What Alex Anthopoulos said about the Braves ahead of the deadline

Alex Anthopoulos is making his media rounds now two weeks away from what’s expected to be a very active trade deadline for the Atlanta Braves.

As always, he’s never going to give too much away or talk explicitly about any specific deals, but Anthopoulos is typically a relatively straight shooter, and he didn’t hesitate to acknowledge that this Braves roster can improve in all areas leading up to the deadline.

“We can add in all areas, right,” Anthopoulos said to Jim Bowden on MLB Network Radio. “We’re definitely not a complete team. I think we’ve got the upside to be a complete team, but we can add rotation, bullpen, bats. And as much as we all like to say, ‘I need to get this, I need to get that,’ as you know very well Jim (Bowden) from all the trade deadlines you’ve been involved in, sometimes you have to take what ends up being available.”

The Braves’ top priority entering the deadline will be the rotation. It’s become an abject disaster, and the potential solutions internally are dwindling. They’ll be involved in every conversation for frontline starting arms, but the number available will be minimal, and the price tags are going to be sky high.

That’s why waiting this long to make a move is always a dangerous game, especially with the expanded playoffs creating fewer opportunities for buyers. But it’s the bed Anthopoulos made when he didn’t go after a starting pitcher during the offseason — despite saying on several occasions it was the club’s top priority. Nobody should be shocked if the Braves exit the deadline without acquiring a starter, and Anthopoulos essentially acknowledged as much.

“You might want a starter, if that doesn’t show up, maybe you need to make the offense better, maybe you need to make the bullpen better,” Anthopoulos continued. “I think it’s been pretty obvious that if there is a playoff caliber starter out there that we would jump at that. If there’s a reliever, we would jump at that. We see it all the time in the playoffs with all of the off days, not that many guys are going deep in terms of starts, and having a deep bullpen is pretty important. We’ve seen teams play bullpen games in the postseason as well because of the off-days.”

I’ve long believed the Braves don’t really have much of a choice but to be ultra-aggressive in pursuing any frontline starting pitcher who becomes available — which could even mean overpaying for the right arm. But in light of these recent comments, it’s fairly evident that doing so is far from a foregone conclusion.

I’m a big believer that if it walks like a duck and quacks like a duck, it’s probably a damn duck. Anthopoulos has never been shy about showing the world who he is when it comes to adding starting pitching. He doesn’t believe in the current market value for frontline arms, which is why the Braves have always avoided those kinds of deals. And if he wasn’t willing to pay the price during the offseason, it’s hard to believe he’s going to do so now when the market is even more inflated.

Anthopoulos’ philosophy on modern-day bullpens being far more impactful in the playoffs is spot on, and the Braves already have a very good bullpen as currently constructed. There’s a world where he sees that as the more viable source of innings come October, and adding even more firepower to the group could let them piece things together in a unique way behind Chris Sale. It puts a lot of pressure on Sale, and Walt Weiss to pull all the right strings, but it does sound like his preferred course of action — which history backs up as well. The last time the Braves acquired of starting pitcher of significance at the trade deadline was Kevin Gausman all the way back in 2018.

The offense also can’t be forgotten. The lineup has shown some very positive developments over the last couple of weeks, hinting at a return to the juggernaut it was in the first two months of the season. Austin Riley seems to be finding his footing. Drake Baldwin appears to have put the oblique injury in the rearview. Ronald Acuña Jr. is expected back within a week or so, and even Jim Jarvis has sparked some real life into the back of the lineup as the club’s starting shortstop.

Still, there’s a clear and obvious need for another middle-of-the-order bat to limit how often Walt Weiss has to turn to Mike Yastrzemski and Dominic Smith. Both are fine players in limited stints, but neither should be tasked with playing every day. Just a little more juice could put the Braves offense over the top — enough to carry this team to the NL East crown on its own.

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(Photo by David J. Griffin/Icon Sportswire)