Empty shelves. The Braves haven’t been so bold in the past several seasons, instead working around the margins while making shrewd trades and shorter-term free-agent signings. Veteran southpaw Cole Hamels plays a factor, too. But there’s no doubt, he’ll at least attempt to add to a team that is much stronger and deeper than the two Atlanta clubs that were eliminated in the NL Division Series both of the past two years. The Atlanta Braves have some issues that need to be addressed at the trade deadline if they want to make a run, primarily with starting pitching and third base. Nobody besides Max Fried did. We’re going to do the best we can with the guys we have here.”. The Atlanta rotation has accounted for a 5.37 ERA and 4 wins this year. Now, they’ll play the same game over the regular season’s final 27 games leading into the postseason, for which the Braves are comfortably positioned despite their rotation. But there is still a lot of quality depth within this system, which is headlined by Cristian Pache and Drew Waters, who both rank among MLB Pipeline’s top 30 prospects. All of that in a flurry of deals within the last 24 hours before Monday’s deadline. The Atlanta Braves did nothing at the trade deadline yesterday. “I’m a sports fan. Lance Lynn of the Rangers and Dylan Bundy of the Angels were two other starters reportedly drawing significant interest, but neither was moved. Mark Bowman has covered the Braves for MLB.com since 2001. Even then, there are a lot of “ifs” at play: If Hamels does return, and if he can even be average, it’d be a sizable upgrade. Post trade deadline Power Rankings: Should the Atlanta Braves fall? Anthopoulos will take criticism, which is fair. That’s hoping the Milone they saw Sunday, who gave up seven runs without completing three innings, isn’t here to stay. Here are four impact starters the Atlanta Braves should trade for ahead of the MLB Trade Deadline. “No doubt about it. “The hang-up for us was not financial. Unlike last year, the Braves didn’t make a flurry of moves to address their glaring weakness at the trade deadline. But once the deadline passes, the Atlanta rotation will likely consist of more than just Fried and Anderson. Anthopoulos explains why Braves stood pat on trade deadline day. The Atlanta Braves need to start looking for stars at the deadline. In the end, Anthopoulos made the calculated decision not to pay a higher price for lesser starters in this market. Chance of a deal: There’s better than a 50 percent chance Anthopoulos will find a solution within what is a thin starting pitching market. Braves prioritize starting pitching at Deadline. With Anderson and Max Fried, the Braves are hopeful to have at least two reliable starters over the remainder of the season. Atlanta's rotation has been plagued by injuries and inconsistency with Braves starters completing fewer than five innings in 20 of 32 starts this season. That was a very strong deal for both sides. Clubs are permitted to include players to be named later in trades, however. “We’re a pretty good team and we’ve done a good job here for a month and a half,” said manager Brian Snitker, who added he was not disappointed with the team’s deadline. Both players are controllable through 2021. Since Anthopoulos arrived prior to the 2018 season – and really before that – there’s been never-ending conversation about the Braves cashing in their prospect stash for a proven commodity. San Diego decided to switch out some of its minor-league quantity for major-league quality in the past two days, with Clevinger the most notable addition. That was going to be a big deal, rightfully so. Suffice it to say this, then: the Braves aren’t hungry enough. At the same time, Anderson’s arrival gives hope that he will join with Fried and Mike Soroka to form a formidable trio over the next few years in Atlanta. We’ll find out in the end if you made the right decision. How much will they be an upgrade over what we already have?”. He determined the acquisition cost of whatever moves were available didn’t outweigh the benefit.