How will recent struggles affect Braves aggressiveness at trade deadline?

After a historic first half of the season, the Braves have hit a skid to start the second half, dropping seven of eleven games and losing three out of four series.

It’s been frustrating in all aspects. The offense, which has been historic in so many aspects, has hit a lull. The starting pitching has started to show its warts, specifically when it comes to depth, and even when they perform, the bullpen has found a way to mess it up.

It’s caused many to question whether it will force Alex Anthopoulos to be more aggressive at the trade deadline than originally anticipated, but I can assure this recent rough pass will have little — if any — affect on how the Braves GM is going to go about his business over the next week.

For starters, Alex Anthopoulos already came out a few days ago and said he saw areas where the Braves could improve. They are far from dire, but teams always need to be looking to get better at the trade deadline, especially ones with World Series aspirations.

Another option in the outfield would be appreciated. Eddie Rosario and Marcell Ozuna haven’t been great of late. Rosario also leaves a lot to be desired defensively in left field. If the Braves could add another option that is above average defensively with decent success from the right side of the plate, it would give Brian Snitker a lot more versatility with his lineup card.

The pitching staff can also stand to improve in all areas, which is something every team can say. You can never have too many arms, and the Braves have seven key pitchers currently on the IL. This is a deep group with a lot of talent, but there isn’t a GM in baseball that is ever satisfied with his pitching.

All that to say, even before this stretch, Anthopoulos was fully aware of the areas where this team could get better, and he was always going to do everything in his power to make that happen. What he won’t do is be over-reactionary to a tiny sample size of 11 games.

The Braves have been the best team in baseball over the entire season. Every club is going to go through stretches where things don’t look as they should. That is the name of the game, and Anthopoulos isn’t going to all of a sudden overpay for another pitcher or outfielder just because the team is slumping. That would be a mistake, something Anthopoulos is notorious for avoiding.