The Braves may not have landed the headline arm they wanted at the 2026 MLB trade deadline, but they did come away with a pair of moves that drew a sharp nod of approval from an ex-MLB general manager.
Atlanta added right-handed starter Tyler Mahle in a trade with the San Francisco Giants and right-handed hitting outfielder Lane Thomas in a deal with the Kansas City Royals. Those moves, according to Jim Bowden of The Athletic, also had the effect of keeping two ideal fits out of Philadelphia.
“Best job of blocking another team from getting players: Atlanta Braves blocking the Philadelphia Phillies from acquiring Tyler Mahle and Lane Thomas,” Bowden writes.
That matters because the Phillies went into the deadline with three clear needs: starting rotation depth, bullpen help, and a right-handed hitting outfielder. They did address the bullpen and also added Luis Arraez to help the offense, but they came up short on a starter and never added that right-handed bat in the outfield.
Bowden pointed to the fit as the key reason the Braves’ moves stood out. On Mahle and Thomas, he wrote, “Mahle and Thomas would have been perfect fits on their roster.”
For Atlanta, the deadline still probably feels incomplete if the goal was to land a true top-of-the-rotation starter to go alongside Chris Sale. But even without that splashy move, the Braves at least kept their biggest rival from filling two important holes.
That alone gave the deadline a little more bite from Atlanta’s side.
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For Philadelphia, the trade remains tied to the bigger question of how much more Johnson can clean up the rough edges that followed him through his time in the organization. The Phillies got Colby Thomas back in the deal and have kept him at Triple-A Lehigh Valley for now, while Johnsons first outing with his new club left the same old concern hovering in the background. [Read more 🡒]