The Atlanta Braves’ failure to act was wildly panned by pundits and by other writers here. I’m disappointed too, but for different reasons.
Saying that Atlanta Braves fans seemed disappointed when the trade deadline passed without so much as a loud burp from GM Alex Anthopoulos is like saying the Mississippi is a nice little river.
Reactions ranged from outrage that he was held in check by Liberty Media, by being too timid to make a deal, or while suffering some kind of shell shock because he once traded Noah Syndergaard for R.A. Dickey. I was disappointed as well, but not because he didn’t convince the Indians to send Mike Clevinger to Atlanta or the Rangers to trade Lynn.
At the risk of using facts when everyone is reacting emotionally, let’s look at the reasons fans say Anthopoulos didn’t make a deal.
The first one to clear up is money. None of the players remotely connected to the Braves had contracts large enough to worry about, particularly this year, when the players only receive a prorated portion of the contract.
Anthopoulos is anything but timid when he finds a deal he likes. He once traded for most of the Miami Marlins and pulled a Jedi mind trick on Billy Beane, convincing him that Brett Lawrie could fill in nicely for Josh Donaldson.
He’s also shown he’ll trade prospects for a high-value arm when he feels it’s the right time and the right player. In 2015 he traded Matthew Boyd, Jairo Labourt, .and Daniel Norris. At that time Norris was the Jays number one prospect and Baseball America’s number 18 prospect in MLB, Labourt was the Jays #12 prospect Boyd was the Jays number 29,
The GM isn’t timid or suffering shell shock, The Indians preferred San Diego’s offer above all others received, and the Rangers didn’t want to trade Lynn, even if others think they made a mistake.
I’ve heard from fans who are certain the Atlanta Braves had better players to offer. It’s good to remember that a highly valued player for one team may not have the same value to another.