Atlanta Braves: Main takeaways from a recently published Alex Anthopoulos interview
Recently, Braves reporter Grant McAuley posted an article that detailed an interview he had with Atlanta Braves GM Alex Anthopoulos.
Many fans have been wishing that the Atlanta Braves GM would go ahead and make a trade. Some people feel that the current lack of trading by Anthopoulos means that he is a bad GM, or that he has little to no interest in improving the team, which that is not the case whatsoever.
Here are some things Alex Anthopoulos said in this interview, and my takes on what Anthopoulos had to say. I think many of these will prove as good reminders of Anthopoulos’ trade deadline intentions, and the plan he has for the future of the Atlanta Braves organization.
Addressing the success of Atlanta’s young players:
"“… [They] haven’t come out of nowhere to do what they’re doing. We just didn’t know when it would all come together. It’s been great to see.”"
After Alex Anthopoulos was hired, it was said that Atlanta’s window for contending was going to be in 2019. Actions speak louder than words, and we could see front office setting up a window for 2019 by the Matt Kemp trade.
The reason Kemp was traded was to create a large amount of salary availability for the 2018-2019 free agent market. The plan before the 2018 season began was to build the Atlanta Braves as a contending team NEXT year, not this year.
No one expected the Braves to be where they are right now, and obviously the front office shared this belief before the season began. Do you blame them?
This great season the Atlanta Braves are having has been a pleasant surprise. This is not to take away from the fact that the success the Braves are having right now was completely unexpected.
The purpose of the 2018 season was to see how the young-uns performed to get an idea of what the team needs would be for 2019. I assume the front office did not expect they would have to address team needs at the All Star break in 2018, but here we are…
This is a good thing because it shows just how talented this Atlanta team is, and it shows just how great they can be with a few roster additions not only before the end of the trade deadline, but during the 2018-2019 off season. This success is bad in a way because it forces the front office to go a bit off-course with their original plan.
I doubt I am alone, but before the season began, I was under the impression that the Braves would be sellers at the All Star break, not buyers… This sudden reversal of plan the front office has to make must be difficult to deal with, but it appears they’re doing a good job with it.
The lack of trades made by the front office is not telling of a lack of desire to improve the team. It shows the fine tooth comb that the front office is using in preparation to make decisions that will affect the long term sustainability of the team.