Jim Bowden believes Alex Anthopoulos under least amount of pressure at MLB trade deadline

For most Braves fans, the trade deadline can’t get here fast enough. This team desperately needs a boost, and there are countless directions AA can go. The outfield, shortstop, and pitching staff could be addressed in varying degrees. 

Even without Ronald Acuna Jr. and Spencer Strider, this is a team with World Series aspirations and a starting rotation that can lead them there. It’s been two decades since the Braves last sent three starters to the All-Star game.

Max Fried, Chris Sale, and Reynaldo Lopez can go toe-to-toe with any 1-2-3 in baseball; all the Braves need is an offensive boost, and Anthopoulos will surely be doing his damnest to upgrade that facet of the club.

He’s under a tremendous amount of pressure, but that’s not how Jim Bowden of The Athletic sees it. The MLB pundit considered Atlanta’s President of Baseball Operations among the least pressured executives ahead of the trade deadline.

Despite losing Spencer Strider and Ronald Acuña Jr. to season-ending injuries, the Braves sit atop the NL wild-card standings and entered Friday with nearly a 94 percent chance to make the playoffs, according to FanGraphs. Chris Sale is having a Cy Young Award-caliber season and Reynaldo López has surpassed all expectations en route to an All-Star nod, which have helped the Braves deal with the loss of Strider. They have the NL’s fourth-best record even though several of their stars, such as Matt Olsen, Austin Riley and Michael Harris II, underperformed in the first half of the season. The Braves need to add another outfielder or two and perhaps another veteran starter for the back of their rotation, but there really isn’t much pressure on the front office to address either area. The industry does not expect a big move from them, and it will be relatively easy for Anthopoulos to deal with those two minor needs. Remember, three years ago, he traded for four outfielders at the deadline after the Braves lost Acuña to an ACL surgery, and they went on to win the World Series.

“There isn’t much pressure on the front office to address either area” — talking about the outfield and the rotation is ridiculous from Bowden.

I can get behind leaving the starting rotation untouched, but comparing that and the outfield is asinine. The Braves are soon to welcome Michael Harris II back, and he should provide a tremendous boost for the offense, probably more than any trade acquisition could.

However, that doesn’t even begin to get this offense in a position to compete in the postseason. Adam Duvall doesn’t need to be playing every day, and Eddie Rosario needs to be relegated to a bench role.

Though I’m high on Jarred Kelenic, the Braves shouldn’t leave it to chance that he continues to improve as an everyday player. The club needs at least one starting-caliber outfielder, and I could argue they need two.

The overarching theme of this piece is interesting, but Anthopoulos is under a crushing amount of pressure because the Braves have an incredibly high standard. It’s championship or bust in Atlanta, and their lead man in the front office is being tasked with trying to replace the production of the reigning NL MVP in Ronald Acuna Jr.

After a lackluster first half of the season, it’s on Anthopoulos to manufacture some improvement. That’s pressure if I’ve ever seen any.

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