MLB rumors: Chris Sale trade officially takes Braves out of market for potential ace

The Atlanta Braves have made two big additions this offseason. They first added outfielder Jarred Kelenic in a deal with the Seattle Mariners to help shore up left field. Then, they made a blockbuster trade with the Boston Red Sox to acquire seven-time All-Star Chris Sale in exchange for Vaughn Grissom. In short, Atlanta added Kelenic and Sale, but moved on from Grissom and Kyle Wright.

While Atlanta had been tied to other notable pitchers this offseason whether that was Blake Snell (San Diego Padres) or Jordan Montgomery (Texas Rangers) in free agency, or Atlanta area native Dylan Cease (Chicago White Sox) in a trade, Ken Rosenthal's reporting suggests the Braves are all good with their starting rotation. Their next move might be to add outfield depth, if anything at all.

By getting Sale to come over on what looks to be a revamped two-year deal of sorts, the Lakeland, Florida native will be pitching for his boyhood team through 2025. Atlanta has two younger All-Star pitchers in Spencer Strider and Bryce Elder, as well as an ageless Charlie Morton. The big question is what becomes of Max Fried entering the final year of his deal with the Braves coming off two injuries.

For the time being, the Braves appear to be all set with their starting rotation, for better or worse.

Atlanta Braves seem to be all done addressing their starting rotation

The idea is Atlanta will trot out this quintet in a top-tier, five-man rotation. Atlanta also has depth behind these five with guys like AJ Smith-Shawver biding their time in Triple-A Gwinnett for their next big opportunity. Simply put, Braves general manager Alex Anthopoulos needed to add a veteran arm to offset losing Wright to Tommy John after he dealt him over to the Kansas City Royals previously.

As a Braves fan myself, for as much as I would have liked to have seen frontline starters like Cease, Montgomery or Snell join the Atlanta rotation, I am well aware with how Anthopoulos operates. He is never going to pay a premium for an aging or depreciating asset. Not to say those frontline starters aren't worth it, but the value Anthopoulos was able to get for Sale certainly moves the needle a bit.

Although injuries are part of the game, and Sale has definitely had more than his fair share in the big leagues, I like the move Anthopoulos made to acquire him because it remains in line with his manner of team building. For better or worse, he remains consistent. The best part about this trade was that it solved Atlanta's most pressing need heading into the offseason. This NL powerhouse just got better.

Atlanta might already have the best rotation in all of baseball, but Anthopoulos did not have to give up an arm and a leg to get it like he would have in adding someone like a Cease, a Montgomery or a Snell.