Regrading the Matt Olson trade: Braves wanted for grand larceny

It is safe to say the Atlanta Braves owned the Oakland Athletics in last year’s Matt Olson trade.

Nobody takes candy from a baby quite like the Atlanta Braves do when making deals with the Oakland Athletics. Look no further than last year’s Matt Olson trade.

The Lilburn native and former Parkview star is entering his second season of an eight-year deal with his hometown team. Although he faced insurmountable pressure of having to take over for former franchise cornerstone Freddie Freeman at first, Olson demonstrated great power and poise at the plate. While these games do not count, Olson would have been Spring Training MVP.

All the while, the hapless A’s are not putting former Braves top prospect Cristian Pache on their Opening Day roster. He was the pro-ready piece Oakland got in the Olson deal made nearly a year ago. Even though catcher Shea Langeliers still has a ton of promise, him being dealt helped the Braves steal another former A’s star in backstop Sean Murphy this offseason. Oakland is so dumb.

Even if Joey Estes and Ryan Cusick amount to something in the Oakland minor league system, the Braves owned the A’s so badly in this lopsided trade that the Athletics should move, rebrand as the Portland Purple or Pink Dinosaurs and fire everyone associated with their poverty franchise.

Obvious Buhler bias aside, I have no earthly idea how Oakland can win this trade going forward.

Atlanta Braves Matt Olson trade should force Oakland Athletics into relocation

Look. Olson is the best thing to happen to Parkview since Jeff Francoeur. Frenchie is hashtag blessed to call Braves games up in the booth and watch his fellow Panther alum go to work. Olson is the native son Braves Country deserves. He won’t whine like his would-be Vanderbilt teammate. The girls love him more than they loved Javy Lopez, and guys would kill to be like him.

So as Olson circles the bases for the 40th time this year in September, well on his way to his first NL MVP and a presumptive 2023 World Series championship, there will be more rats in the Oakland Coliseum than fans for the umpteenth game in a row of meaningless Bay Area baseball. Langeliers may be an All-Star because even the losers are given a gold star to feel like they belong.

Ultimately, this has the chance to best trade an MLB team has made since Babe Ruth went to the New York Yankees for a bag of baseballs. Truth be told, even if Olson ages poorly in the final three-quarters of his Braves contract, it is too difficult to see Oakland somehow finding a way to make this deal where both sides can win. Right now, the Braves lead the Athletics a bajillion to nothing.

You can tell me one of the other 29 MLB teams will win the World Series, but I’m not gonna listen.