Braves general manager Alex Anthopoulos is well aware that many fans would like to see him trade a package of prospects for an established big-league star.
So he described, during a forum with fans at Truist Park, the circumstances under which he would make such a deal.
“If we’re going to trade a bunch of young players who have a chance to be here for six years and beyond … the bar for us to trade those guys for someone that has only one year of (contractual) control or two years of control is very high,” Anthopoulos said. “I can tell you that when we feel somewhat confident that if we trade young players for a guy with a year or two left on his contract, if we think we have a real chance to extend that player and sign that player and keep him in Atlanta long-term, we’re going to push hard. We’re going push hard; we’re going to give up a lot of good young players.”
On the other hand, “if we’re pretty confident that this is just a one-year thing or a two-year thing and they’re probably out the door as free agents, that’s going to be really challenging for us (to do a deal),” Anthopoulos said.
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To this point, Anthopoulos hasn’t made a multiple-prospects-for-a-big-star trade as the Braves’ GM, opting to hold on to the organization’s deep pool of prospects. Based on the scenarios Anthopoulos described, that could be at least in part because he hasn’t felt the star players available in trades were likely to sign long-term contract extensions before becoming free agents in a year or two.
But his comments indicate an intriguing openness to such a deal under certain circumstances.
"I know everyone is dying to see us make a big splash and a big move," Anthopoulos told fans during the state-of-the-team forum, which was part of the Braves' annual Chop Fest weekend. "My whole concern is as long as we win, I think everyone in this room will be thrilled."
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