Braves miss out on elite pitcher trade thanks to Rangers' Jacob deGrom originally appeared on The Sporting News. Add The Sporting News as a Preferred Source by clicking here.The Atlanta Braves came into this year's trade deadline needing to upgrade their starting rotation. It's been a banged-up unit, and they cannot rely on Chris Sale and the current options for a World Series run.They wound up adding Tyler Mahle, but a true bona fide ace would've been a major upgrade for this club. Unfortunately, no such trade happened. But it wasn't for a lack of effort. In fact, it might not even be the Braves' fault that they missed on an ace.According to Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic, the Braves made a serious push to acquire Jacob deGrom from the Texas Rangers. With the Rangers willing to make such a trade, the only reason it fell through was thanks to deGrom and his no-trade clause.Braves miss out on an ace trade pickup, all thanks to Jacob deGrom"The Braves informed the Rangers of their desire to land deGrom, according to people briefed on the discussions who were offered anonymity for their candor," Rosenthal reports. "The Rangers told deGrom if he wanted to waive his no-trade clause for Atlanta, they would make a deal happen, source said, but deGrom said no, explaining that he wanted to win in Texas."This update from Rosenthal makes a few things clear. For starters, the Braves did seriously pursue another starting pitcher upgrade, although their exact targets beyond this deGrom report might not fully be known.But, the other noteworthy thing from this upgrade, according to Rosenthal, is that deGrom is the sole reason why the former New York Mets Cy Young winner didn't wind up in Atlanta.MORE:Braves get unexpectedly weak grade from ESPN for Lane Thomas trade with RoyalsThe Braves wanted to make a trade, and the Rangers were willing to swing a deal with Atlanta to ship deGrom off to a much better postseason contender.But thanks to deGrom invoking his no-trade clause and shutting down a deal, the Braves missed out on the chance to land a difference-making starter at the deadline.Sale, Martin Perez, Bryce Elder, Grant Holmes, Mahle, and the supporting cast of injured starters in Reynaldo Lopez, Spencer Strider, and Spencer Schwellenbach make up the Braves' rotation options this year.There are other pitchers the Braves could turn to, but it's hard not to feel like missing out on deGrom is a huge missed opportunity for this team. They tried, but came up short of adding a veteran pitcher who would've made for a very fun deadline addition.More MLB news:Cubs land Kevin Gausman in blockbuster trade with Blue JaysRed Sox expected to trade Jarren Duran during offseason, not MLB trade deadlineWhat did Mets get for Freddy Peralta? Rays send three prospects for 4.99 ERA SPTigers receive lousy grade for Tarik Skubal trade to Dodgers from ESPNHow Cubs inadvertently helped Dodgers trade for Tarik Skubal