ATLANTA - Tom Glavine leaned against the Atlanta Braves dugout railing in SunTrust Park on Friday afternoon, pondering the trade-deadline deals that brought expected bullpen behemoths Chris Martin, Shane Greene and Mark Melancon to the Big Peach for the final two months of the season.
"It does a lot for confidence and morale," said the Hall of Fame lefty who was named the MVP of the 1995 World Series after pitching the Series-clinching win for the Bravos. "Not that they needed it, of course."
Glavine always had confidence as a player. Being a good enough athlete to be a high draft choice with both Major League Baseball and the National Hockey League - he was selected ahead of future hockey Hall of Famers Brett Hull and Luc Robitaille - will do that for a guy.
But as a pitcher who might have won another World Series or two for the Braves with a better bullpen to help him and fellow future Hall of Famers Greg Maddux and John Smoltz, Glavine also knows what can overtake a clubhouse when deals aren't made.
"As players, you're all armchair GMs (general managers)," he said. "You know what you need to get better. And if the trading deadline comes and goes without a major move, you're quietly disappointed that nothing was done."
It certainly looked for the longest time as if Braves GM Alex Anthopoulos might leave all of Braves Nation disappointed come this past Wednesday's 4 p.m. trade deadline, though there would have been nothing quiet about it for a fan base that hasn't seen its baseball heroes win a single postseason series since 2001.
Instead, with the quiet cunning of a cat burglar, Anthopoulos plucked the long, lanky veteran Martin from Texas, where he had recorded 43 strikeouts and just four walks this season while crafting a 3.08 earned run average.
Then he really shook things up by snatching closer Shane Greene from Detroit, where he had a 1.18 ERA and 22 saves in 24 opportunities, as well as veteran San Francisco reliever Mark Melancon.
Said Braves skipper Brian Snitker of Melancon, who had a 3.50 ERA in 46 innings of work with the Giants: "I remember facing him when he was with the Pirates and Nationals. He's a very consistent, reliable reliever."
The Braves' bullpen hasn't been reliable all season. Its only constant is its inconsistency. While its 28-13 won-lost record is commendable, its 17 blown saves and 4.18 ERA is hardly the stuff of a World Series contender.
Yet even with a seemingly obvious need for immediate pitching help, Glavine admitted that trades of this kind can occasionally upset the fragile chemistry that bonds together some teams and blows apart others.
"Trades like this can be good and bad," he said. "On one hand, you're excited that you've addressed some needs you have. On the other hand, bringing in those three relievers also means that there are three guys in your clubhouse who are packing their bags."
That said, Glavine was also quick to add, "But that's part of the game. Everyone who plays it knows that. The bottom line is this: Are you a better club at the end of the day? I think we are, and we didn't sell the farm to get who we wanted. This organizaton has never done that, and it never will."
On paper, the Braves would appear to be much better than before this deal. Yes, the Los Angeles Dodgers have better starting pitching, what with a team ERA of 3.37 (the only NL club under 4) and an opponent batting average of .226, which comfortably leads the Cincinnati and Miami opponent averages of .240.
The fact that the Dodgers have also scored the most runs to date in the NL heading into Friday night (602) also weakens any argument that the acquisitions of Martin, Greene and Melancon now make the Braves the team to beat. Ironically, the one stat that the Braves appeared to have a slight edge on the Dodgers before the trades was in blown saves, Atlanta's 17 two better than L.A.'s 19.
"I think you'd still have to give the Dodgers the edge in starting pitching," Glavine said. "And their offense is right there, too. But I think we might now have the better bullpen."
Mark WiedmerAs he watched the Braves begin batting practice prior to Friday night's game against Cincinnati, Glavine recalled another year when Atlanta was chasing the Dodgers, though the Braves were in the same NL West back then as L.A. and only one of them would reach the postseason that 1991 summer.
"The whole second half of that 1991 season it was all about could we overcome the Dodgers' experience," Glavine said. "I've always thought, 'Give me talent,' though no one knew what kind of talent we had that year. We were just so young."
Turns out the Braves weren't too young to win the West or the National League championship series. They would eventually take the World Series to extra innings in the seventh game before falling to the Twins in Minnesota.
No one yet knows if these Braves can mirror those Braves, though Glavine believes he sees important similarities.
"These guys fight for each other like we did," he said. "These guys battle for each other. And the organization is bringing in guys who are quality guys, just like they always have."
Glavine also thinks he knows what the next two months will be like in Braves Country.
"It's going to be fun," he said.
And however hopeful every Braves fan was of reaching the playoffs before Anthopoulos corralled Martin, Greene and Melancon, most of them thought these last two months would be anything but fun.
Contact Mark Wiedmer at mwiedmer@timesfreepress.com.