3 reasons the Braves won the MLB Trade Deadline
By John Buhler
2. Atlanta completely revamped its depleted outfield on the fly in one afternoon
The Braves’ outfield was in dire straits after Ronald Acuña Jr. tore his ACL days before the All-Star Game. Factor in injured left fielder Marcell Ozuna’s ongoing legal issues and what used to be a strength for this team was a glaring weakness. While trading for Pederson with the Cubs helped offset losing Acuña for the year, Anthopoulos swung for the fences to fix the outfield on Friday.
He made three high-profile trades to improve his outfield. First, he dealt for former Braves left fielder Adam Duvall in a trade with the division rival Miami Marlins. Not long after that, Anthopoulos traded for Eddie Rosario with the Cleveland Indians. Just when everybody thought the Braves were done shopping for power bats, he added Jorge Soler from the Kansas City Royals.
Duvall made his triumphant return to the Braves on Friday night, recording his 69th RBI of the season vs. the Milwaukee Brewers (nice!). As with Rodriguez, Soler is expected to be in Braves uniform for Game 2 on Saturday night vs. the Brewers. Rosario may still be on the Injured List, but he is expected to begin his rehab assignment within the Braves organization in the coming days.
Adding Duvall, Rosario and Soler on Friday gives the Braves the outfield depth they were lacking.