Braves: 3 trades Alex Anthopoulos will regret not making at the deadline

2. St. Louis Cardinals RP Jordan Hicks

Going back to the Braves addressing the bullpen at the trade deadline, it always made sense for Atlanta to take a gamble where they could. Anthopoulos, in fact, did that in trading for Pierce Johnson and Taylor Hearn, the latter of whom was quickly flipped after one appearance to acquire Nicky Lopez.

If they were going to take a roll of the dice in trading for a reliever, though, it feels like a missed opportunity to not take advantage of the Cardinals fire sale and see if they can capitalize on the obvious talent of someone like Jordan Hicks.

Hicks, who was ultimately traded to the Toronto Blue Jays for the club’s seventh-best prospect and an unranked prospect as well, can hit 104 mph on the radar gun, which is obviously his trump card on the mound. His issue has been with control in his young career, that and consistency.

With that being said, he was still sought-after as one of the top available relievers at the deadline because of the flamethrower connected at his right shoulder. If a team can harness that talent over the final two months of the season, he could be a bonafide shutdown option out of the reliever. It doesn’t matter who is at the plate, hitting that type of velocity is always a difficult task.

This would’ve been a costly move for the Braves but, again, if this is a team that clearly recognized a need in terms of its depth of relievers, then not getting one of the most talented players on the trade block could sting if that becomes an issue late in the year and in the postseason.