Instead of potentially overpaying for one of the hurlers available on this year’s starting-pitching trade market, Braves president of baseball operations Alex Anthopoulos instead gambled on the rejuvenation of at least a couple of the guys who have influenced the team’s rotation woes.

“There were a lot of players moved,” Anthopoulos said. “But we had to ultimately decide: How good are these players? How much will they be an upgrade over what we already have?”

Mike Clevinger ended up being the only impact starting pitcher dealt before Monday’s 4 p.m. ET Trade Deadline. The Rangers opted to keep Lance Lynn, but dealt Mike Minor, who heads to the A’s looking to regain last year’s All-Star form.

With this year’s expanded playoff format expanding the postseason field to 16 teams, there just weren’t many teams looking to deal front-line starting pitchers.

“We’re going to do the best we can with the guys we have here,” Braves manager Brian Snitker said.

Digging deep into their talent-rich farm system, the Padres used six players -- including three of their top 11 prospects -- to land Clevinger, who seemed to fall out of favor in the Indians’ clubhouse after he and Zach Plesac broke COVID-19 safety protocol by leaving their Chicago hotel room a few weeks ago.

Any deal the Braves would have made for Clevinger would have included some combination of top prospect Cristian Pache, top pitching prospect Ian Anderson, Austin Riley and possibly Drew Waters. The inclusion of Pache or Anderson in any combination would have been a steep price.

In addition, the Padres have more overall depth in their system than the Braves, who are starting to feel the effects of the sanctions that removed them from the international market the past few years.

Of course, only one start into his career, Anderson might already be considered a solution to at least a portion of Atlanta’s rotation woes. He and Max Fried are the only current members who can confidently be projected to remain in the rotation until the end of the season.

The Braves did address their pitching needs somewhat when they acquired Tommy Milone from the Orioles on Sunday. But after he lasted just 2 1/3 innings in Sunday night’s win over the Phillies, there was reason to question whether it would be best to continue patching holes in the rotation, or to give guys like Mike Foltynewicz and Kyle Wright another chance.

“Those guys have gotten opportunities,” Anthopoulos said. “They will likely get opportunities again. We just want to make sure to give them the opportunity to be in a good place when they come back up here.”

How did the Braves get to a point where they have just two reliable starting pitchers?

Well, Cole Hamels developed left triceps tendinitis early in Summer Camp and only recently was cleared to begin throwing off a mound again. Foltynewicz lost more than 20 pounds and approximately 5 mph off his fastball before being designated for assignment after his first start. Sean Newcomb was optioned after a few disappointing starts, and Wright was sent to the alternate training site when it appeared he still wasn’t quite ready.

Hamels could slowly begin building his innings workload while making starts for Atlanta over the next couple of weeks. Foltynewicz has regained strength and his fastball was recently clocked at 94 mph, which is similar to last year’s 95.4 mph average. As for Wright, he’s shown more consistency with his slider and could return to the big league rotation next week.

“I don’t think anybody doubts the amount of talent we have,” Anthopoulos said. “But it’s about getting good results.”