You Have Four Days to Not Blow This

The Braves are four days from the most preventable mistake in franchise history.

Passan says the Tigers are trading Skubal. Two-time Cy Young winner. 2.79 ERA. 0.91 WHIP. Available. And the whispers sound like a front office talking itself into Casey Mize — a pitcher with a career 4.19 ERA having one decent year.

Strip Sale out of this rotation. I'll wait.

What you're looking at is a 6.53 ERA. That is not a rotation. That is an October obituary. Sale is 37 years old throwing a 2.08 with 143 strikeouts — the third-lowest ERA by a pitcher his age since 1950. You are watching something historic. Historic does not wait.

You know what Anthopoulos did in 2021? He was 51-52. Below .500. And he went all-in — Soler, Rosario, Pederson. Cost: Bryce Ball, Kasey Kalich, Alex Jackson. Three names you've already forgotten. The rentals? World Series MVP. NLCS MVP. NLDS wrecking ball. That's the receipt.

77% of The Athletic picked the Phillies despite a 6.5-game deficit. Let them.

Joe Ryan is a solid pitcher. He is not a two-time Cy Young winner. The gap between solid and elite is how October ends.

I'm at 83% on these Braves. Land Skubal and I'm at 90. Settle for mid-tier and I'm dropping to 70. That's a 20-point swing on one phone call.

Four days. No excuses.