What might Anthopoulos pull off this Deadline?

July 28th, 2022

This story was excerpted from Mark Bowman's Braves Beat newsletter. To read the full newsletter, click here. And subscribe to get it regularly in your inbox.

Braves president of baseball operations Alex Anthopoulos doesn’t have an abundance of prospect capital to use ahead of this year’s Trade Deadline, which is Tuesday at 6 p.m. ET. But Anthopoulos has pulled more than a rabbit out of his hat when making trades. 

Seriously, you going to doubt a guy who managed to get Jesse Chavez from the Cubs for Sean Newcomb? That thievery will get you 10 years without parole in some states. What he did to rebuild his outfield with the acquisitions of Adam Duvall, Joc Pederson, Eddie Rosario and Jorge Soler before last year’s Deadline will get you a World Series ring and possibly a statue outside Truist Park.

What will the Braves do ahead of this year’s Trade Deadline? Well, they still could use a starting pitcher to serve as insurance for Ian Anderson and Spencer Strider. But Duvall’s season-ending wrist injury also creates reason to wonder if Anthopoulos may also attempt to get an outfielder. 

Anthopoulos will make every attempt to improve his club any way possible. But he doesn’t have a lot to work with from a prospect perspective. Highly regarded prospects Cristian Pache, Shea Langeliers and Ryan Cusick were used to acquire Matt Olson in March. The pipeline has been further depleted as Michael Harris II, Strider and William Contreras have become key pieces at the big league level. 

With limited resources available, Anthopoulos might have to decide between getting a starting pitcher or an outfielder. Personally, I think the greater need is landing an arm. There’s always a chance Rosario will start producing at the plate. But even if he doesn’t, the Braves have enough sources of power to get by with a left fielder who is at least serviceable defensively. 

As for the starting pitcher, they need a proven innings eater who could fill Anderson’s rotation spot if necessary. The Braves will use off-days to manage Strider’s workload. If the rookie continues pitching effectively over the remainder of the regular season, great. But the uncertainty about how effective he might be at the end of his second pro season further influences the desire to add a starter.

If the Braves were to acquire a starting pitcher next week, Anderson could make a few starts at Triple-A to right himself. Once he is ready, the Braves would have a better idea about Strider, who could be effective in the bullpen if eventually removed from the rotation. 

Right-handed pitchers Freddy Tarnok and Jared Shuster and infielder Vaughn Grissom might be the Braves’ most attractive prospects. But there still might be some clubs intrigued by the potential of left-handed pitchers Kyle Muller or Tucker Davidson, who have both made starts at the big league level the past two seasons.

I’ll predict the Braves will use two of their pitching prospects to get Reds right-hander Tyler Mahle.