The people who run sports teams too often make excuses about their unwillingness to compete. The owners of publicly subsidized, tax-advantaged sports franchises cite “financial flexibility” as the reason why they don’t spend money to sign the best players. General managers say they are reluctant to sacrifice the future when, really, they just lack the nerve to be bold in the present.
That’s my perspective. So, you can trust that I mean it when I say that Braves GM Alex Anthopoulos would have been justified in making no trades before Tuesday’s MLB deadline. He’d already made a flurry of transactions to fill the holes on the roster. It’s not Anthopoulos’ fault that so many of the team’s good hitters aren’t hitting and that MVP Ronald Acuña Jr. tore his ACL before June.
Under the circumstances, the best Anthopoulos could realistically hope to do is to get better spare parts than the ones he’s got. He ended up doing much better than that.
The Braves acquired outfielder Jorge Soler and right-hander Luke Jackson from the Giants in exchange for lefty reliever Tyler Matzek and minor league third baseman Sabin Ceballos. The focus will be on Soler and Jackson returning to the Braves after helping them win the 2021 World Series. That’s a nice part of the story. Braves fans will surely be wearing the home colors again at Truist Park.
But the more important thing is that Soler, especially, will help the Braves win. Anthopoulos said his priority was to find a player who hits for power and gets on base at a good clip. Mission accomplished with Soler, the 2021 World Series MVP.
“Jorge was the best bat available, in our minds, for what we looked to do,” Anthopoulos said.
Finally, the Braves have an outfielder they can expect to provide above average offense. The players who’ve filled in for right fielder Acuña and center fielder Michael Harris II have a combined .581 on-base plus slugging percentage. Soler is an instant upgrade. He’s complied a .749 OPS this season.
That’s baseline production for Soler. He’s compiled a .809 OPS since the start of the 2019 season. The other reserve outfielders can’t come close to matching that. Heck, not even Harris (.790 OPS in three MLB seasons) has produced like Soler.
The Braves will make their wild-card push with an outfield alignment of Jared Kelenic, Harris and Soler. That’s much better than any combination that manager Brian Snitker could create using the internal options. Even better: Soler isn’t a rental. He’s signed through 2026.
When Harris returns next month, Snitker can play Soler every day until Acuña recovers from ACL surgery. Once Acuña is back—Anthopoulos said he’s on track to return for 2025 opening day—then there will be a logjam in the lineup. Designated hitter at-bats won’t be available because the Braves will exercise their 2025 contract option on All-Star Marcell Ozuna.
That’s OK. Anthopoulos noted that Harris and Kelenic are left-handed hitters while Soler bats right. Snitker can mix and match the four outfielders. If Soler doesn’t find a regular place in the outfield, then he’ll be a great substitute. Acuña, Harris and Kelenic all have a recent history of missing significant time because of injuries.
“The one thing we’ve seen the last few years is you are going to need more than three,” Anthopoulos said.
We’ll see if Soler can still be an effective outfielder. He came to the Braves in 2021 with a reputation as a bad defender, but he was competent in right field for them. Soler’s defensive metrics have been bad since then. The Giants played Soler solely at designated hitter.
Credit: Jason Getz / Jason.Getz@ajc.com
Credit: Jason Getz / Jason.Getz@ajc.com
The Braves believe Soler still can play the outfield. Anthopoulos said he can even play left field because of his arm strength. In any event, the Braves will have to tolerate Soler’s defensive deficiencies so they can benefit from his bat.
The Braves also could have used a middle infielder and starting pitcher. It was unlikely that Anthopoulos could fill all three needs with good major leaguers.
“We can’t create available players,” he said.
Anthopoulos ended up getting a pretty good outfielder. Now the Braves will try to get by until second baseman Ozzie Albies returns from a fractured wrist and hope the rotation holds up.
Anthopoulos said Albies should back be early September. The Braves signed veteran infielder Whit Merrifield last week. He suffered a hand injury during warmups just a few hours after joining the team. The Phillies released Merrifield after he didn’t hit much. He was an All-Star for Toronto last season. Maybe he’s still got something left.
A staring pitcher wasn’t an urgent need for the Braves. The excellent rotation is why the team has stayed afloat despite the weak offense. But will the pitchers remain healthy and effective? Max Fried and Reynaldo López are having forearm issues. Chris Sale has a long injury history. Charlie Morton’s effectiveness has declined.
Anthopoulos said the Braves inquired about “front-line starters ... but we didn’t come close.” The team will ride a rotation of good veteran pitchers with injury and age concerns plus rookie Spencer Schwellenbach, who’s on the come.
“Right now, we have five we like,” Anthopoulos said.
Jackson is another good arm for the deep bullpen. He was good for the Giants in 2023 after returning from Tommy John surgery. He’s got a 5.40 ERA over 36 appearances this season. Jackson’s results have been better lately. It will be a luxury for the Braves if he can keep it going.
The Braves began Tuesday with a half-game lead for the No. 1 wild card in the National League. That’s despite their many issues with injuries and underperformance. Anthopoulos could have stood pat at the deadline. Wait for the good hitters to start hitting and for the injury luck to get better. I would have understood that approach.
Instead, Anthopoulos traded for a pretty good outfielder while not giving up any core players. Soler is back with the Braves. The jolt of nostalgia is nice. More importantly, Soler is going to help the Braves win games.
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