
Historical track record: Braves leadership loves comebacks. In 2022 they lost significant ground late and still won the NL East, and in 2021 they surged from under .500 to World Series champs.
Underlying performance remains strong: With a +21 run differential through 80 games and close-to-expected BaseRuns (42–41), Atlanta isn’t playing to their record—suggesting things could turn around .
Alex Anthopoulos’s stance: Atlanta’s GM has publicly stated there’s “zero chance” of dealing Chris Sale, and repeatedly emphasized he’s in buy mode, not selling.
Active in trade talks: Anthopoulos has said he’s been more active than ever in exploring trades to improve, not to dismantle.
Key Assets Are All Under Team Control
The core (Acuña Jr., Riley, Olson, Harris II, Strider, Murphy, etc.) are all under contract through 2026–2029—no quick trades there.
Only a couple of impending free agents—Marcell Ozuna and Raisel Iglesias—offer liquid trade value.
Attractive Leftovers on the Market
Marcell Ozuna: The most realistic trade chip, but has 10–5 no‑trade rights, giving him leverage to reject any deal.
Raisel Iglesias: As a 2025 free agent with solid closer numbers, there’s interest, though he’s more of a complementary piece than a blockbuster asset.
Perception & Optics Matter
Selling at the All-Star break, especially hosting the event in 2021, would look terrible externally and internally.
Trading key veteran starters like Sale or Strider (recovering from elbow surgery) would signal panic—not what a traditionally steady front office wants.
Should the Braves stumble into another slump and fall well out of contention by late July, they could move Ozuna or Iglesias. But even that looks like a fallback, not the plan .
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