The Braves general manager, Alex Anthopoulos, discusses what it would take for him to trade prospects for a star:

“If we’re going to trade a bunch of young players who have a chance to be here for six years and beyond … the bar for us to trade those guys for someone that has only one year of (contractual) control or two years of control is very high,” Anthopoulos said. “I can tell you that when we feel somewhat confident that if we trade young players for a guy with a year or two left on his contract, if we think we have a real chance to extend that player and sign that player and keep him in Atlanta long-term, we’re going to push hard. We’re going push hard; we’re going to give up a lot of good young players.” 

AJC.com

I’m not sure I agree with that. With 30 teams in the majors, World Series Championships are very rare. There are a number of teams that have gone more than 30 years without winning a championship, some of them having a history of high performance in that time.

The Braves last championship came 23 years ago. If there is a chance to get a player that helps you win this year, especially when a young core is already at the major league level, the team should go for it. Note that the statement from above is very different from what Mike Hazen of the Diamondbacks said yesterday after trading two prospects, “the value of having a good farm system is not to be awarded a trophy at the end of the year for having the best farm system. “

Of course, it may be possible to do both, and wait for the stars to become free agents, then sign them to round out the roster. That’s the route the Cleveland Indians took in the 1990s, and it came very close to paying off for them.