The MLB trade deadline is a few weeks away and Atlanta Braves fans are wondering what kind of rabbit GM Alex Anthopolous is going to pull out of his hat given his track record of putting deals together to improve the roster over the past couple of seasons.
Kris Willis, writer for Battery Power, was with Caleb Johnson on “The Dopey Millennials” on Sunday afternoon and said that he doesn’t anticipate the Braves making any kind of dramatic change to the roster, given the players that are available, like they have in seasons past.
“I’d be surprised if the touched anybody on the major league roster and I’d be pretty surprised if they touched A.J. Smith-Shawver but at the same time, we’ve seen them make deals before.” Willis said. He noted that, despite limited prospects last offseason, the Braves were able to pull off possibly “the biggest trade of the offseason” when they were able to secure the services of Sean Murphy from Oakland.
Willis also pointed out that the Braves are in a good enough position, with the best record in baseball and the imminent return of Max Fried and Kyle Wright, that they don’t need to make a big splash and anticipates the club adding some depth to the roster with a bullpen arm or another bench player.
“Things could change as we get closer (to the trade deadline) but hopefully Max Fried is going to be progressing enough that they’ll feel like maybe the rotation’s not an area they need to touch right now.” While Kris doesn’t think the Braves have the assets to make a deal for a premium starting picture, he is confident that they do have the pieces available to make a move to add some depth.
