{"id":70093,"date":"2025-07-21T03:06:23","date_gmt":"2025-07-21T03:06:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/?p=70093"},"modified":"2025-07-21T03:17:06","modified_gmt":"2025-07-21T03:17:06","slug":"update-braves-bullpen-meltdown-makes-alex-anthopoulos-trade-deadline-decision-for-him","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/?p=70093","title":{"rendered":"Update: Braves bullpen meltdown makes Alex Anthopoulos\u2019 trade deadline decision for him"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Arizona Diamondbacks v Atlanta Braves | Brandon Sloter\/GettyImages<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n
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Alex Anthopoulos\u00a0has one decision made for him thanks to yet another meltdown by this\u00a0Atlanta Braves\u00a0bullpen.<\/p>\n

He doesn’t need to worry about repairing it. It\u2019s time to sell at the trade deadline and turn the page to next season. This bullpen has been disappointing all season and with the Braves out of playoff contention at the moment, there\u2019s no sense in saving this thing.\u00a0This season couldn\u2019t have been more disappointing as a\u00a0Braves\u00a0fan.<\/p>\n

Things went from bad to worse and while getting Ronald Acu\u00f1a Jr. back should have been a highlight, it was merely a step forward for a team that has already regressed beyond recovery.<\/p>\n

Spencer Strider has been less than exciting,\u00a0AJ Smith-Shawver\u00a0was hit with an injury just nine games into his season and for as good as Spencer Schwellenbach has been, it hasn\u2019t really meant much. And that\u2019s just the starters. That\u2019s not including Raisel Iglesias\u2019 letdown season and the other arms that have been disappointing. It\u2019s time to make some changes.<\/p>\n

The only way the Atlanta Braves can salvage this season is by selling at the trade deadline<\/h2>\n

Though Anthopoulos\u00a0made it clear Chris Sale isn\u2019t on the trade block, it might be something worth looking into over the next couple of weeks. Sale is 36 years old and holding onto him during this miserable season seems like a lost cost.<\/p>\n

He\u2019s been one of the only arms to look respectable this year.<\/p>\n

It doesn\u2019t makesense to hold on to him when they\u2019ll bring back some younger arms next year, get healthy and hopefully have a much more competitive rotation than this year.<\/p>\n

On top of that, does losing Sale really hinder this bullpen for the future? Probably not. That\u2019s why it might be worth seeing what you could get in return for him.<\/p>\n

There haven\u2019t been many other arms the Braves have talked about offloading over the next few weeks, mainly because they spent the last couple months trying to repair this fractured bullpen. That didn\u2019t work and now they need to shift their focus to salvaging this year and looking to next year.<\/p>\n

With 43 wins, this team is out of reach of the wild card and 12.5 games back off the division lead. They shouldn\u2019t be worried about retaining guys like Sale right now when he has enough value to yield some sort of return.<\/p>\n

This season is a lost cause and the sooner Antopoulos accepts that, the sooner the Braves can make amends with this season.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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Arizona Diamondbacks v Atlanta Braves | Brandon Sloter\/GettyImages   Alex Anthopoulos\u00a0has one decision made for him thanks to yet another meltdown by this\u00a0Atlanta Braves\u00a0bullpen. 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