Atlanta may grow to regret giving up Cole Phillips
The bulk of the early chatter surrounding this trade has centered on the money that the Braves took on from Seattle, but they paid a real price on the prospect front as well. The Braves drafted Phillips in the second round of the 2022 draft despite the fact that he had to have Tommy John surgery that spring before the draft. The reason the Braves took that risk is because Phillips has a fastball that is likely to reach triple digits assuming he comes back healthy as well as a power slider that projects to be a plus pitch.
The Braves likely felt that Phillips was expendable simply because he has yet to return to the field since his injury. As good as he could be, he is still years away from helping the big league club even if he starts the 2024 season healthy given that he was a prep arm when he was drafted. However, make no mistake about it: the Braves gave up a very talented pitching prospect in this deal in Phillips and there is a real chance that Braves fans will look back on this deal and wince given how high Phillips' upside is.
The Braves "probably" are no longer players for the top free agent starters
This was hinted at in the first section, but is worth repeating. With the Braves taking on all of this salary from the Mariners in this deal, it is hard to see a world where they sign a free agent starter of note this offseason. Yoshinobu Yamamoto, Jordan Montgomery, and Blake Snell are the top rotation arms left on the market and even before this deal, it was a stretch to think that the Braves would be willing to hand out a contract that those guys would take.
Now that this deal is done, the plans to add a starter are even murkier. Sure, the Braves could trade away guys like Marcell Ozuna or Raisel Iglesias to free up some payroll space and that would make signing a pitcher such as Eduardo Rodriguez, Michael Wacha, or even Marcus Stroman more feasible. However, it is far more likely that Atlanta just avoid free agency altogether when it comes to getting a starter and a trade for guys like Cease or Shane Bieber becomes more and more likely.