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Braves GM: We're like 7-Eleven; always open for business

Dilip Vishwanat / Getty Images Sport / Getty

The Atlanta Braves walked out of the winter meetings in Nashville with quite a haul of players, and despite all the wheeling and dealing they will remain open for business.

"It was a good week," Braves general manager John Coppolella told David O'Brien of AJC.com. "We have a great group; (team president) John Schuerholz and (president of baseball operations) John Hart were both awesome. And we aren't done yet. There's still more moves we're trying to make, whether it's trades or free-agent signings. We're always working on that stuff."

The Braves left the winter meetings having signed catcher Tyler Flowers and utility man Emilio Bonifacio, while pulling off a blockbuster deal with the Arizona Diamondbacks involving right-hander Shelby Miller.

“You always want to get better, and I feel like we got better here," Coppolella continued. "That being said, I made the joke that we're kind of like 7-Eleven - we may not always be doing business, but we're always open."

Atlanta has been one of the busiest teams during the offseason, having traded away Miller, Andrelton Simmons, and Cameron Maybin, while stocking its already stellar farm system with even more high-end depth, which includes a lot of pitching.

"We're really excited about the young arms that we have," Coppolella said. "It's tough losing Shelby Miller, but the arms that we have coming through - we want to give them opportunities. We want to help our young kids to get opportunities and see where they go, because that future, that's what we're in this for. We're trying to build the Braves way where we can build good teams every year. The only way we can do that is with your own (players) through your own farm system. You can't buy it every year. That's going to set you up for failure."

Eight of Atlanta's top 10 prospects are pitchers.

PROSPECT AGE POSITION
Dansby Swanson 21 SS
Sean Newcomb 22 LHP
Ozhaino Albies 18 SS
Aaron Blair 23 RHP
Touki Toussaint 19 RHP
Kolby Allard 18 LHP
Tyrell Jenkins 23 RHP
Manny Banuelos 24 LHP
Max Fried 21 LHP
Lucas Sims 21 RHP

Hart is on the same page as his GM, believing that the acquisition of young pitching depth is how the Braves will return to the promised land, which included 14 division crowns between 1990-2005, but they could still be in the hunt for a short-term veteran arm in the meantime.

"We're still about developing this big-league rotation, developing these kids and giving them an opportunity. You're kind of caught - you want to protect it (with proven depth), but if you do you pretty much kill the opportunity for the young player, if you go get a veteran guy to maybe stabilize the club. We'll see how that one plays. We've got a variety of ways we might go, but that's one of the decisions that we may have to make, I think, going forward. Obviously we wouldn't be looking at a long-term guy."

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