Much was made of the Braves' aggression, or lack thereof, around last season's trade deadline. The call to add another big-name arm to the pitching staff was loud, however it fell on deaf ears as Braves' General Manager, Alex Anthopoulos, decided to stay the course and did little to no fiddling with the roster. To Anthopoulos' credit, the Braves were the best team in baseball and the phrase "if it ain't broke don't fix it" was in full force. That may not be the case this time around.
Nothing spurs a desire to get better like seeing one of your rivals do the same. With cross-country rival, Los Angeles Dodgers, signing Shohei Ohtani, the unquestioned best player in the MLB, the Braves find themselves looking up at another team's roster, and asking do we have enough? Could that realization be enough to pressure Anthopoulos to make a move for a superstar of his own?
Chris Thomas, host of "The Other Side of the Glass", shared his thoughts on how the move effects the Braves and more importantly Alex Anthopoulos. "It puts more pressure on him to make moves!" The pitching rotation is still a cause for concern with the third and fourth spots being the big question marks.
Thomas noted that other teams that have championship aspirations, Dodgers, Yankees, etc, are adding difference makers. Meanwhile the Atlanta Braves are trotting out a roster that looks very similar to last year's.
Coming off the heels of a title run two years ago it was hard to question anything Anthopoulos did, but after two disappointing, early exits in their last two postseason appearances, that veil of armor has worn off. Its time for the man they call "AA" to get aggressive again.