Was the Braves trade for Aaron Bummer actually a mistake?

They say hindsight is 20/20… but only if you’re being honest with yourself. And right now, I’m seeing a lot of Braves fans on the timeline who aren’t being completely truthful about the trade that brought Aaron Bummer to Atlanta, who was released on Tuesday.

Braves Trade For Aaron Bummer

• Braves Get: Aaron Bummer
• White Sox Get: Michael Soroka, Jared Shuster, Nicky Lopez, Braden Shewmake, and Riley Gowens

Before recency bias completely clouds the picture, let’s talk about what Aaron Bummer actually did in a Braves uniform.

In his first two seasons with the club, he was a competent middle reliever who logged a lot of innings in a variety of situations. He appeared in 98 games and posted a respectable 3.69 ERA, 2.87 FIP, and 112 ERA+ — 12 percent above league average.

Then a shoulder injury arrived late last season, and the effects clearly carried over into 2026. The life on his pitches deteriorated considerably across the board, ultimately leading to the Braves making the right call in releasing him.

Here’s what also needs to be said: the $9.5 million Bummer earned this season was not guaranteed at the time of the trade. That money came later, when the Braves chose to extend him following the 2024 season. So if you have a bone to pick with this transaction, the target shouldn’t be the trade itself — it should be the extension Anthopoulos handed him. That’s where the mistake was made.

Because the players the Braves sent to Chicago? They were essentially meaningless.

Yes, Michael Soroka — a fan favorite — is finally finding success at the major-league level again, posting a 3.49 ERA in nine starts with the Diamondbacks. But Atlanta wasn’t going to get that version of Soroka. Nobody was. He was out of options at the time of the trade, and had the Braves held onto him, he almost certainly would have been designated for assignment sometime during the 2024 season.

The rest of the return hasn’t exactly set the world on fire either. Jared Shuster carries a 4.75 ERA over 55 appearances with two different organizations. Nicky Lopez is a backup infielder who has posted -0.3 WAR over the last three seasons. Braden Shewmake has accumulated -0.1 WAR across two teams and didn’t even appear in the majors last year. Riley Gowens is a 26-year-old currently sitting on a 5.63 ERA in Triple-A.

The Braves traded essentially nothing for two years of a solid middle reliever. The deal itself should be viewed positively in hindsight. The actual mistake came when Atlanta extended him — a move that raised eyebrows at the time and looks indefensible now.