The Braves are a fast-sinking team with no real explanation behind their rapid decline. Their offense without Acuna has all but diminished and their starting rotation without Strider has a gaping hole. Despite their recent woes, the Braves are still in the postseason picture, at least for now thanks to their hot start to the season.
However, if they want to stay in the picture, either the offense is going to need to kick it into high gear or Alex Anthopoulos is going to need to inject some life into their lineup.
Unfortunately, the Braves don’t have too many bargaining chips to trade with. They have two top 100 prospects in AJ Smith-Shawver and Hurston Waldrep. Besides that, the Braves’ farm system is fairly shallow. This makes it unlikely that they can acquire some of the top names on the auctioning block like Luis Robert Jr. or Mason Miller if it came down to a bidding war.
While not impossible, going after some top names might mean draining what’s left of the farm system. Luckily, there are some underrated gems on some rather poor teams to choose from. Perhaps if managed with cunning prowess,
Alex Anthopoulos could acquire more than one game-changing player and engineer another 2021 comeback story. Let’s check out some of the names that fly in under the radar.