![\"\"](\"http:\/\/totfc.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/barves_thanos.jpg\")
<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
Twas the night of the trade deadline, and the Braves were in the middle of the pack.\u00a0 The Phillies have the division, and Atlanta\u2019s grip on Wild Card #1 has been slippery as of late.\u00a0 Max Fried is on the DL, joining Ozzie Albies and Michael Harris II, while Ronald Acu\u00f1a, Jr. and Spencer Strider are done for the year.\u00a0 Reynaldo Lopez has tightness in his forearm.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Those not injured, are not performing, save for Marcell Ozuna and a resurgent Jarred Kelenic, but Matt Olson, Austin Riley, Adam Duvall and Orlando Arcia definitely are about as reliable as a Dodge Caliber this season.\u00a0 Aside from Chris Sale, the pitching staff is in shambles due to the loss of Strider and Fried, as Father Time has clearly caught up to Charlie Morton, and the revolving door of Bryce Elder, Spencer Schwellenbach and whomever was scheduled to pitch in Double-A or Triple-A has been less than effective.<\/span><\/p>\n Weeks leading up to the trade deadline, there was all sorts of buzz about what the Atlanta Braves should do, to patch their weaknesses, reinforce their offense and build for the playoffs that they are no guarantee to even make.\u00a0 Braves fans in Facebook communities, blogs and websites all throwing out ideas, mostly putrid, but occasional logical ones, about the things the teams should do in order to accomplish all of the above mentioned.<\/span><\/p>\n And whenever this time of the baseball season comes up, there are always these types of fans:<\/span><\/p>\n I used to not engage with rando-communities, but probably a combination of boredom, and that The Algorithm is spoon-feeding me content that pops enough synapses in my brain to drop random comments on various accounts, most of them being Braves communities where I occasionally wish to voice my displeasure with AJ Minter, Bryce Elder, and how the team would be best suited to sign the still-available Trevor Bauer, if he didn\u2019t have this freakishly obviously collusion to blacklist him from the entire league over his head.<\/span><\/p>\n I don\u2019t pay much concern over the reactions my words get, and I definitely don\u2019t interact with other users beyond a laughing emoji at the response that are actually decent, but it\u2019s really nothing different from any online community anywhere on the internet: people making wild trade scenarios, trade everything fans bickering with trade nothing fans, and so forth.<\/span><\/p>\n More recently, I decided to chime in to a few Braves communities, and I opined that the Braves aren\u2019t doing to make any moves at all beyond a fourth outfielder-type and a relief pitcher<\/u>; I figured the remark were just enough snarky without me having to blather on about how The Braves Way™ is that of crippling risk-aversion and hand-cuffing cheapness, which it totally is by the way.<\/span><\/p>\n And when the trade deadline lapsed, and the evening crossed midnight, where transactions that begun before the deadline needed to be finalized by, and all the smoke of the day\u2019s activities had cleared up, the Atlanta Braves had made only one transaction-trading injured relief pitcher Tyler Matzek and minor league infielder Sabin Ceballos for:<\/span><\/p>\n Jorge Soler, outfielder<\/span> At this point, all I could really do is shrug like Michael Jordan<\/a> in the 1992 NBA Finals, after he drowned the Portland Trailblazers in a barrage of three-pointers as if to say, that was easy<\/em>.\u00a0 I\u2019ve been following the Braves for a pretty long time now, and I\u2019ve seen this song and dance before.\u00a0 Save for a few exceptions throughout the years, the majority of the years, the Braves always seem convinced that the only things they ever need at the trade deadline is another outfielder and another relief pitcher, and that all other needs can be filled internally (cheaply) \u2013 That\u2019s The Braves Way™!<\/span><\/p>\n In this season\u2019s case, they\u2019re not wrong that they needed some help on both accounts, but the fact of the matter is that the starting rotation has two gaping holes in it, and the team has been incapable of scoring runs the vast majority of the season.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n All around the league were decent talents from teams who were out of playoff contention and thrown in the towel, trying to improve their futures at the price of said decent talents available for trade.\u00a0 And as the days ticked down to the trade deadline, they would come off the board, one by one, with the Phillies picking up Carlos Estevez from the Angels, the Yankees getting Jazz Chisholm, Jr. from the Marlins, the Dodgers getting Jack Flaherty from the Tigers, to name a few examples of front-running contenders actively trying to get even better for the stretch run.<\/span><\/p>\n And once again, the Braves sit on their hands all trade season long, and do nothing but pick up a fourth outfielder and a relief pitcher.\u00a0 I\u2019ve seen this rerun, many, many times in my life now.<\/span><\/p>\n For those keeping score, in spite of all the Braves\u2019 many needs, the only outside acquisitions they\u2019ve really made this season, was picking up Soler and Jackson, as well as a few weeks ago, picking up Eddie Rosario from the Washington Nationals\u2019 literal trash after they had designated him for assignment.\u00a0 Obviously, all of these guys were notable contributors to the 2021 World Series winnings squad, and it\u2019s evident that the Braves\u2019 front office is trying to challenge the intelligence of fans and supporters of the team by bringing back these nostalgia acts, as if they\u2019re miraculously going to turn the team\u2019s fortune around, three years later, older and used.<\/span><\/p>\n It goes without saying that the Braves have thrown in the towel on the year themselves, by their sheer lack of willingness to invest and improve.\u00a0 Of course they will never admit it, but it seems pretty evident that they\u2019re phoning in the roster on account of all the injuries that have decimated the roster, and probably thinking, we\u2019ll just try again next season;\u00a0 regardless of the fact that Max Fried is probably gone, as probably is Marcell Ozuna who is playing his ass off in a walk year, two of the most competent players on the current roster.<\/span><\/p>\n They\u2019ll assume Chris Sale will reward their investment into his bounceback, Spencer Strider will recover to 110%.\u00a0 That this season was not a fluke for Reynaldo Lopez, and that between Elder, Schwellenbach and Hurston Waldrep,* they can go back to the glory days of Maddux, Glavine and Smoltz.<\/span><\/p>\n *could these names get any whiter?<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n They\u2019ll also assume Acu\u00f1a and Harris will recover fully, Albies will get back to his All-Star form and Olson and Riley will bounce back.\u00a0 Arcia might be the only guy on the hot seat, but I\u2019m under the impression that Braves Corporate is already envisioning a fresh start in 2025 with all of their current assets in place, and that 2024 is already a lost cause, and any success to come from it would be considered a bonus.<\/span><\/p>\n At this point, it\u2019s actually a bad thing for the Braves front office if the team does well enough to have a little playoff run, and then get bounced in the NLDS again.\u00a0 Because then there will be all sorts of hindsight fire, criticism and accusations that the organization didn\u2019t do enough to improve the team to where they might have pushed across the finish line for more success, instead of sputtering to another early playoff exit.<\/span><\/p>\n But if and when it happens, it\u2019s not like it\u2019s something that most older Braves fans haven\u2019t seen before.\u00a0 Such is, the curse of having knowledge<\/a> sometimes.<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Twas the night of the trade deadline, and the Braves were in the middle of the pack.\u00a0 The Phillies have the division, and Atlanta\u2019s grip on Wild Card #1 has been slippery as of late.\u00a0 Max Fried is on the DL, joining Ozzie Albies and Michael Harris II, while Ronald Acu\u00f1a, Jr. and Spencer Strider … Continue reading Predictable, to those with knowledge<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[196,62,66,79,100,45,191,83,133,58,190,49],"class_list":["post-50091","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-brog","tag-barves","tag-baseball","tag-braves","tag-cashmoney","tag-comparison","tag-fail","tag-greed","tag-observations","tag-old-man","tag-sports","tag-white-people","tag-wtf"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/totfc.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/50091","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/totfc.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/totfc.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/totfc.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/totfc.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=50091"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/totfc.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/50091\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":50093,"href":"https:\/\/totfc.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/50091\/revisions\/50093"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/totfc.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=50091"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/totfc.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=50091"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/totfc.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=50091"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}\n
\nLuke Jackson, relief pitcher<\/span><\/p>\n
![shrug like Michael Jordan<\/a> in the 1992 NBA Finals, after he drowned the Portland Trailblazers in a barrage of three-pointers as if to say, that was easy<\/em>.\u00a0 I\u2019ve been following the Braves for a pretty long time now, and I\u2019ve seen this song and dance before.\u00a0 Save for a few exceptions throughout the years, the majority of the years, the Braves always seem convinced that the only things they ever need at the trade deadline is another outfielder and another relief pitcher, and that all other needs can be filled internally (cheaply) \u2013 That\u2019s The Braves Way™!<\/span><\/p>\nIn this season\u2019s case, they\u2019re not wrong that they needed some help on both accounts, but the fact of the matter is that the starting rotation has two gaping holes in it, and the team has been incapable of scoring runs the vast majority of the season.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\nAll around the league were decent talents from teams who were out of playoff contention and thrown in the towel, trying to improve their futures at the price of said decent talents available for trade.\u00a0 And as the days ticked down to the trade deadline, they would come off the board, one by one, with the Phillies picking up Carlos Estevez from the Angels, the Yankees getting Jazz Chisholm, Jr. from the Marlins, the Dodgers getting Jack Flaherty from the Tigers, to name a few examples of front-running contenders actively trying to get even better for the stretch run.<\/span><\/p>\nAnd once again, the Braves sit on their hands all trade season long, and do nothing but pick up a fourth outfielder and a relief pitcher.\u00a0 I\u2019ve seen this rerun, many, many times in my life now.<\/span><\/p>\nFor those keeping score, in spite of all the Braves\u2019 many needs, the only outside acquisitions they\u2019ve really made this season, was picking up Soler and Jackson, as well as a few weeks ago, picking up Eddie Rosario from the Washington Nationals\u2019 literal trash after they had designated him for assignment.\u00a0 Obviously, all of these guys were notable contributors to the 2021 World Series winnings squad, and it\u2019s evident that the Braves\u2019 front office is trying to challenge the intelligence of fans and supporters of the team by bringing back these nostalgia acts, as if they\u2019re miraculously going to turn the team\u2019s fortune around, three years later, older and used.<\/span><\/p>\nIt goes without saying that the Braves have thrown in the towel on the year themselves, by their sheer lack of willingness to invest and improve.\u00a0 Of course they will never admit it, but it seems pretty evident that they\u2019re phoning in the roster on account of all the injuries that have decimated the roster, and probably thinking, we\u2019ll just try again next season;\u00a0 regardless of the fact that Max Fried is probably gone, as probably is Marcell Ozuna who is playing his ass off in a walk year, two of the most competent players on the current roster.<\/span><\/p>\nThey\u2019ll assume Chris Sale will reward their investment into his bounceback, Spencer Strider will recover to 110%.\u00a0 That this season was not a fluke for Reynaldo Lopez, and that between Elder, Schwellenbach and Hurston Waldrep,* they can go back to the glory days of Maddux, Glavine and Smoltz.<\/span><\/p>\n*could these names get any whiter?<\/em><\/span><\/p>\nThey\u2019ll also assume Acu\u00f1a and Harris will recover fully, Albies will get back to his All-Star form and Olson and Riley will bounce back.\u00a0 Arcia might be the only guy on the hot seat, but I\u2019m under the impression that Braves Corporate is already envisioning a fresh start in 2025 with all of their current assets in place, and that 2024 is already a lost cause, and any success to come from it would be considered a bonus.<\/span><\/p>\nAt this point, it\u2019s actually a bad thing for the Braves front office if the team does well enough to have a little playoff run, and then get bounced in the NLDS again.\u00a0 Because then there will be all sorts of hindsight fire, criticism and accusations that the organization didn\u2019t do enough to improve the team to where they might have pushed across the finish line for more success, instead of sputtering to another early playoff exit.<\/span><\/p>\nBut if and when it happens, it\u2019s not like it\u2019s something that most older Braves fans haven\u2019t seen before.\u00a0 Such is, the curse of having knowledge<\/a> sometimes.<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Twas the night of the trade deadline, and the Braves were in the middle of the pack.\u00a0 The Phillies have the division, and Atlanta\u2019s grip on Wild Card #1 has been slippery as of late.\u00a0 Max Fried is on the DL, joining Ozzie Albies and Michael Harris II, while Ronald Acu\u00f1a, Jr. and Spencer Strider … Continue reading Predictable, to those with knowledge<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[196,62,66,79,100,45,191,83,133,58,190,49],"class_list":["post-50091","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-brog","tag-barves","tag-baseball","tag-braves","tag-cashmoney","tag-comparison","tag-fail","tag-greed","tag-observations","tag-old-man","tag-sports","tag-white-people","tag-wtf"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/totfc.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/50091","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/totfc.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/totfc.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/totfc.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/totfc.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=50091"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/totfc.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/50091\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":50093,"href":"https:\/\/totfc.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/50091\/revisions\/50093"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/totfc.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=50091"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/totfc.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=50091"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/totfc.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=50091"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}](\"https:\/\/cdn.nba.com\/manage\/2020\/05\/jordan-shrug-ahs.jpg\"){kind=link}
![the curse of having knowledge<\/a> sometimes.<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Twas the night of the trade deadline, and the Braves were in the middle of the pack.\u00a0 The Phillies have the division, and Atlanta\u2019s grip on Wild Card #1 has been slippery as of late.\u00a0 Max Fried is on the DL, joining Ozzie Albies and Michael Harris II, while Ronald Acu\u00f1a, Jr. and Spencer Strider … Continue reading Predictable, to those with knowledge<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[196,62,66,79,100,45,191,83,133,58,190,49],"class_list":["post-50091","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-brog","tag-barves","tag-baseball","tag-braves","tag-cashmoney","tag-comparison","tag-fail","tag-greed","tag-observations","tag-old-man","tag-sports","tag-white-people","tag-wtf"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/totfc.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/50091","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/totfc.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/totfc.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/totfc.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/totfc.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=50091"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/totfc.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/50091\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":50093,"href":"https:\/\/totfc.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/50091\/revisions\/50093"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/totfc.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=50091"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/totfc.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=50091"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/totfc.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=50091"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}](\"https:\/\/preview.redd.it\/kxx3yvmb71v21.jpg?width=1080&crop=smart&auto=webp&s=406092325142f0a171974f8c6e9d17bf652ebd62\"){kind=link}