The Braves were the offseason’s least active free agent spender. With payroll mounting, they allowed a star hitter to depart for a second straight offseason. Atlanta instead landed arguably the top player of the winter trade market, promptly extending him to join a loaded internal group.
Major League Signings
- RF Jordan Luplow: One year, $1.4MM (eligible for arbitration through 2024)
- RHP Nick Anderson: One year deal worth $875K for time spent in majors (eligible for arbitration through 2025)
- RHP Jackson Stephens: One year deal worth $740K for time spent in majors (later outrighted to Triple-A)
2023 spending: $1.4MM
Total spending: $1.4MM
Option Decisions
- RHP Jake Odorizzi exercised $12.5MM player option instead of $6.25MM buyout
Trades and Claims
- Acquired LF Sam Hilliard from Rockies for minor league RHP Dylan Spain
- Traded RHP Jake Odorizzi and $10MM to Rangers for LHP Kolby Allard
- Acquired RHP Dennis Santana from Rangers for cash (later lost on waivers to Minnesota)
- Acquired 2B Hoy Park from Red Sox for cash or player to be named later (later outrighted to Triple-A)
- Acquired RHP Joe Jiménez from Tigers for minor league 3B Justyn-Henry Malloy and minor league LHP Jake Higginbotham
- Acquired C Sean Murphy from Athletics in three-team trade that sent C William Contreras and minor league RHP Justin Yeager to Milwaukee and LHP Kyle Muller, RHP Freddy Tarnok and minor league RHP Royber Salinas to Oakland
- Acquired 1B Lewin Díaz from Orioles for cash (later lost on waivers to Baltimore)
- Acquired LHP Lucas Luetge from Yankees for minor league IF Caleb Durbin and minor league RHP Indigo Diaz
- Acquired CF Eli White from Rangers for cash
Notable Minor League Signings
- Ehire Adrianza, Jesse Chavez, Joshua Fuentes, Joe Harvey, Adeiny Hechavarría, Joe Hudson, Ryder Jones, Brian Moran, Kevin Pillar, Alan Rangel, Yacksel Ríos, Yolmer Sánchez, Magneuris Sierra, Matt Swarmer, Ty Tice, Forrest Wall, Brooks Wilson
Extensions
- Signed LHP Tyler Matzek to two-year, $3.1MM extension (deal also contains 2025 club option and potentially buys out one free agent year)
- Signed C Sean Murphy to six-year, $73MM extension (deal also contains 2029 club option and potentially buys out four free agent years)
Notable Losses
- Dansby Swanson, Contreras, Adam Duvall, Kenley Jansen, Odorizzi, Robbie Grossman, Darren O’Day (retired), Muller, Alex Dickerson, Silvino Bracho, Jay Jackson, William Woods, Tarnok, Rylan Bannon, Salinas, Malloy
The Braves had an otherworldly second half to secure their fifth consecutive NL East title. Unlike the year before, they weren’t able to catch fire during the postseason. After losing in the Division Series to the Phillies, Atlanta went into the offseason again facing the potential departure of a star position player.
As was the case with Freddie Freeman a year ago, there was some early belief the Braves wouldn’t part ways with Dansby Swanson. The former first overall pick is a Georgia native and had emerged as a clubhouse leader, to say nothing of his excellent durability and quality production on both sides of the ball. Yet reports even before the offseason began suggested Atlanta had floated around $100MM in extension talks — a number that might’ve been acceptable early in the year but looked very light by the start of the offseason.
Atlanta made Swanson a qualifying offer that he predictably rejected. There didn’t seem to be much further contact; Mark Bowman of MLB.com reported in early December that Atlanta and Swanson’s camp hadn’t had any real negotiations since the start of the offseason. Two weeks after that, Swanson was a Cub. His $177MM guarantee with Chicago shattered Atlanta’s reported offer from during the season. The Braves picked up a compensatory draft pick but go into 2023 with a question mark at shortstop for the first time in years.
Swanson was one of four All-Star caliber shortstops available in free agency. Atlanta was never substantively linked to any of Trea Turner, Carlos Correa or Xander Bogaerts either, hinting at the payroll questions that surrounded the organization throughout the winter. No organization has been as successful as the Braves at signing early-career players to long-term extensions. Deals for the likes of Ronald Acuña Jr., Ozzie Albies, Spencer Strider, Austin Riley, Matt Olson and Michael Harris II have locked in a core that should compete throughout the decade. Yet those contracts have run up the payroll, limiting the club’s flexibility to attack free agency.
Atlanta entered the winter with a projected franchise-record payroll. The Liberty Media ownership group floated the notion of running top five payrolls in the near future. That raised the expectations among some within the fanbase but always felt a bit misleading, as Atlanta’s existing commitments put them in the back half of the top ten in spending already. There simply didn’t seem to be much room for the front office to play the open market.
No other team spent less in free agency. Atlanta’s only major league free agent signees were corner outfielder Jordan Luplow and relievers Nick Anderson and Jackson Stephens (the latter two of whom signed split deals that pay less for time spent in the minors). All three players had been cut at the start of the offseason — Stephens by the Braves themselves — and none will open this year on the MLB roster. Luplow and Anderson have already been optioned to Triple-A, while Atlanta ran Stephens through waivers and sent him outright to Gwinnett.
Without much spending capacity, Braves’ brass turned to the trade market to bolster a win-now roster. Atlanta orchestrated arguably the biggest trade of the winter, a three-team blockbuster that registered as a major surprise. There was never much doubt the rebuilding A’s would trade Sean Murphy. However, few would’ve pegged Atlanta as the landing spot back in November. The Braves already had a quality catching group consisting of Travis d’Arnaud, William Contreras and Manny Piña. There were plenty of other teams with a more dire catching need.
Murphy is a special player, though, one whom Atlanta pursued despite that positional depth. He’s among the sport’s best defensive catchers and has hit at an above-average level throughout his four-season career. Murphy has topped 15 home runs in each of the last two years despite playing his home games in one of the sport’s least favorable offensive environments. He draws walks, has power, and posted a personal-low 20.3% strikeout rate last season. There aren’t many more valuable all-around catchers.
Even a team with as much depth as the Braves would upgrade from adding a player of that caliber. Shortly after the Winter Meetings, Atlanta pulled it off by looping in the Brewers in a three-team deal that would send young outfielder Esteury Ruiz from Milwaukee to Oakland. Contreras, a quality hitter with some defensive concerns, was shipped off to Milwaukee as their catcher of the future. Piña headed back to the A’s as part of a salary offset. The Braves relinquished some upper level rotation depth, packaging Kyle Muller, Freddy Tarnok and High-A pitching prospect Royber Salinas to Oakland. Atlanta gave up a handful of well-regarded players but no one in that group looks like the kind of headliner the Braves will be devastated to lose, particularly since Murphy steps in as an immediate upgrade over the best player they relinquished.
A big part of Murphy’s appeal was his three remaining seasons of arbitration eligibility. While he was controllable at below-market rates through 2025, Atlanta committed to him as part of the core long before he ever donned a Braves uniform. Within weeks of the trade, Murphy and the Braves had agreed to a $73MM extension that buys out three free agent years and gives the club an affordable $15MM option for a fourth. It was another extension that has the potential to be a team-friendly pact and aligns well with the contention window for this core.
With Murphy in the fold, d’Arnaud gets pushed into the role of overqualified backup. Atlanta quickly made clear they wouldn’t look to trade him. They’ll instead deploy him frequently as the designated hitter and on rest days for Murphy. It served to indirectly upgrade a DH position that was one of the few position player weaknesses on the roster.
How to divvy up DH playing time dovetails with one of the other questionable spots: left field. Marcell Ozuna hasn’t performed well through the first two seasons of a four-year deal. He’s still due $37MM over the next couple seasons and remains on the roster. Atlanta looks set to give him another shot to reestablish himself offensively while splitting time between left field and DH.
That’s also true of Eddie Rosario. He followed up his 2021 World Series heroics with a disastrous ’22 campaign, hitting .212/.259/.328 in 80 games. The organization has attributed those struggles to an eye issue for which he underwent corrective vision surgery last April. There’s presumably some merit to that but Rosario has been one of the sport’s streakiest players throughout his eight-year MLB career. He’s not likely to be as bad as he was last season but he’s also not the established offensive force a team would be enthused to have in left field.
Rather than bring in a clear upgrade, Atlanta took a volume approach to left field. Luplow signed to add a right-handed matchup bat to the mix. The Braves took a flier on the toolsy Sam Hilliard, a former Rockie with big power but massive strikeout tallies. Atlanta also acquired defensive specialist Eli White from the Rangers and brought in veteran Kevin Pillar on a minor league deal. Adam Duvall and Robbie Grossman were allowed to depart in free agency. Hilliard and Pillar remain in MLB camp and could have the leg up on season-opening bench spots, with Hilliard out of minor league options and Pillar having the right to retest free agency if he doesn’t make the Opening Day roster.
It’s a hodgepodge of options without a clear solution, one where the organization seems set to take a hot hand approach. Whoever’s in left will be joined by two of the sport’s top young outfielders in Harris and Acuña. It’s a similar story on the infield, where three stars are joined by one area of concern.
Olson and Albies will be back on the left side of the infield. Riley has third base secured. Atlanta maintained throughout the winter it’d be an open competition to replace Swanson. There seemed a general expectation that 22-year-old Vaughn Grissom would take that job after he flashed some offensive potential last season while Albies was injured. Grissom’s production tailed off after a scorching start and prospect evaluators aren’t convinced he’ll be able to handle the position defensively. Atlanta settled the Opening Day shortstop debate yesterday, optioning both Grissom and former first-round pick Braden Shewmake to Gwinnett.
The job now falls to Orlando Arcia, an experienced utility option whose career offensive track record is below-average. The 28-year-old hit at a decent .244/.316/.416 clip in part-time action last season, however. The Braves will go with stability over upside in the early going, turning to Arcia and likely tabbing non-roster invitee Ehire Adrianza as a utility option off the bench. There’s no question they’re in for a downgrade relative to Swanson, though that would’ve been true regardless of which player won the job. Arcia is an unexciting stopgap whom the club will count on as a low-end regular while giving Grissom and Shewmake more developmental run. The Braves could have turned to a veteran free agent like Elvis Andrus or José Iglesias for little cost but apparently don’t consider either to be a better player than Arcia.
While a veteran won the shortstop job out of camp, Atlanta’s fifth starter role looks as if it’ll fall to a rookie. The Braves have an elite top four with Max Fried, Strider, Kyle Wright and Charlie Morton. Atlanta cleared a path to the fifth spot for a young pitcher at the start of the offseason, paying down $10MM of Jake Odorizzi’s $12.5MM contract to offload him to Texas. That deal brought back former first-round pick Kolby Allard, who has gotten hit hard at the MLB level and will start the year on the injured list because of an oblique issue.
With Odorizzi out of the picture, the fifth starter job seemed to fall to one of Ian Anderson, Bryce Elder or Michael Soroka. Soroka fell out of the Opening Day mix by suffering a hamstring injury. Meanwhile, Anderson and Elder got leapfrogged on the depth chart by prospects Jared Shuster and Dylan Dodd, both of whom have excelled in camp. Anderson and Elder were optioned out, leaving Dodd and Shuster to battle for the fifth spot. Neither has yet played in MLB; they’re both coming off strong seasons in the upper minors and have quality secondary stuff and command to compensate for mediocre velocity.
As with any team, the Braves are sure to cycle through a number of pitchers at the back of the rotation as injuries and performance necessitate. The fifth spot shouldn’t be a huge concern thanks to the elite front four and a bullpen that again looks like one of the game’s best. They let closer Kenley Jansen walk after one very good season in Atlanta but have ample possibilities to fill the high-leverage innings.
The Braves acquired Raisel Iglesias at last summer’s deadline as a ready-made closing replacement for Jansen. A.J. Minter and Dylan Lee are excellent setup options from the left side. Atlanta brought in veteran specialist Lucas Luetge in a trade after he was designated for assignment by the Yankees to add a third quality left-hander. Collin McHugh and Kirby Yates are right-handed setup options. The Braves landed one of the better relievers available in trade this offseason, sending third base/corner outfield prospect Justyn-Henry Malloy to Detroit for the final arbitration season of hard-throwing righty Joe Jiménez.
That’s seven spots accounted for if everyone’s healthy. Anderson and Stephens could get looks in a depth capacity at some point. Old friend Jesse Chavez is back in camp as a non-roster invitee and might get the first crack at a long relief role. Atlanta agreed to a two-year deal with Tyler Matzek to cement him as a part of the 2024 relief corps, though he won’t be available this season after undergoing Tommy John surgery in October.
Once the offseason roster work was complete, the Braves turned their attention to a couple administrative concerns. Atlanta signed manager Brian Snitker to an extension that runs through 2025, tacking on two guaranteed seasons to his existing deal. That came on the heels of a notable front office departure, with vice president of scouting Dana Brown departing in January to take over baseball operations with the Astros.
There were a few high-level changes this winter but much of the Braves’ offseason is built around continuity. The Braves struck for one of the biggest trades and added a couple relievers in smaller deals. They did virtually nothing in free agency while watching Swanson and Jansen sign elsewhere. While it may not have been the most exciting winter for the fanbase, the Braves will head into the season with a legitimate goal of claiming a sixth straight NL East title. The organization has committed to this core and the group will try to again hold off the ascendant Mets and Phillies in arguably the game’s most competitive division.
MLBTR is conducting team-specific chats in conjunction with the Offseason In Review series. Anthony Franco held a chat about the Braves on March 22. Click here to view the transcript.
How would you grade the Atlanta offseason? (poll link for app users)
Extraordinary!
I thought Kiddoff was going to say WOW
Saratoga likes to shake things up.
They let the grossly overrated Dansby Swanson, who has had one single good season- *coincidentally* his walk year- and who is a career .255/.321/.417/95 OPS+ go to the Cubs, and he is now falling on his face in Spring Training. GRADE: A+.
But, they got ripped off with the Odorizzi for Allard trade. Sure, Odorizzi may be a mediocre swing guy who should be a 4th starter on an average staff, but Allard is a homerun specialist. Both are temporarily injured at the moment, but the Braves are paying 10 million and Allard’s arb salary.
The braves took ordorizzi for a 5th type starter they needed AND dump will smith. They believed that Ordorizzi would take the 6.5 buy out and go into FA. He was so bad with atlanta he had to accept his 12.5 option. Atlanta got Allard and TX got Ordorizzi for 2.5 million. Which is a great deal for him. Ordorizzi may provide depth–even if he turns out to be the long guy in the pen for 2.5 he is a cheap deal for TX. This does not harpoon the Braves off season as some kind of black stain. They have better pitching in the minors than Ordorrizzi and don’t need that pitching blocked by him. They knew they were on the hook for 6.5–so they paid 3.5 for allard in a trade—which is fine. Allard is the 8th/9th starter if needed on the depth chart.–a vet–coming home–for 3.5 insurance policy–thats fine.
B just for the huge catcher upgrade. They didn’t have many needs nor tax room. All thanks to their excellent aggressiveness with extensions. They have a lot of $ in their 2 lf’s so can see why they are hoping for a rebound there. Close to being a A but they didn’t do a ton so stick with B.
One of the worst offseasons for a WS contender in years.
How so? Letting Dansby walk was a no-brainer, and they didn’t lose anyone else of note. They added one of the best all-around catchers and signed him to a long-term deal.
Can’t wait for all the in denial Braves fans here to attack this comment.
Braves only got worse this offseason. Much worse.
I have no sympathy for those of you who have supported this apathetic attempt by the organization to put a WS contender on the field though. You all deserve what I fully expect to be a disappointing season.
As for the rest of us who see the direction this team is going without some weird bias to always praise the organization even when they show they don’t care slightly about the fan base or the team itself…. All I can say to this group is I feel your pain. Like most of you I’ll continue to hope this organization wakes up, but I won’t expect it either. I’ve been around long enough to see them for what they are. Maybe we put together a miracle run, but it’s sad that’s what we have to hope for when the prospects have turned out this talented only to get no further support to fill in the very few gaps that still exist.
You say the Braves got much worse, and then you say they have very few gaps. Which is it?
@bhambrave Did someone leave the door open and let a Mets fan in? (mj-2)
LOL Where is MetsFan22 anyway?
I think he disappeared about the time the Mets got eliminated by the Padres. I think it’s funny that my computer wants to auto-correct Mets.
I also think it’s funny that BRef has park factors saying that the Mets ballpark is below 100 in both hitting and pitching. I think that says more about the Mets than it does about the ballpark.
Are you so low IQ you think those things can’t both be true?
1 major hole in lineup in 2022 (corner outfield) has no turned into 2 major holes in 2023 (corner outfield and SS)
They are now twice as bad as they were last year. That’s much worse.
It’s also still only a few holes that the organization could easily cover if they cared. I’m not asking for them to go out and grab Judge and Turner to fill them. Resigning Swanson and nabbing someone like Mitch Haniger would have done wonders.
Imagine keeping Swanson, and replacing a league worst corner outfield spot with Haniger. That’s actually a major improvement. That’s all it would have taken from ownership this offseason.
Does no one remember the quote from Terry McGuirk at the end of last year after getting eliminated about his intention to be a Top 5 payroll this year? It was all big talk though wasn’t it. How on Earth any of you have respect for this org is beyond my comprehension…
FYI we are sitting 8th. And if McGuirk was true to his word holding on to Swanson and signing Haniger would actually put us right at 5th.
So, let me ask you am I really asking for a lot? Not any more than what ownership vowed to provide, that’s for certain. Better question, why are you ok with them promising one thing and failing to follow through?
You actually gave them a B+ for flat out lying to you. That’s not an opinion. McGuirk said he wants to be a Top 5 payroll. Look it up. And here you are grading them a B+ for not even following through with the simplest of objectives.
I also don’t expect them to be top 5 every year either for what it’s worth. But when your team is at the peak of a stretch where you’re good enough to win and all it takes is a little extra push to make you the outright favorites… yeah I expect them to make that push. Why am I watching otherwise?
Yes they have few holes and yes they got much worse going into this year. And yes we’ve passed on another opportunity to be the clear favorite. All of these are facts.
Put down the pipe mj-2!!!
Mitch Haniger? is this 2018? lol, I’ll take Rosario over Haniger. And I would have loved to resign Dansby, but not for anywhere near to what he signed with the Cubs. The Braves will be fine, I give the off-season a B+ also because they traded for and signed Murphy. If they could have found a trade for Ozuna, it would have been an A.
If Eddie rebounds to his career averages post-surgery, that’s a 40 point improvement in OPS+. I’d settle for that for one year.
Spending money stupidly shouldn’t be the goal. The goal should be to build a sustainable team with little to no dead money. The Braves can still take on some money at the deadline, if it’s a smart trade. They can also possibly extend Fried.
You are aware that Mitch Haniger is very brittle, can’t stay healthy and is already beginning the year on the DL with the Giants. The Braves have one of the best offenses in baseball along with a strong bullpen and strong 4 starting pitchers. Shuster and Dodd could be big surprises and if Soroka can give the Braves half and what he used to bring, the Braves will be just fine. Look at all the injuries the Mets have already had and that pitching staff won’t hold up. Braves in no way got worse, they just might have gotten better.
“FACT 1”: There are 4 possibly 5 mvp candidates on this team.
“FACT 2”: There are 9 players who could easily get to the all star game–without hitting their ceilings.
“Fact 3”: The Braves could have two top 5 cy young candidates and Wright could be in the top 10, AND Morton between 10-15
“FACT 4”: The Pen could easily be a top 5 pen in the game.
“FACT 5”: The defense is better than any other NL east team and should be somewhere in the 5-8 range in the game.
“FACT 6”: The Braves lead the league in slugging last year and will come close again this year.
“FACT 7″: The Braves have a great chance to lead the NL east in stolen bases.
There are many other aspects of this team that could make this team one of the best in the last 20 years.
You can get hung up on SS and Left—okay go for it. As a matter of SOP –AA and the Baseball president doesn’t tell you everything you want to know–the top 5 payroll was not spoken about as it will happen this year. They believe the Braves will have one and should be able to have one when all of the Battery and the debt is paid off. You think you are getting lied to. Okay. seems miserable. This could be a great historic year and you are focusing on two spots who may or may not be average or a little above. At SS there are two prospects battling it out in AAA who ‘could’ be way better than Dans was in his 1st year–easily. In left Rosario will be better than last year–with him being able to see the ball–that is almost ‘fact.” The Braves are a top 5 team and could be the best at the end–see Dodgers for examples of the best team not being the last team standing. Most fans would love to have this braves team–I will enjoy this ride. I hope you can as well.
Shut up, Mets fan!
I give them a B+. If they could have turned the sow’s ears in LF and SS into silk purses, then they’d get an A.
Same here. They just opted for quantity in LF and will end up running with the best of a bad lot there (reminds me of the years CLE did very little to fill their holes in the OF thinking the problem would solve itself). I guess with Arcia they’re getting average defense and feel they can live with not getting much out of the 9 hole. The article did correctly refer to him as a stop gap.
Great write-up Anthony! You nailed it.
The Braves have a bunch of all-stars signed to long-term deals. Their only obvious holes in the line-up are LF and SS. They also need to extend Fried. Other than that, they’re golden.
Once again I find it odd that we are still saying “whoever’s in left field”. It’s obviously Rosario. He may indeed be streaky but he’s actually been consistent season to season until last year (and a little hickup in Cleveland). I mean the manager said he couldn’t even see the ball playing soft toss in spring training last year. If you can’t see a ball a foot in front of you then how are you gonna see a slider breaking into you from 60 ft away? It’s just amazing to me how low everyone is on the guy when he has been consistently productive for most of his career. If Hilliard hasn’t made the team with his performance than idk why he was even invited to spring training, being out of options. He has almost 1000 OPS in spring. I thought all along Arcia might get the job outta spring. I haven’t seen him in spring but he saw an opening and likely worked very hard. Look at the metrics in his past: he actually had an elite defensive year at shortstop early in his career. I think they are hesitant to block Grissom and in left if Rosario doesn’t do the job they can swing a trade for a rental mid season. They are hoping Pillar will be a contributor.
Yeah, Eddie definitely deserves a shot, but he’s also not a long-term solution. He’s paid for, so we might as well give him a chance to prove he can rebound.
Yea I like to see a defensive first left fielder that hits about .280-.300 with a high OBP that can steal bases. Got any Ideas?
Kinda like a young Markakis!!
A young Markakis was on a borderline HOF trajectory so I doubt they can get a player like that. A player would have to be a defensive wizard to be considered “defense first” while hitting for a high avg,obp and stealing bases. If they end up having to get a LF in free agency I assume it will be someone like Eddie Rosario. A solid everyday player who doesn’t cost a ton. Not elite or a household name. But Morton may be coming off the books for good if he retires or has a bad year so who knows? But I think they’d reallocate that to pitching mostly.
Not many people are defensive first LF. LF is often a place to stick a guy who is all bat. Markakis was a RF. If memory serves he had a good arm pre-surgery.
He may or may not be. He is 31. If last year were thrown out we are talking about a player who consistently hits 20-30 hr with a 250-290 avg. If he has a good year they have a 9mil option and would almost surely pick it up considering the price of free agents. That’s not long term but 2 years is awhile and who knows he could be a Brave longer than that. I doubt it though. He is a fan favorite, not that that makes a difference to the front office. I’ve never seen a player who spent so little time with the team being cheered so much every time he came to the plate while he was playing horribly. If he has a good year your 2024 LF is Eddie Rosario. If he has a bad year (even defensively) then they will sign a FA or trade for a LF after this season.
Solid 93 win team
When they change their name and stop the tomahawk chop I will consider giving them a passing grade.
@wildworldbycs Your a Moron, All local indigenous Americans approve
From the wikipedia “tomahawk chop” entry:
The controversy has persisted since and became national news again during the 2019 National League Division Series. During the series, St. Louis Cardinals relief pitcher and Cherokee Nation member Ryan Helsley was asked about the chop and chant. Helsley said he found the fans’ chanting and arm-motions insulting and that the chop depicts natives “in this kind of caveman-type people way who aren’t intellectual.” Helsley’s comments prompted the Braves to stop handing out foam tomahawks, playing the chop music, or showing the chop graphic when the series returned to Atlanta for Game 5.
“All local indigenous Americans approve.”
Did someone ask every one of them? I’m certain a significant percentage do not approve.
mlb.com/braves/community/native-american-community
Go to this website:
mlb.com/braves/community/native-american-community
The Braves and the 41,000 fans attending their games at Truist Park don’t really care, wildworldbycs., but thanks for letting us here at MLBTR know!
@wildworldbycs You forgot to ask the local indigenous American tribe and just asked one that was on the opposing team GET LOST!!
I actually didn’t ask anyone. I just stated my own opinion, which seems appropriate to do in a comments section.. I respect that you have a different opinion and expect that I can have my own. I find the tomahawk chop offensive. It bugs me every time I see it on TV to the point that I avoid Atlanta games. It is pretty clear that you don’t find it offensive. I apologize if my opinion offends you.
I give them an A!
A disaster!!
Love the banter. Some pessimistic and others optimistic. I’m of the latter. My take is this like other “Homer’s” I’d love for Dansby to Re-sign and be the SS. However, paying a guy 23-27M per who’s greatest tool is the glove that had to be developed to that level is insane. No way Braves were going to do that deal. I remember very well back in 16,17 when people were ready to run him out of Atlanta when he was hitting 240 in the 8 hole. For context, he makes about 2mil less than FF AAV, Different position yes but who is the better player? I have more but Lastly, people DH or get that they did all that last year without Ozzie. He always gets forgotten about when we are talking about production. Dude was a 30 bomb 85 plus RBI guy not that long ago. He and a healthy FULL yr of Ronald will plug some of the offensive production lost at SS. April 6th is the Braves home opener and Braves Country needs to show up and support this squad no matter who’s at SS or manning LF.
Correction*People forget not DH
If Olson and Albies make up the “left” side of the infield that will be a huge violation of the new shift rules.
I’m happy the braves let dansby walk but still think it was a poor off-season.
Don’t like flipping Contreras or Muller-both have really high ceilings and are controllable for a long time. Don’t like the bullpen additions. Pretty apathetic to the Murphy signing. Generally dislike the lack of pitching depth that is currently on this team and how they are handling shortstop seems ridiculous.
What other pieces would you have liked the Braves to add? Murphy is a massive upgrade over Contreras. Muller was leapfrogged by about 5-6 other prospects. Not sure what you see in the lack of pitching depth. The Braves can run about 7-8 guys out there to start. They have one of the deeper SP rotations in the majors. I have hesitancy that AA is actually going to run Arcia out as the opening day SS….something is brewing.
I like Murohy.
I hate letting Swanson walk.
Didn’t address the corner outfield.
B.
The degree of programming of you robots is ridiculous. There is nothing the Braves or their fans do that is even slightly racist. They are not depicting Indians in any insulting way. They are chopping a tomahawk. It is not an insult. Teams named themselves after natives out of respect. I live in Georgia and it is flat out remarkable the esteem in which people here hold Native Americans. If they think they even have slight bit of native blood they go around bragging about it to anyone who will listen. You are so off base that I’m questioning why I’m even writing this. Apply “whoever smelt it dealt it” to shouting “that’s racist!” and you will be closer to the truth.
I think Redskins is offensive, but the Braves? Nah. Everyone would like to be a Brave. Braves are cool. It’s like calling the team the Atlanta Badasses.