Braves Make Negative News With Minor Moves
Tar and feathers are the order of the day for Atlanta Braves GM Alex Anthopoulos after he failed to tickle the fancy of the team's fans by swinging a major deal by the trade deadline yesterday. So said scores of fans who were underwhelmed by the trades completed by the NL East Division leaders.
Anthopoulos, or AA as he is called by local baseball opinion-holders, did make a few moves. He brought in an outfielder, Lane Thomas, who has a strong habit of hitting lefties well. He brought in a lefty reliever, Brent Suter from the Angels, and right- handed starter Tyler Mahle from San Francisco. . He also got Tyler Uberstine, a pitcher from the Red Sox.
But he did not get Tarik Skubal, or Casey Mize or Luis Arrayez, or any other " big" names. And that fact is all it takes for many to denounce his work, and project a bad outcome for the team while declaring the team owners as overseers of a substandard stance regarding credible aspirations to win the World Series title.
This approach neglects several vital aspects of the situation.
For one, we don't have any idea what AA offered or was asked to give up in order to make a deal. We don't know whom he was pursuing, nor do we know the budget limits under which he was working. Those factors are out of reach for.us.
And we also don't know how the players he did bring in will perform. That tidbit of uncertainty is the most important. It's only been five years since AA brought in Joc Pederson, Jorge Soler and Eddie Rosario in summer trades/ signings. None of those moves was heralded as front page news- especially Rosario, who was recovering from injury at the time of his acquisition.
As things turned out, each of the three made huge contributions for the then Acuna- less Braves , who caught fire in August and rolled to a World Series title. Soler became the World Series MVP. Rosario earned the same accolade for torching the Dodgers in the NLCS. And the sole reason Peterson did not win a similar award for the Division series is that there is no such award. ( why not, MLB?)
Nine of those details mean that the " forgotten four" that AA just hauled in will do much of anything. Nor does it mean that they won't. Certainly each will have his chances to play well in big moments for a team that already has a big lead for a good reason.
As for the fans' reactions, those passions are part and parcel of the whole fandom phenomenon. The fans are adamant, not apathetic. But nowadays it seems that everyone wants to be a GM. They often say " Go for the moment!", and " Push all chips into the middle!".
Sounds good- but there's a downside to chronic recurrent boldness– it doesnt always produce, and when the moves fall flat, the cupboard can go bare, leading to forgotten seasons down the way.
Coach John Wooden often told his troops that he didn't want "activity without achievement ". Yes, different sport, in a different time. But the lesson holds here. Only time will tell if AA did the right thing. The players he obtained need to do well, as do the prospects he refused to trade away...and the " stars" he did not bring home need to make no more than middlibg contributions to the teams they have joined.
All that could happen. Or it may not. Only time will tell.
What we do know is that spending big money and/ or big " prospect capital" doesn't necessarily foretell great performance, and certainly doesn't measure the resolve or the work ethic of the GM.
AA set out to make his team better on paper. He did so. His manager, Walt Weiss now has many more chess pieces with which he can maneuver through a game. He also has talented players returning to the fold ( Murphy, Schwellenbach, Smith- Shawver, er al). Now comes the intriguing part of the process.
Play ball!
Patrick Conarro
RamblinSports