LOS ANGELES – Regardless of how this season ends, the Atlanta Braves’ July trade activity will be remembered as one of the more team-altering deadlines in franchise history.
General manager Alex Anthopoulos, whose team hadn’t even crossed the .500 mark at any point of the year, went aggressive in July, acquiring six players: outfielder Joc Pederson, catcher Stephen Vogt, outfielder Eddie Rosario, outfielder Adam Duvall, outfielder Jorge Soler and reliever Richard Rodriguez.
Anthopoulos’ reward? A team that found itself in August, not only soaring above .500 and into first place, but building a legitimate cushion in doing so. The Braves went from a possible cross-off in mid-July (following outfielder Ronald Acuna’s season-ending injury) to division favorites within a few weeks.
And their GM’s words on July 30 rang true: “There’s no doubt we’ve had our challenges, that’s probably a nice way to say it,” Anthopoulos said minutes after the trade deadline passed. “But at the same time, every club has. The one fortunate thing for all of us in the NL East is that we’re playing in the NL East in 2021. So that allows us all to stay in it and be competitive.”
The Braves are more than just competitive now. They’ve lost only three times in their last 14 games, looking like the complete team they had previously struggled desperately to become.