Atlanta Braves have made big moves in the past…especially the blockbuster deal in 2007

Besides Sonny Gray, Do The Braves Have Their Eye on Someone Else?

With the Major League Baseball trade deadline (July 31st) approaching very fast, are the Atlanta Braves done making trades?  There are rumors out there that the Braves are looking to acquire the Oakland Athletics right-handed pitcher Sonny Gray, but could a bigger trade be in the works that nobody has even mentioned?

There are rumors out there that the Braves are looking to acquire the Oakland Athletics right-handed pitcher Sonny Gray, but could a bigger trade be in the works that nobody has even mentioned?

Without naming any of the potential players that could be in a blockbuster trade, take a look at what the Braves did just before the trade deadline back in 2007.

What Was 2007 that Makes It A Possibility Something Big Could Happen?

In 2007, the Braves had a winning record as the trade deadline approached and yet the Braves made huge moves…until right at the deadline.

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At the start of the 2007 season, “Baseball America” ranked catcher Jarrod Saltalamacchia, shortstop Elvis Andrus and left-handed pitcher Matt Harrison as the top three prospects in the Braves organization.

Yet, the Braves traded Saltalamacchia, Andrus and Harrison, along with RHP Neftali Feliz and LHP Beau Jones, to the Texas Rangers for first baseman Mark Teixeira as well as LHP Ron Mahay on July 31, 2007.

But, the dealing did not stop there.  In a deal with the Kansas City Royals later in the day, the Braves traded RHP Kyle Davies to the Royals, acquiring RHP Octavio Dotel.

In what appeared to be a lot of action already, the Braves were not finished, as they had one more deal before the deadline.  This one was with the San Diego Padres, as the Braves gave up LHP pitchers Wilfredo Ledezma and Will Startup, in order to acquire LHP Royce Ring from the Padres.

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Many front office employees were in different spots way back when…especially the guy doing most of the decision making — Frank Wren.  He’s now gone and we’ve got fire-thrower John Coppolella at the helm.

We all should trust Coppy right now as the Braves have turned around the minor league organization tremendously.  My hope is though, that the Braves don’t trade away major parts of the minor league system to acquire something big.

I vividly remember the Mark Teixeira trade and how it didn’t work out that well for the Atlanta Braves. Teixeira spent only 157 games with the Braves within a span of almost a full year (July 31, 2007 – July 29, 2008).  The Braves traded him to the Angels for Stephen Marek and Casey Kotchman.

All this action back in 2007 and the Braves were in the playoff hunt.  Now with not being in the playoff hunt and with not having a winning record in 2017, what is to say that the Braves will not make another huge move, or moves and have just not been talking about it in the media?