The MLB trade deadline is right around the corner, and many fans are wondering what the plan is for the Atlanta Braves. While GM Alex Anthopoulos made the bold promise that his franchise would not be outright sellers in 2025, that seems to be the most logical course of action at this point in an unexpectedly bad season.
Throughout history, there have been some historic trades made this time of year but today we want to take a moment and think about what could have been. Let's take a look at three trades that the Braves almost made in their franchises' history.
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2023: JT Realmuto for Austin Riley and Christian Pache
Let's start with a pretty recent one. Before making a trade with the Athletics to acquire Sean Murphy, the Braves had their eye on then-Miami Marlins catcher JT Realmuto. It was inevitable that Realmuto would not stay in Miami when his contract ran out, and at the time he was the most well-rounded backstop i nthe game.
It is difficult to complete a trade with anyone, but making a deal with division rivals can be nearly impossible. For the Braves to acquire Realmuto, they would have to give up star third baseman Austin Riley along with then-highly rated outfield prospect Chirstian Pache, plus another pitching prospect. Atlanta felt this was too high of an asking prce for a catcher who was not guaranteed to sign a long-term deal, and eventually walked away.
Fast forwarding to 2025, losing Pache and a pitching prospect would not have been that big of a blow for the Braves. But it is hard to imagine this Atlanta team without Riley at the hot corner.
2014-2015: Aaron Judge (and more) for Jason Heyward and Andrelton Simmons
For Braves fans, this one stings to discuss. Around 2014, Atlanta had sold out to chase a World Series by adding superstars like BJ (Melvin) and Justin Upton. The team had a good run but ultimately fell short of their goals. This sent the franchise into exploring options to start a rebuild, and Atlanta had the chance to pull the trigger on a trade that would've changed everything.
There was reportedly a deal in place that would have sent Jason Heyward, Andrelton Simmons and other unnamed players to the New York Yankees for Aaron Judge, Luis Severino, Gary Sanchez and other prospects.
Believe it or not, the only reason this deal did not happen was because the Braves' front office declared the Yankees' asking price too high. They thought that was not enough to part ways with Heyward and Simmons. As the kids say these days, holy airball.
In Atlanta's defense, no one can see the future. No one in 2014-2015 saw Judge becoming the next Barry Bonds. While the Braves may have missed the mark on this one in retrospect, it was understandable at the time.
1992: Barry Bonds for Alejandro Peña and Keith Mitchell
For the longest time, the Braves franchise took pride in having the all-time home run leader don their uniform. They almost had the next one, too: In 1992, the Braves and the Pittsburgh Pirates had basically agreed on a trade that would send slugger Barry Bonds to Atlanta for Aljeandro Peña and Keith Mitchell. Even the Pirates GM at the time, Ted Simmons, was on board.
The only thing that stopped this trade from happening was Jim Leyland. The legendary manager was steering the ship for the Pirates at the time and he strongly opposed parting ways with his best player. After the skipper made his feelings known during spring training, Simmons respected Leyland's wishes and Pittsburgh backed out of the deal.
Bonds went on the win his second MVP award in 1992 before signing with the San Francisco Giants in free agency after the year. It is hard to imagine that everything else would have remained the same had the Braves acquired Bonds, but it is pretty wild to imagine what he could have added to those '90s teams.
2015-2016: Javy Baez for Shelby Miller
We have recently witnessed a resurgence in the career of Javy Baez career with the Detriot Tigers as an outfielder, but back in 2017 he was one of the most talented middle infielders in all of Major League Baseball. The Braves had just got an impressive 2015 season from right-handed pitcher Shelby Miller and his trade stock was high.
Atlanta knew that Miller was not likely to repeat his 3.02 ERA again and wanted to consider other options for the future. The Braves almost had a deal in place to acquire Baez from the Chicago Cubs but ultimately got a more enticing offer from the Arizona Diamondbacks (Dansby Swanson and Ender Inciarte). Swanson turned into a fine player for Atlanta, but it's hard not to play the what-if game here.
1990-1991: Tim Raines for Tom Glavine
When you think of the Braves, you think of the Hall of Fame trio of John Smoltz, Greg Maddux and Tom Glavine. Well, Glavine was almost not a part of Braves history at all.
Back in the winter of 1990-91, the Montreal Expos were in talks with Atlanta to send Glavine north of the border in exchange for Tim Raines. Raines himself ended up in the Hall of Fame as a seven-time All-Star and two-time World Series champion; had this trade been finalized, it could have possibly worked out for both squads. But with the 90s Braves run being fueled by pitching and defense, it is safe to say holding on to Glavine was the correct decision.
1990: Glenn Davis for Tom Glavine and Ron Gant
We all know how successful the Braves franchise became in the 1990s, but as the decade began there was no indication that such a level of success was around the corner.
The Braves and Astros were in talks to send Glavine along with Ron Gant to the Houston Astros in exchange for first baseman Glenn Davis. At this point in his career, Davis had two All-Star Game appearances, a Silver Slugger award as well as two top-seven finishes in MVP voting, while Glavine was coming off a season in which he posted a 4.28 ERA.
Davis played only three more years in the big leagues before ending his career. At the time, it would have been a blockbuster deal in Atlanta's favor. Of course, 1991 saw Glavine win his first Cy Young Award and kick off a decade-plus of dominance, so it's safe to say the Braves dodged a bullet here.
2015: Greg Bird and Aaron Judge for Julio Teheran
For six consecutive seasons, Julio Teheran was the Opening Day starting pitcher for the Braves. He was one of the most consistent arms in the entire league during the 2010s. But when Atlanta was about to enter a rebuilding phase, they considered trading the righty to the Yankees.
In this trade, the Braves would have received Greg Bird, Aaron Judge and Gary Sanchez in exchange for Teheran. As mentioned earlier, these talks were occurring before anyone knew that Judge would be the face of the league, so talks fell through between these two clubs.
2018: Manny Machado talks at the trade deadline
In 2018, superstar Manny Machado was in a contract year with the Baltimore Orioles. It was apparent he had played his way out of Baltimore's price range and would be playing elsewhere the following season, so the Orioles traded him away to get some form of a return while they could.
The Braves had shocked the world by competing for the NL East title (which they eventually claimed) following a 72-90 season in 2017. While there are no exact details as to what the offers could have been or if any offers were actually made, Atlanta did in fact check in to see the asking price for Machado before he wound up going to the Los Angeles Dodgers.
2016: Yoan Moncada and Andrew Benintendi for Julio Teheran
The 2014-2017 seasons were an interesting time for the Braves. They were not exactly competitive, but yet had talented pieces that other teams were very interested in. While the Yankees were checking in on Teheran, so were their rivals, the Boston Red Sox.
The "almost" trade listed above involving Teheran and the Yankees would have been a dream for Braves fans, but a deal with Boston would have been solid as well. Yoan Moncada and Andrew Benintendi would have been sent to Atlanta in addition to other prospects for Teheran, but an agreement could not be reached.
2005: Brad Lidge for Brian McCann
Brian McCann turned out to be one of the best catchers in Braves history before spending some of his later years with the Houston Astros. Rumor has it that McCann almost ended up in Houston much sooner.
In 2005, Atlanta was seeking a shut-down arm to plug in the back of their bullpen. Brad Lidge would have been as good as any. But for as dominant as Lidge was back then, it was not worth parting ways with a 21-year-old McCann, who had already proved he had potential to be a franchise player.