The Braves haven’t been burned by too many trades during Alex Anthopoulos’s tenure, and I wouldn’t consider the Mark Melancon trade to be a bad one by any means. Melancon wasn’t with the Braves during their World Series run, but he was still a quality bullpen piece and pretty well-liked among Braves fans after being acquired at the 2019 trade deadline in exchange for Dan Winkler and Tristan Beck.
I was a big fan of Beck at the time; he was a projected first round pick in 2015, but the Braves snagged him out of Stanford in the fourth round of the 2018 MLB Draft. Now, Beck looks like a budding superstar for the Giants.
https://twitter.com/NBCSGiants/status/1685800298311188480?s=20
https://twitter.com/NBCSGiants/status/1685818366517542913?s=20
Beck has bounced back and forth between the majors and AAA this season, but he looks like a guy who is ready to be a full-time MLB relief arm, or potentially even a starter. His numbers in 2023 have been very impressive:
Tristan Beck (2023): 21 G, 52 IP, 41 K, 2.94 ERA, 1.096 WHIP, 2 Saves
The Braves may have traded away a budding star, but in the end, they got a World Series title. Maybe Beck keeps up this pace and becomes a really good player, but you know what they always say; hindsight is 20/20. I can’t say I’d change anything about what led to the 2021 season, even if Melancon wasn’t a part of it.
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Photographer:Â Brian Rothmuller/Icon Sportswire
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