ATLANTA — The Atlanta Braves decided not to be a seller as the MLB trade deadline passed Thursday night.
The team made a couple of moves with the bullpen. But despite trade speculation, the Braves did not trade closer Raisel Iglesias or designated hitter Marcell Ozuna.
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Braves general manager Alex Anthopoulos said the team wasn’t going to dump players to save money.
“If we thought there was a trade where we were getting some value back that we liked, we would have made a trade. Or two, or three, or four,” Anthopoulos said on a media call. “Unfortunately, that didn’t present itself. Shedding salary, gutting the team, I don’t see why that would make sense.”
Anthopoulos said he’s considers the trade deadline the start of the Braves’ offseason conversations and their approach to free agency later this year.
He wouldn’t speculate on if he thought players like Ozuna or Iglesias would be a piece of the 2026 puzzle.
“I can’t force a trade. I understand that people may think we should trade so and so, we should get this game back. In respect to all parties, I can’t divulge is there’s interest, is there not interest. If we were going to move any player, I’m not speaking about Raisel or anybody, we were gonna have to get something back that we like.”
Anthopoulos also addressed the status of Ronald Acuña Jr and his calf injury. He said they won’t shut him down for the season.
“We are going to be conservative and careful, but shutting him down for months left in this season doesn’t make sense,” he said.
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