Alex Anthopoulos may have already added one Ronald Acuña Jr. replacement

And just like that, Alex Anthopoulos reminded us all once again that we are merely playing checkers and he is playing five-dimensional chess. The Atlanta Braves just completed a home sweep of the Detroit Tigers on Wednesday afternoon. While Reynaldo Lopez and Sean Murphy had terrific days for the Braves, look at who went yard for Atlanta in this series finale. That would be Ramon Laureano.

Atlanta has been looking for a medium-term replacement for Ronald Acuña Jr. ever since he tore his other ACL over Memorial Day weekend up in Pittsburgh. Laureano may not be the big name everyone was expecting for the Atlanta general manager to procure, but he seems to be fitting in quite nicely on his new team. Keep in mind that he played with Murphy and Matt Olson with the Oakland Athletics.

Although this was only Laureano's second home run of the season, he may have more opportunities to hit moonshots with the Braves than with his previous employer in the Cleveland Guardians. Again, it was only a game, but you have to wonder if Laureano could be the missing piece, or one of the missing pieces, to help get the Braves back to playing like the Braves. They are staring to make a turn.

Ladies and gentlemen, we have lift-off off the bat of the Braves' newest beloved outfielder Laureano!

If Laureano indeed has staying power for the Braves, it will be huge heading into the trade deadline.

Ramon Laureano could be the help the Atlanta Braves were hoping for

The reason this could be so undeniably massive for the Braves is this. They didn't have to give up anything to get him. Laureano signed a minor-league deal with the Braves at the end of May after being designated for assigment by Cleveland. The Guardians remain on the hook for the bulk of his remaining contract. All the while, the Braves are getting an undervalued player who is on a mission.

Should Laureano continue to play well in Atlanta, that means Anthopoulos will have one less marquee name to trade for at the deadline. Figuring out the fifth starter in the rotation may be at the top of the list in the extended wake of Spencer Strider's season-ending injury. Replacing Acuña is never easy, but if anyone can do it, it is Anthopoulos. As a matter of fact, he has already done it before ... in 2021!

Simply put, Laureano's continued success means Atlanta will not have to completely deplete its less-than-stellar farm system. Many of their top pitchers at Gwinnett or Mississippi could be part of trade packages to get better major-league players to help Atlanta prepare for a deep postseason run. More help could be on the way, but then again, help could already be on the Atlanta roster. Be patient, folks.

Atlanta will have Thursday off before traveling to The Bronx to take on the New York Yankees Friday.