Could it have been the Phillies instead of the Braves if they did more at trade deadline?

Watching the Atlanta Braves win the 2021 World Series must make some Philadelphia fans wonder if this could have been the Phillies. 

After all, the Phils were one game ahead of the Braves at the July 30 trade deadline – and four behind the National League East-leading Mets at the time. Atlanta (88-73) went 37-20 since the deadline, compared to the Phillies' 31-29 record, to end up winning the division by 6½ games over Philadelphia.

What if Phillies president of baseball operations Dave Dombrowski had taken a more aggressive approach similar to Braves president of baseball operations Alex Anthopoulos, who acquired what turned out to be his top four postseason outfielders – each in the final year of his contract – at the deadline and didn't give up a single prospect ranked among the Braves' top 18 in 2020 by mlb.com?

First, Anthopoulos picked up Joc Pederson from the Cubs in exchange for first baseman Bryce Ball, who was Atlanta's No. 19-ranked prospect in '20.

Two weeks later, he dealt catcher Alex Jackson (No. 21 in 2020) for former Brave Adam Duvall. Then he sent pinch hitter Pablo Sandoval to the Indians for Eddie Rosario in a trade in which Cleveland picked up some of Rosario's $7 million salary and waived Sandoval right away.

Anthopoulos also landed Jorge Soler from the Royals for minor league pitcher Kasey Kalich, who was not ranked among the Braves' top 30.

That allowed the Braves to replace star outfielder Ronald Acuna Jr., Marcell Ozuna and Cristian Pache. Acuna, who was having an MVP-caliber campaign, suffered a season-ending torn ACL on July 8, plus Ozuna wound up being placed on administrative leave through the playoffs after facing domestic violence charges for allegedly attacking his wife and top prospect Pache struggled before being demoted to Triple-A.

The Braves didn't rush Rosario back from the strained abdominal muscle that was bothering him at the deadline, playing him in only 33 games. He hit .308 in the NL Divisional series win over the Brewers before flourishing in the NLCS victory over the favored Dodgers, earning series MVP honors by hitting .560 (15 for 28) with three home runs and nine RBIs in the six games.

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Soler struggled vs. Milwaukee and missed the first four games against Los Angeles due to a positive COVID-19 test but crushed a three-run homer during Monday's 7-0 Game 6 clincher in Houston and was named the World Series MVP. He hit .300 with three home runs and six RBIs against the Astros.

Pederson's biggest moment was a game-tying homer in a 5-4 Game 2 win over the Dodgers and Duvall smacked a grand slam in Game 5 of the World Series.

The Braves also landed sought-after reliever Richard Rodriguez from the Pirates in exchange for Bryse Wilson and Ricky Devito, neither of whom had been rated in the organization's top 30. Atlanta left him off of its playoff roster.

The Phillies had significant holes in center field, left field, shortstop and third base and needed another power bat, but only re-acquired utility infielder Freddy Galvis from the Orioles for pitcher Spencer Burch, who wasn't one of the Phils' top 30 prospects in 2020.

Dombrowski also added starting pitcher Kyle Gibson, veteran closer Ian Kennedy and young starter Hans Crouse from the Rangers for starter Spencer Howard and pitching prospects Kevin Gowdy and Josh Gessner. Howard was the organization's No. 1 prospect in 2020.

Gibson, who is under contract next season, was effective early with the Phils but finished with a 5.09 ERA in 12 starts for Joe Girardi's club. Kennedy (4.13 ERA, 10 saves, three blown saves) was a bit disappointing and Crouse, who could help in future years, contributed just seven innings over two starts.

Galvis solidified the left side of the infield with his quality defense, though he's no difference-maker at the plate.

Dombrowski either preferred not to part with more minor leaguers from a mediocre farm system in deadline deals or believed the players Atlanta added wouldn't have this much of an impact or perhaps didn't think the Phillies were close enough to make a deep playoff run by securing a few more players.

One reason in favor of going more all-in to win this year would have been that the NL East champion doesn't have to deal with the one-game wild-card playoff, which is a crapshoot. The first round is a best-of-5 series.

Another would be not to waste the prime of star right fielder Bryce Harper, who had a terrific offensive season. 

To be fair, the Braves, who have a better bullpen and are more reliable on defense than the Phils were a little lucky to get this kind of production from the four overachieving outfielders. It didn't hurt that Atlanta manager Brian Snitker was able to use all four regularly and kept everybody happy.

Meanwhile, the Phillies' two primary deadline acquisitions underperformed.

The Braves also benefited from having a team payroll $35 million lower than the Phillies, which gave them room to take on salaries without being in danger of paying the luxury tax.

Tom Moore: tmoore@couriertimes.com; @TomMoorePhilly