Over at The Athletic, Jim Bowden handed out his superlatives for the MLB trade deadline, highlighting some of the best and worst moves.

The Braves, given their lack of action, weren’t mentioned much, but they were handed one award — best job of blocking another team from getting players.

“Atlanta acquired both Mahle and Thomas, preventing the Phillies from making those same moves and improving their roster,” Bowden writes. “The Phillies needed a back-of-the-rotation starter for the rest of the year and a right-handed-hitting outfielder who rakes against left-handed pitching, and Mahle and Thomas would have been perfect fits on their roster.”

Now, I’m all for finding the positives in what the Braves did, but this is the second time I’ve seen Bowden mention this, so I have to address it. How exactly did Alex Anthopoulos prevent the Phillies from doing anything they truly wanted to do?

The answer is he didn’t.

Tyler Mahle has barely $2 million left on his contract, a figure the Phillies could have easily swallowed, and the Braves acquired him for Anthony Molina, a reliever with a 6.89 ERA over 55 major-league appearances. If Philadelphia really wanted Mahle, all they had to do was offer a prospect with a pulse.

Lane Thomas is a bit of a different story. The Phillies definitely could have used a right-handed hitting outfielder, and perhaps Thomas was on their radar. However, they acquired a better player in Arraez as part of a plan that revolves around Bryce Harper moving back to the outfield permanently.

And again, this wasn’t a scenario where the Braves overpaid. The top prospect Atlanta sent in the Thomas deal was Lucas Braun, who according to ESPN’s Kiley McDaniel was the 48th-best prospect moved at this year’s deadline. Given Anthopoulos’ anti-aggressive tendencies, the Phillies likely wouldn’t have had to raise their offer much if Thomas was one of their top targets.

There’s a world where Alex Anthopoulos is right again. Lane Thomas could be this year’s Jorge Soler, and maybe the Braves really do see something nobody else does in Tyler Mahle, helping him pitch to his full potential. These are things that have happened plenty of times over Anthopoulos’ tenure in Atlanta, and nobody should be shocked if history repeats itself.

But saying the Braves intentionally blocked the Phillies from doing anything? That’s a stretch of all stretches.

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