Alex Anthopoulos admits Braves came up short 1 move at the trade deadline

Alex Anthopoulos believes the Atlanta Braves could have made one more move at the deadline.

Though Atlanta Braves general manager Alex Anthopoulos did a phenomenal job of revamping his club’s roster, even he believes they came up one move short of having excused the trade deadline to perfection.

During an interview with Dukes and Bell on 92.9 The Game in Atlanta, Anthopoulos admits he was looking at acquiring a “pure [centerfielder]” at the deadline. He elaborated by saying Starling Marte was the one guy he had his eye on in particular, but dealing for him within the division would have been difficult. Marte was traded from the rival Miami Marlins to the Oakland Athletics.

Anthopoulos also said he had interest in adding native Georgian Byron Buxton, but the Minnesota Twins were asking too much for their often-injured franchise cornerstone outfielder for Atlanta to pull the trigger and strike a deal.

Alex Anthopoulos admits Atlanta Braves could have added a true centerfielder

So should Anthopoulos be kicking himself over missing out on Marte and not being able to pry Buxton out of the Twin Cities? No, because he was the aggressor and completely reshaped Atlanta’s outfield in one afternoon. With Joc Pederson already in the fold, Anthopoulos dealt for Adam Duvall, Eddie Rosario and Jorge Soler on Friday, as well as relief pitcher Richard Rodriguez.

All four outfielders Anthopoulos traded for in July can rake. While Rosario is still working his way back from injury, he can also make plays with his glove. Pederson can as well, and while Duvall is serviceable in left field, keep in mind that Soler was mostly used as a DH when he was on the Kansas City Royals. Adding either Buxton or Marte would have been done with defense in mind.

So what does this all really mean? To be honest, this is not a good look for Atlanta’s top prospect Cristian Pache. He was supposed to be the team’s every day centerfielder this year and that has not been the case. We also have to wonder when Drew Waters will be making his big-league debut. For now, Atlanta has an outfield that is power-heavy, but may have defensive liabilities.

Overall, Braves Country should not feel disappointed with the great work Anthopoulos did in July.