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After a long and at times excruciating period without news, the Atlanta Braves have strengthened their running roster with the addition of four players ahead of Friday’s trade deadline. The Braves added what they hope will be significant depth to their exhausted outfield with the additions of Adam Duvall, Jorge Soler and Eddie Rosario. The team also acquired Pirates’ closest Richard Rodriguez just before the 4 p.m. ET deadline in a bid to bolster an enclosure that has been inconsistent throughout the 2021 season.
Atlanta has just completed what was considered a crucial road trip with nine games against Philadelphia and New York. Atlanta finished the trip 5-4, dividing four against the Phillies while taking three of five against the Mets. Thought was in many circles that the trip might head to Atlanta by the deadline, but that was not the case according to Braves president of baseball operations Alex Anthopoulos.
“I know there has been a lot of talk about it, I didn’t necessarily agree with that,” Anthopoulos said. “We have over 60 games left. What happens in an individual series, of course, they are all important. Of course you are playing against division opponents and so on. But I saw teams losing leads in September. I’ve seen them lose leads with one week to go, two weeks to go. Coming out of the break, making the deal for Joc and Vogt, I think I made one at the time and said unequivocally enough, we’re looking to add. So there was no scenario that this was going to change in a 10-day or two-week period. “
So the sale was never really on the table and something the team considered, which is not surprising. With everything that has gone wrong so far in 2021, the Braves are still just four games back.
“We just felt like we had a pretty good grasp of our club and what NL East was doing at the time,” Anthopoulos added. “Even though things hadn’t gone very well, we still felt like we had a club that had a chance to win the division.”
Anthopoulos said the team is focused on resolving the outfield situation at the deadline.
“We wanted to do what we could offensively, no doubt about it,” Anthopoulos said of the team’s goals at the deadline. “Our infield is ready, Arnaud comes back behind the plate. So the outfield was the area to do something there.
The Braves entered the season with an outfield from Marcell Ozuna on the left, Cristian Pache in the center and Ronald Acuña Jr. on the right. For various reasons, none of the three are on the active roster, and Pache appears to be the only candidate who could return to the Braves in 2021 if needed. Guys like Guillermo Heredia and Abraham Almonte did a valiant replacement job, but it was easy to see the Braves were going to need backup for the stretch run.
The bullpen has been a point of contention throughout the season, and it was also an area of interest. Anthopoulos said there is a lot of competition for lifters in the market and they have been trying to add someone for weeks now.
“We really wanted to try and get a reliever,” Anthopoulos said. “We’ve been trying for weeks, but I know for the last three, four days we’ve tried and we were finally able to make a deal today.”
Duvall made it to Atlanta on time and was in the Braves’ lineup for Friday’s season opener against the Milwaukee Brewers. He was not tendered by the Braves this past offseason as the team was forced to cut payrolls due to the uncertainty surrounding the pandemic, and Duvall was one of those tough decisions that the team was forced to take.
“We liked all these players that we lost in free agency. We loved them all, ”Anthopoulos said of the decision not to bid on Duvall. “They were all good people in the clubhouse. They are all productive players. The reality was that with the uncertainty that prevails in 2021, we have reduced the payroll. As such, we had to make decisions and take out the good players and Adam is a good player. He arguably had his best year with us last year. The real draw is that he doesn’t have to play against us now.
Duvall signed with the Marlins and reached .229.277 / .478 with 22 homers and 68 RBIs. He tormented his former team, however, reaching .368 / .395 / .842 with five homers and 17 RBIs in 12 games against Atlanta.
“We really love Adam, he’s a great defender. He’s having a good year, excellent at the clubhouse, and we needed to improve our outward depth of field, ”said Anthopoulos. “It was available and we were happy to be able to get it back. “
The Braves also acquired outfielder Eddie Rosario in what amounted to a pay cut from Cleveland. Rosario is still on the injured list due to an abdominal injury, but is on the verge of being ready to go into rehabilitation. Rosario has appeared in 78 games for Cleveland while hitting .254 / .296 / .389 with seven home runs.
“He’s been a very productive player for the Twins,” Anthopoulos said of Rosario. “He started off slowly with the Indians this year and was just starting to play well before he got injured. “
As the weather neared the 4 p.m. ET deadline, the Braves added slugger Jorge Soler in a deal with the Kansas City Royals. Soler got off to a terrible start in 2021 and that is reflected in his overall numbers. He’s been in 94 games and only hits .192 / .288 / .370 with 13 home runs and 81 wRC +. Soler found his pace a bit late, posting a 0.561 slugging percentage with seven home runs and a 131 wRC + in July.
“He had a low year by his standards, but he finally pulled it off and he has tremendous power, especially against lefties,” Anthopoulos said of Soler. “The numbers are amazing, the power is real. He’s someone we’d really love to use against lefties.
It remains to be seen how the Braves deploy their new outward depth of field, but Anthopoulos has mentioned having the ability to set up multiple squad situations on several occasions. He stressed how important it was to add depth without the ability to do a waiver exchange. By adding additional bodies, they are better prepared in the event of an injury to an outfielder.
“I think everything is on the table. We have the ability to form a platoon and so on, ”Anthopoulos said when asked how the new pieces fit together. “The other thing is you go past that date and you can’t add any more unless it’s guys or guys you claim on the waivers, trade waivers are made. So there is more emphasis on depth because you can’t go anywhere else.
The final piece of the puzzle came minutes before the 4 p.m. ET deadline according to Anthopoulos with the addition of Rodriguez to the bullpen. Rodriguez was closest to the Pirates and recorded a 2.82 ERA and 2.58 FIP in 38 1/3 innings. Anthopoulos said having closing experience was a plus, but that he can pitch in a number of situations. Rodriguez is also under team control for two more seasons beyond this one.
“There are a lot of relievers that have been moved and we’ve talked to a lot of people,” Anthopoulos said of the reliever market. “I think when you add pen arms you try to separate them. It is not necessarily that easy to do. We clearly liked Rodriguez and the fact that we have some control beyond the current year.
It remains to be seen whether the Braves did enough to overtake the Phillies and Mets, both of whom made significant moves on the trade deadline as well. However, they were able to solve some of the problems with the list without digging too deep into their potential capital. They’ll also likely pick up Travis d’Arnaud, Huascar Ynoa and Ian Anderson at some point in August.
“There is no doubt that we have had our challenges, that’s probably a nice way to put it, but at the same time every club has them,” Anthopoulos said. “The only thing is you get into the playoffs, we’ve seen great teams lose early on. I remember the Mariners team winning 116 games and being eliminated. The Cardinals won 83 games years ago and won the World Series. I think you have to worry about being able to get in first. We have seen Wild Card teams qualify for the World Series. You just don’t know once you get in. There is no doubt that we have had our challenges, but everyone in Eastern NL has had their challenges and our goal is to keep working and trying to improve the club.
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