If you are looking at baseball general managers who are the masters of "saying nothing" while physically speaking a lot of words, Atlanta Braves general manager Alex Anthopoulos is at or near the top of the list. Notorious for keeping the Braves' front office locked down when it comes to information, Anthopoulos has become rather adept at answering anything resembling a speculative question with a healthy mix of "we aren't going to divulge our plans or negotiate in public" along with clever word salads that talk around the question without answering it.
To be fair, the approach has served the Braves very well as the team has been able to negotiate trades for guys like Chris Sale, Matt Olson, and Sean Murphy mostly outside the microscope of the sports news cycle. Without having to deal with pressure from the public, the front office has arguably been able to get deals done that wouldn't have otherwise and that is a good thing.
Still, Anthopoulos does have a little bit of troll in him which was on full display recently during an interview on 680 The Fan. Toward the end of the interview, he mentioned that the Braves had checked in on the availability of a "good player" and that his son was quite excited about it.
What (or who) does AA have up his sleeve!? @CelliniNick @chrisdimino
— 680 The Fan (@680TheFan) May 31, 2024
FULL INTERVIEW 🎧 https://t.co/kkwz2n0hY8 pic.twitter.com/Eb97tjNTeK
Which "good player" could the Braves be targeting in trade right now?
Obviously, all of the usual caveats apply here. AA could easily be doing a bit of misdirection or having some fun right now. He also took great pains to not give any other details about the "good player" Atlanta has asked about, the possibility of a deal getting done, or even what position the player could be. All he really accomplished beyond getting fans hyped up was probably getting his son bombarded by questions from his friends about it (which is hilarious).
However, perhaps we could garner some clues if we dig deep. It is a good player that has enough name recognition that Anthopoulos' 11-year-old son knows who he is which helps. While we can't precisely nail down the position said player could play, we can probably rule out catcher and the infield. That leaves an outfielder or a pitcher of some sort.
Given that the conversation also already happened despite the trade deadline being a good ways off, the best bet is that it was with a team that's already out of it or plans to be. Perhaps a talk with former Braves front office exec Perry Minasian about a trade for the Angels' Taylor Ward could be the answer, but we'll continue to bet on another trade with the A's for Brent Rooker and/or Mason Miller. Rooker hits a ton of bombs and Miller has loud strikeout stuff with an electric fastball. Yep, that seems like it could be right up AA's son's alley.