Kyle Glaser of Baseball America recently handed out trade deadline grades to all 30 teams. The Braves failed to make any blockbusters, but they did make a flurry of trades in hopes of improving their two most glaring weaknesses — the outfield and bullpen. We won’t know until years down the road, when most of these prospects reach the majors, who really won these trades; however, it’s always a fun exercise to grade these moves right after they happen.
The Braves received a B from Glaser, who applauded Anthopoulos for turning Alex Jackson and Pablo Sandoval into Adam Duvall and Eddie Rosario. He did acknowledge that players like Bryse Wilson and Kasey Kalich could eventually be quality major-league arms, but said it was unlikely that losing either of them would significantly affect Atlanta’s future.
It was far from the highest grade given out by Glaser. National League competitors like the Dodgers and Giants both received an A+ for their blockbuster acquisitions, and they should be recognized for their aggressiveness, but it won’t look nearly as good in hindsight if they don’t end up raising the Commissioner’s Trophy at the end of the season.
The only team in the NL East, however, that received a higher grade from Glaser was the Phillies with a B+. The Nationals and Mets each got a B- while the Marlins received a C+.
As I stated over the weekend in my evaluation of the Braves deadline, Anthopoulos did a pretty good job of making lemonade out of lemons. Understandably, he didn’t want to trade away top prospects in a year where injuries and misfortune have terrorized the Braves, but he did bring in enough help to give the Braves a fighting chance without trading away anybody of significance. I like Bryse Wilson a lot, but with a surplus of young arms on the cusp of being major-league ready, it made sense to move on from one of them.
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