In Atlanta, Mark Bradley writes under the header, "For His Deadline Dealing, The Braves' Alex Anthopoulos Gets An A-Plus." To Land Ps Kevin Gausman, Darren O'Day, Brad Brach and Jonny Venters and LF Adam Duvall, the Braves "sacrificed not a single top 10 prospect." Anthopoulous, the Exec VP & GM, "did right" by the '18 Braves, who "needed and expected his help," and also by the Braves of '19 and beyond. In his first deadline with the team, Anthopoulos "aced the audition" (AJC.com, 8/1). Also in Atlanta, Michael Cunningham notes at some point, the Braves had to "transition from building via the farm system to building a major league contender." Their surprising play this season meant that "time is now" (ATLANTA JOURNAL-CONSTITUTION, 8/1).
RISK FOR EVENTUAL REWARD: In Baltimore, Peter Schmuck in a front-page piece writes the Orioles trading Gausman to the Braves and 2B Jonathan Schoop to the Brewers were "bold moves." There is "plenty of risk" here for the Orioles, who were already "facing annual attendance declines" before the '18 season. The team is "facing an uncertain future regardless, with the long-running MASN litigation threatening to take a big chunk out of its annual revenues." There is already "enough concern about that to spawn speculation about the team moving out of Baltimore." The Orioles "need the fans to embrace this process" (BALTIMORE SUN, 8/1). MLB.com's Brittany Ghiroli tweeted, "Kudos to the Orioles for making moves on younger players. Has to be done in a rebuild. Burn it down to the studs." The Baltimore Sun's Colin Campbell: "Report: most fans no longer able to name nine orioles." The Athletic's Ken Rosenthal: "By my early rough estimate #Orioles saved between $30M and $35M in guaranteed money with their trades" (TWITTER.com, 7/31).
NO DAMAGE DONE: In Pennsylvania, Tom Housenick writes it will be difficult to "find fault" with what Phillies VP & GM Matt Klentak did the last few days leading up to the trade deadline. The Phillies traded for C Wilson Ramos, P Aaron Loup and SS Asdrubal Cabrera. Klentak made sure, however, that he "didn’t give up a significant portion of the farm." There has been "plenty of bark this season from fans about the club’s shortcomings." Phillies management "didn’t sell the farm in an attempt to address those deficiencies." It opted for "patience rather than give up a slew of top prospects for a potential two-month loan" of 3B Manny Machado or RF Bryce Harper (Allentown MORNING CALL, 8/1). In Philadelphia, David Murphy writes the Phillies may have "emerged as a loser in this year's arms race." However, "winning a war sometimes necessitates losing a battle." The Phillies could have "easily done themselves more harm than good in attempting to keep up in this year's race." That they "did not do that could, years from now, show this year's trade deadline to be a solid win" (PHILADELPHIA INQUIRER, 8/1).
