposed to take a much more cold-blooded approach, even the man pulling the strings is human.

The pressure boils even hotter when you factor in a looming lockout. Several owners believe baseball won’t even be played next season — which brings an entirely different slew of questions into play.

What’s the point of paying a premium for an extra year of control for a season that might not even happen? Why value prospects so highly when they could miss an entire year of development? What if this is the Braves’ only chance to win a World Series between now and October of 2028 — by which point this core will have begun to dissipate?

It’s time for Anthopoulos to start pushing his chips into the middle. Whether it’s for a rental like Tarik Skubal or a controllable option like José Soriano, I predict the Braves will add to this rotation, with one of their top three prospects exiting in the process.