The Athletic re-grades the Braves’ trade deadline

The Athletic just released its weekly power rankings, with the Braves coming in tied for second alongside the Los Angeles Dodgers.

I think that’s cheating, and I’m going to keep rolling my eyes considering Atlanta just swept the Dodgers and both teams entered the week with identical records. It’s probably okay to give the Braves the nod here.

However, as they always do, The Athletic paired the rankings with a theme of the week. This one revisited each team’s trade deadline — and after getting a lot of grief from national and local media alike four weeks ago, the Braves’ new grade is an A.

“Under president of baseball operations Alex Anthopoulos, the Braves eschewed the all-in move, instead upgrading around the margins by adding Tyler Mahle, Lane Thomas and Brent Suter,” Johnny Flores Jr. writes. “Consider the moves a massive success. Mahle, who arrived in Atlanta with a 5.13 ERA, has pitched to a 1.48 mark in five starts, going for at least six innings in four of them. Suter has a 1.26 mark as a multi-inning arm, and only Thomas has been middling, though he wasn’t anticipated to be a world-beater.”

When discussing the Braves’ trade deadline, there are really two sides of the coin.

If you look solely at the moves made, Anthopoulos deserves an A+. Tyler Mahle was acquired for a bag of potato chips and has been the most effective starting pitcher moved at the deadline. Brent Suter has been brilliant out of the bullpen. And while Lane Thomas hasn’t been great, he’s been effective against left-handed pitching, which is all he was brought in to do.

The Braves gave up zero noteworthy prospects and got three contributors. But then there’s the other side of the coin, where you ask: was it enough?

This roster still has holes, and it’s fair to say some considerable regression is coming for the guys they acquired. Are Tyler Mahle, Lane Thomas, and Brent Suter really going to be difference-makers come October?

There’s a world where the Braves get deep into the postseason and come up just shy of the ultimate goal. At that point, nobody is going to look at this deadline as a roaring success. So two things can be true: the moves the Braves made were brilliant, and they still could have done more. The jury remains out on whether this roster can compete with the best in the league come October.