The Atlanta Braves are one of few teams who can probably sit back and relax for this year's MLB trade deadline, a testament to how the roster is built.
Pick an MLB team, any team. Chances are, if you believe MLB rumors this time of year, they're most likely a buyer. Few teams in the league are distinctly sellers this season, and it's setting up what seems like it will be an expensive or quiet trade deadline.
Two new teams are rumored to have entered the buyer market, the Mariners and Padres. Both were believed to be logical sellers, with the Mariners even already making an outgoing trade just weeks ago.
Now, as things have remained competitively open for most of the league, everyone wants to buy. And with more buyers, prices go up.
Expected high MLB trade deadline prices bode well for Braves
If deals get done, it will be through an outright bidding war to the highest spender. Or, the prices demanded will have general managers souring on making any moves whatsoever, even if such moves are required to compete in this year's closely competitive slate.
Then, there are teams that can sit back and laugh. Truly, there may be just two of them: The Tampa Bay Rays and Atlanta Braves.
Those two teams hold the best records in their respective leagues and are far and away the most impressive teams built for 2023.
If Atlanta doesn't feel like spending, they don't have to. And honestly, maybe they shouldn't. Sometimes, the upside of making a deal just to make a deal comes with the cost of messing with locker room chemistry.
The Braves have few areas where they actually could improve. From a likely MVP in the outfield to some of the best starting pitchers, this team has it all.
Credit Alex Anthopoulos, who has been no stranger to in-season moves in the past. He made several mid-season moves in 2021 to help the Braves win a World Series.
This year, he did his work in the offseason, though, and of any recent season, this year is the year you would have wanted to have your roster set from the get-go. Because upgrades this year cost a lot.
The biggest move was improving the depth at catcher, effectively swapping out Sean Murphy in exchange for William Contreras. Murphy has been a proper MVP candidate not getting enough shine, in part because his teammate is a runaway for the award.
The Braves handed in their homework early and can skip out on the hard classwork now because of it.
