Atlanta Braves Made the Right Call In Not Trading Young Pitcher

The Atlanta Braves were clearly in the mix to land left-handed ace Tarik Skubal near this year's MLB trade deadline, but a major hurdle stood in the way and caused negotiations with the Detroit Tigers to fall through.

The holdup would be Braves general manager Alex Anthopoulos' refusal to put 21-year-old reliever Didier Fuentes on the table, according to Peter Abraham of the Boston Globe.

While Atlanta was and still is in desperate need of starting pitching with Chris Sale being their only reliable and consistent arm who can pitch deep into games, Anthopoulos made the correct decision in sticking by Fuentes.

In just his second season, Fuentes compiled an impressive 2.45 ERA with 92 strikeouts and three saves through 58 appearances. The Tolú, Colombia native also showed out in the postseason despite the Braves' NLDS exit to the Los Angeles Dodgers who ended up winning the bidding war for Skubal, agreeing to send hitting prospect Zyhir Hope and pitchers River Ryan and Brady Smith to Detroit.

Fuentes had his best performance yet in Game 2, striking out three batters and only surrendering a solo homer to help Atlanta avoid the sweep with a 3-2 win. He shined against the Dodgers' best in Shohei Ohtani and former Brave Freddie Freeman, freezing the latter with a nasty 90-mph splitter below the knees.

Fuentes' remarkable season came after he struggled in four starts last year, posting a 13.85 ERA in 13 innings which sparked concern about his ability to hold up against major-league hitting. As a result, he was sent back down to Triple-A Gwinnett where he got a chance to compose himself and compile a reasonable 4.08 ERA in four more outings before his season got cut short due to an injury.

Now, Fuentes is shaping up to be a key arm next season as Spencer Strider and Spencer Schwellenbach continue to recover on the injured list. Until Anthopoulos can find another solution for the team's lack of rotational depth besides the late-season acquisition of Tyler Mahle, Atlanta will also need to lean on Fuentes given that veteran Martín Pérez and right-hander Bryce Elder have been battling through injuries as well.

Furthermore, he could be the future of the Braves' bullpen given the possibility of fellow reliever Raisel Iglesias walking in free agency this offseason. Fuentes might also work out to be a nice 1-2 punch along with right-hander Robert Suárez who is projected to be the next in line for the closer role should Iglesias leave.