Update: The Athletic's bold trade deadline prediction for the Braves is anything but bold

The final two weeks of July always bring out plenty of fan and media trade proposals. With the MLB trade deadline less than two weeks away speculation around what the struggling Atlanta Braves will do has ran wild.

The Athletic recently released an article titled “One bold prediction for each team ahead of the MLB trade deadline,” with names like Eugenio Suarez, Merrill Kelly, and Ryan McMahon linked to several teams looking to buy.

The Braves certainly have players who would qualify as a bold move should they decide to trade them. However, the “bold” prediction for Atlanta at the deadline is one most fans probably would have guessed anyways.

David O’Brien of The Athletic says the Braves will not make splash move at trade deadline

Alex Anthopoulos is normally one of the most active GM’s in July, but this season he’s in a position he’s never been in before.

Despite the Braves offense playing better of late, the team still is 9.5 games back of the final NL Wild Card spot. Perhaps even more important, Atlanta only has two healthy, dependable starting pitchers in Spencer Strider and Grant Holmes.

This is why the league wide expectation is for Atlanta to be sellers for the first time in the Alex Anthopoulos era. However, if the Braves want to turn things around for 2026 they are going to need to get more creative than just selling off rental pieces like Raisel Iglesias and Marcell Ozuna.

Anthopoulos won’t make moves just to make headlines, but moving a player like Sean Murphy would be the splash move that could really reshape the Braves for 2026. If you’re subtracting from a plus area of the team like catcher to improve a negative area like shortstop then you’re really admitting to fans you know the current roster is flawed. That’s what it’s going to take to make the Braves competitive again in 2026.

It’s true DOB is probably correct in the sense that a bold move isn’t likely at this year’s trade deadline. However, a roster shake-up 100% needs to be on the table this winter, if not Anthopoulos could stir up an angry mob in the battery.