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Atlanta Braves will have difficult trade deadline calls to make

By Alan Carpenter

TORONTO, CANADA - APRIL 4: General manager Alex Anthopoulos of the Toronto Blue Jays talks to media before MLB game action against the New York Yankees on April 4, 2014 at Rogers Centre in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. (Photo by Tom Szczerbowski/Getty Images)
TORONTO, CANADA - APRIL 4: General manager Alex Anthopoulos of the Toronto Blue Jays talks to media before MLB game action against the New York Yankees on April 4, 2014 at Rogers Centre in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. (Photo by Tom Szczerbowski/Getty Images) /
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TORONTO, ON – OCTOBER 14: Josh Donaldson #20 of the Toronto Blue Jays talks with Fox Sports Ken Rosenthal as the Blue Jays celebrate the 6-3 win against the Texas Rangers in game five of the American League Division Series at Rogers Centre on October 14, 2015 in Toronto, Canada. (Photo by Tom Szczerbowski/Getty Images)
TORONTO, ON – OCTOBER 14: Josh Donaldson #20 of the Toronto Blue Jays talks with Fox Sports Ken Rosenthal as the Blue Jays celebrate the 6-3 win against the Texas Rangers in game five of the American League Division Series at Rogers Centre on October 14, 2015 in Toronto, Canada. (Photo by Tom Szczerbowski/Getty Images) /

From His Own Words

Sweeny Murti and Jon Heyman recently interviewed Alex Anthopoulos on their ‘Big Time Baseball‘ podcast.  His segment starts at roughly the 16 minute mark and lasts just over 15 minutes.

The main theme for our purposes:  the Rotation Needs to Improve.

Anthopoulos said virtually the same thing here that Rosenthal noted in his column:  that the Braves have concern about their rotation and will be about the process of evaluating several possible internal options available to improve their starters’ ERA.

This includes (stated) names like Foltynewicz, Gausman, Wilson, Wright, and even Kolby Allard.  There are other names that were not mentioned – Newcomb… Toussaint… possibly even a AA arm or two.

The belief is that the Braves have just about as much talent available within the organization as could be obtained on the trade market.

That statement sounds a bit glib, particularly since most of that talent is (clearly) still raw and inexperienced.  Yet when you think about it, the Braves need only 1… maybe 2… guys to step up and start delivering some consistent, quality innings (particularly given the offense supporting them).

The big message:  the Braves will take as much time as they have to make a decision about whether somebody will step up and be ‘that guy’ or whether they have to go outside the organization.

So don’t hold your breath waiting for trades to be made… barring something unforeseen, Atlanta will be in no hurry to do anything.

Any Sign of Relief?

Also of note:  there was no mention of the bullpen by Anthopoulos in this interview.  That may not mean much, but clearly it’s the rotation that has his attention, first and foremost.

Perhaps this news is one reason for that:

Well that’s good news indeed.

If this indeed is the case, it’s probably the best possible outcome for both the Braves and for Anthony Swarzak.  My own concern was that his shoulder injury would linger quite a bit longer.

We’ll see in a couple of weeks if this predicted result verifies.

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