Another trade deadline is in the books for the Atlanta Braves. As busy as it was, there is a sense of disappointment in the air. The teams made moves. They made a lot of them as a matter of fact. When looking at the roster, the makeup of it is objectively different. "We did not go into the deadline with, Hey, we have to get this - have to get that," general manager Alex Anthopoulos said. "We're just trying to make the team better." When asked by a reporter if he thought the team was better, Anthopoulos said yes without hesitation. "We added players to the big-league roster that we felt, we improved the club," he said. Is it accurate for him to say the team got better? Technically, the answer is yes. However, the general question of did the team get better misses a major point. Switch the question to whether they addressed their biggest needs, and the answer is no. Yes, they added a starting pitcher. Yes, Tyler Mahle provides innings the team needs. The job wasn't done after acquiring him. There was also the goal of a playoff-caliber starting pitcher. We can presume Mahle will start a postseason game, but he doesn't check that box on paper at this time. Other teams had the deadline that the Braves needed. The glaring example is the San Diego Padres. They acquired Casey Mize and Robbie Ray. They have one of the worst talent pools. They're not even in a playoff spot, whereas the Braves have a seven-and-a-half-game lead in their division and are bona fide World Series contenders. The Padres still went for it and figured it out. The Braves did not. The farm system under Atlanta is proving to be better than most have realized, and only one trade actually involved prospects. It's a head-scratching outcome. It's not even that the moves that they actually did make were bad. Some were arguably good. The lineup should be able to better handle left-handed pitching with the addition of Lane Thomas. The bullpen needs all the options they can get. The rotation has another arm that gives them innings. That's a good thing. Again, the problem is the lack of specific moves. We all knew what mattered most. There was extra money on hand after Jurickson Profar was suspended for the entire season. Some large cracks are still there. Some things are out of their control. They had interest in Jacob DeGrom. It's been reported that the Texas Rangers would have tried to make a deal happen, but the two-time Cy Young Award winner wanted to stay. It happens.The Tigers were reportedly set on getting a deal done with the Dodgers. There isn't much the Braves, or any other contender, can do about that. Where the issue lies is there was no other pivot. No other answer materialized. "People asked about a lot of our top players, and there's a bunch that we made available for players that we felt were impact, difference-making guys," Anthopoulos said. "And then there were other times we were asked for some of those guys, and we said no." To an extent, it's fair to have different preferred prices depending on who you inquire into. But there is a limit to how unwilling you can be to budge to get what the team needs. It's hard to fathom that there were so few starters that fit the bill or that none of them could ever come at a reasonable price. It's clear that they set a hard line on what the standard was for making that splash move for a bona fide starting pitcher. We have to wait and see whether it comes back to bite them, but from the jump, it's not looking good.More than Skubal or DeGrom would make an impact in the postseason. Prospects don't win games now. Even when balancing the future, knowing which prospects make the most sense to hang onto needs to be taken into consideration. Not all of them can be conditionally touchable. They prioritized the mystery box over getting the proven talent. Some of these promising prospects could be impact major leaguers. Others won't be. Be fully prepared for some of these hyped prospects to never see a game in the majors. That's just how it is. There is even the possibility that one of the impact guys gets traded. That happens. It's part of taking that risk to win it all. The Cubs gave up Gleyber Torres for Aroldis Chapman. They'd made that move every time. The Royals added Johnny Cueto and never looked back. On the other hand, the Rays gave up Joe Ryan for Nelson Cruz, and they didn't get past the ALDS. Even the Dodgers made the move for Max Scherzer, and they didn't win the pennant. Very few are arguing that these moves guarantee a World Series. Only one team can do that per season. But idea is that you have to try anyway. All of these teams, going back a decade, deserve credit because they made the push when they were in a position to. It's hard to get upset at a team for making that attempt. Meanwhile, if the Braves go on a deep run, it's because everything else clicked. If that happens, great. But it will be in spite of the lack of the big move and not because they didn't need it. Sure, the 2021 team made a series of smaller moves, and they won a World Series. The difference was that wasn't a team in a position to make a splash. They were considered to be way out of it, and a miracle run followed. The 2026 team was in prime position for a statement move, and they chose to stand pat on that front. There's two months left until they even get to October. How we view this deadline can change before the postseason has a chance to influence it. Time to see how what's ahead alters the narrative. Sign up for our Free Atlanta Braves Newsletter and follow us on Facebook for the latest news Add us as a preferred source on GoogleFollow