Alex Anthopoulous wizardry with Braves trades on full display yet again

Atlanta Braves fans are spoiled. They won the World Series in 2021, and while they haven't won since, their team is among the National League's elite every year and will continue to be for a long time thanks, in large part, to Alex Anthopoulos.

Anthopoulos has built a juggernaut of a team built to win now and in the future. He's done it for the most part through negotiating team-friendly extensions and pulling off trades that wind up leaning heavily in his favor.

The big trades he made involved the Braves netting players like Chris Sale and Jarred Kelenic, but another big win from Anthopoulos was in a deal he made with the Chicago White Sox. The deal that netted the Braves Aaron Bummer looked good at the time, and looks even better now with the latest White Sox roster move.

It looks like Alex Anthopoulos won a trade in convincing fashion yet again

The Braves acquired Aaron Bummer, a left-handed reliever who struggled in 2023 but had good underlying metrics and a solid track record from the White Sox in exchange for five players. Those who went to the White Sox were Michael Soroka, Jared Shuster, Nicky Lopez, Braden Shewmake, and Riley Gowens.

Bummer, unsurprisingly, proved that last season's high ERA was a fluke and he's been rock solid out of the bullpen for Atlanta. After allowing three runs in his first two outings, he has combined to allow a total of three runs in his last 13 appearances and 12 innings of work. His 3.86 ERA might be a bit high, but he has a 2.25 ERA since his first two appearances. He's worked mostly in low-leverage but has been nothing short of dominant of late.

Not only is Bummer etched into Atlanta's plans for this season, but he has two club options attached after this season worth $7.25 million and $7.5 million respectively. That might be a bit rich, but Bummer has proven to be a solid left-handed reliever. He'd almost certainly get more than two years at that AAV on the open market if he was a free agent after the year, and there's a good chance at least one, if not both of those club options are exercised by the Braves.

The deal has been a win for the Braves from that perspective alone, but when looking at how it's aged for the White Sox, it's been an even bigger win.

Soroka, arguably the most intriguing piece in the deal, was recently bumped from the rotation as he posted a 6.39 ERA in his first nine starts. Shuster has pitched well in his six appearances for the White Sox but is not starting games either. Lopez has a .487 OPS. Riley Gowens has an ERA over 4.00 in High-A and is not considered one of their top 30 prospects according to MLB Pipeline.

This deal is an even bigger win for the Braves because Braden Shewmake was just optioned back down to the minors. The 26-year-old struggled mightily at the plate, recording eight hits in 64 at-bats. To make matters worse, he wasn't great in the field either, ranking in the 19th percentile in OAA according to Baseball Savant and committing two errors in just 11 games at shortstop, his primary position.

The Braves knew Shewmake's bat wasn't good enough to stick which is why they were comfortable throwing him into the deal. His glove being underwhelming wasn't the expectation, but likely played a role in the White Sox sending him down.

The Braves got a solid left-handed reliever with three years of club control for two pitchers who aren't good enough to start games for the 14-30 White Sox, an infielder who can't hit, another infielder who was just sent down, and a prospect who will likely never make it to the majors. Alex Anthopoulos did it again. It's just that simple.