The Braves Add Raisel Iglesias Right at the Trade Deadline, Continue Being an Elite Organization

The one thing you can always expect with the Atlanta Braves under Alex Anthopoulos is that you never know what to expect. It looked through most of Tuesday that the Braves were done making moves after swapping Will Smith for Jake Odorizzi and adding Robbie Grossman late Monday night, but nine minutes after the MLB trade deadline, it was announced Atlanta had pulled off a deal for Raisel Iglesias from the Angels.

I'm pretty surprised to see Jesse Chavez dealt from the Braves bullpen after posting a 2.11 ERA in Atlanta this season, but effectively replacing Smith's spot in the bullpen with Iglesias is a win. Chavez wasn't being used in too many high leverage situations, anyway. Iglesias signed a four-year, $58 million contract with the Angels this past offseason and has $48 million remaining over the next three years. Atlanta will pay the entirety of the contract.

Iglesias's numbers are higher this year than the last couple seasons, but I have complete faith in anyone Anthopoulos adds via trade. The man is a wizard. If he says we #RideWithRaisel, I will be on the front lines.

Plus, Iglesias is a nice wild card to have on your team if anything goes down. You may remember him as Sunflower Seeds Guy from earlier this season:

All in all, this is a great move. Iglesias posted a sub-3.00 ERA in five of the last six seasons coming into 2022, so let's hope he regains that form quickly in a far more competent organization than the Angels.