Braves: 3 times Alex Anthopoulos thrived on the hot stove, and 1 time he got burnt

1 time Braves’ Alex Anthopoulos got burnt on hot stove: R.A. Dickey trade

No general manager is perfect and Anthopoulos is certainly guilty of some notable blunders. One that stands out above the rest, however, is Toronto’s decision to trade a package including Noah Syndergaard and Travis d’Arnaud to the Mets for R.A. Dickey in December 2012.

At the time, it wasn’t hard to understand the logic. Dickey was fresh off his Cy Young campaign with New York, a 20-6 season in which he posted a remarkable 2.73 ERA while leading the MLB in games started and innings pitched. The knuckleballer was at the top of his game.

Unfortunately for Toronto, Dickey quickly came back down the earth with the Blue Jays. He captured his only Gold Glove award in 2013, but he was otherwise unspectacular in four years with Toronto: 49-52 with a 4.05 ERA, 602 strikeouts, and 269 walks in 131 appearances.

The Mets received several years of fruitful work behind the plate from a young Travis d’Arnaud, who Anthopoulos would later bring to Atlanta in 2020. The big regret for Toronto, however, is Noah Syndergaard. There was no way to truthfully predict Syndergaard’s meteoritic rise with New York, but the shaggy-haired gunslinger finished fourth in Rookie of the Year voting in 2015 and made an All-Star appearance for the Mets in 2016. He ultimately spent six years on the mound for New York, posting an impressive 47-31 record with an ERA of 3.32 and 777 strikeouts.