SAN ANTONIO – They are the Atlanta Braves, and because of what they have built in recent seasons, they are expected to win. They had plenty of excuses – reasonable ones – for a third consecutive first-round exit, but it was disappointing nonetheless.
So as the offseason begins, the show goes on.
“Everyone says it, it’s a cliché, (but) expectations are a privilege, and we’re now in that position that there are high expectations every year,” Alex Anthopoulos said. “And that’s a good thing. That means that we’re doing things well, we’re performing, we have a talented club that people are expecting to go deep into October. Those are all positive things. But look, every year is unique, every postseason is unique, and you’re always going to look back and try to learn from it.
“But you’ve gotta get there first. And that’s always the goal – ideally through the division, but if not the division, through the wild card. Seven years in a row of the postseason, we’re proud of that. Everyone would love to have more than one World Series, but we do have one. The best way to win a World Series is to get into the postseason year in and year out.”
Anthopoulos, the Braves’ president of baseball operations and general manager, is the man tasked with assembling a team that can reach the postseason for the eighth straight year and go deep into it for the first time since 2021. His work has already begun. The offseason is underway.
On Tuesday at the General Managers Meetings at the J.W. Marriott San Antonio Hill Country Resort & Spa, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution spoke with Anthopoulos.
Here are some more notes from the conversation. If you missed Tuesday’s story, check it out here.
Fluke-y season with injuries
When a team has a lot of injuries, some fans tend to wonder if the club will change something in its injury prevention methods, whether in strength training or elsewhere. But this is something that’s difficult to quantify.
In the Braves’ case, it’s not worth much discussion. They had a lot of fluke injuries – and season-ending ones, at that.
“A lot of these things were – you look at the nature of the injuries, it’s not something that guys had had over and over again,” Anthopoulos said.
Ronald Acuña Jr. tore his ACL on the bases. Spencer Strider required elbow surgery. Austin Riley fractured his hand after he was hit by a pitch. A.J. Minter needed hip surgery.
“Certain things, like Austin Riley getting hit in the hand, Acuña in a rundown on the bases – you can’t have someone not run the bases,” Anthopoulos said. “So, there’s just some of those things. Obviously (Ozzie) Albies, the injury there. A.J. Minter with his hip – he had been very durable for a long time. If it was a recurring theme for individual players, it’d be one thing. You know you’re going to have injuries, so that’s expected. Every year, that’s why you talk about depth. I think the number of season-ending injuries to prominent players, that was more the exception. So, you’re going to lose players, guys are going to miss a month, two months, three months, but normally they’re back by the end of the year.
“But if you look at it, by the time you get through the end of the season or the postseason, Minter out for the season, Riley out for the season, Acuña out for the season, Strider out for the season. Albies not being able to hit left-handed still compromised (him) – not out for the season, but a big part of his game because he’s a left-handed bat and he clearly was hurting, so he’s not 100 percent, so you can almost include him in there. That normally doesn’t happen, right? You’ll have guys, like Harris, who missed a chunk of games but was back.”
There’s no way 2025 plays out like 2024 in this way, right?
Right?
The catching situation
Most of us projected the Braves to have Sean Murphy and Travis d’Arnaud behind the plate in 2025. But the Braves on Monday declined d’Arnaud’s $8 million club option in an effort to create payroll flexibility. D’Arnaud could still end up with the Braves, but this is not guaranteed.
So where does the catching position stand?
Well, the Braves have Murphy, who would catch the majority of the games – more than the 108 he caught in 2023 and the 72 he caught this season. Chadwick Tromp is an internal option, as is Drake Baldwin, who is the Braves’ top position-player prospect.
“One, Tromp’s got experience now, he’s familiar with the staff, there’s a comfort there,” Anthopoulos said. “Drake Baldwin, we think the world of in terms of his ceiling and his upside, and it’s a left-handed bat. I think with any young player, the thing you have to always weigh is, do you think there’s gonna be playing time? And if you don’t think there’s going to be playing time and at-bats, they’re most likely best served to play every day in the minor leagues. Beyond that, I just don’t know right now, how that spot (will end up).
“Right now, Sean Murphy is the only guy that we expect on the roster. Beyond that, the second catcher that’s going to pair with Sean Murphy, that hasn’t been decided yet. The internal options are obviously Tromp and Baldwin, (who) are the two upper-level guys that we have. But right now, I would say that Sean Murphy is the only guy that’s locked in, and from there, we’ll just kind of see how the offseason goes.”
It would make sense for Tromp to perhaps be higher on the pecking order – if only entering spring training. Baldwin hasn’t yet caught a major-league game. And would there be enough of an opportunity for him in the majors with Murphy catching the majority of games? The Braves might prefer he play everyday at Triple-A Gwinnett to begin the season.
Jarred Kelenic’s role in 2025
Jarred Kelenic is one of the more intriguing aspects of the Braves’ offseason.
A year ago, Atlanta acquired him with the intention of making him its everyday left fielder. It didn’t happen that way. The Braves saw an opportunity to sign Adam Duvall and did it. At first, Kelenic and Duvall platooned. Then Kelenic became the everyday option when Duvall struggled. Then Ramón Laureano took Kelenic’s playing time down the stretch.
So, where does this leave Kelenic?
If you’re analyzing the situation, you’d think the Braves would have to add an outfielder capable of starting in left field. But remember this: Acuña won’t be on the opening day roster, so the Braves would need to temporarily fill his spot in right field.
Here’s what Anthopoulos said about Kelenic:
“I think, look, the things that were evident were, we thought he played very well defensively, outstanding arm. You’re always gonna need someone that can play all three outfield spots. (Michael) Harris (II) unfortunately has missed time the last two years on the IL, so you’re going to need center field depth. That’s hard to find, guys that can legitimately play center field. And the fact that he’s got the arm strength to play all three and can play a legitimate right field is helpful. I think he showed flashes with the bat, but he was streaky at the same time. And he’s still a young player. And when we acquired him, the thought was (for him) to hit at the bottom of the lineup. Our offense was so prolific the year earlier that we just wanted him to play good defense and be a contributing bat for us. There were ups and downs, but he’s gonna continue to get opportunities with us.”
Kelenic’s fit on the 2025 roster might be as a fourth outfielder. Or maybe he’ll find himself in another platoon while he and a teammate help fill right field before Acuña’s absence to begin the year.
But the Braves probably would be taking a large risk to bet on Kelenic being an everyday left fielder, even if the lineup around him should improve from this season because guys will be healthy and (hopefully) performing.
Braves to add at least one more hitting coach
Two weeks after firing hitting coach Kevin Seitzer and assistant hitting coach Bobby Magallanes, the Braves hired Tim Hyers as their new hitting coach.
Atlanta had always planned to fill both of the hitting coach roles. Nothing has changed, and the Braves will be adding at least one more hitting coach – one to work under Hyers.
“And we’ve got time,” Anthopoulos said. “I mean, look, we were able to get Tim done quickly. We’ve made coaching hires in December or January even, I think. We have time, but again, it’s something that will take the next month or so. We don’t have a timeline on it, but we’re going through candidate lists and things like that. And Tim will be leading that process there. I can’t give you a timeline, but you will see us add at least one more hitting coach.”
Front office additions
Anthopoulos added two members to his front office: Pete Putila as assistant general manager of international scouting and Michael Schwartze as vice president of player personnel. Both come to Atlanta from the Giants, who are now led by former catcher Buster Posey.
Putila, San Francisco’s general manager, was in Houston before that. There, he crossed paths with Mike Fast, the Braves’ senior vice president of baseball development, and Ronit Shah, who’s now Atlanta’s director of amateur scouting.
“So, there was a lot of familiarity internally with him,” Anthopoulos said. “And obviously, we know people with the Giants as well. He comes highly regarded. But again, we had two people internally that worked with him very closely, know him well – that certainly helped. And then obviously we know a lot of Giants employees well that spoke very highly of him. In talking to him, we’re excited to have him.”
As for the international scouting tag?
“We just wanted to maybe (have) just someone who’s a little more devoted to that,” Anthopoulos said. “Jonathan Cruz is our director (of Latin American scouting), but (we just wanted) someone at a senior level that can spend a little more time, a little bit more focus, a little more attention. It’s very similar to what we have – we have director of minor-league operations, director of player development, but Ben Sestanovich is our (assistant general manager) of player development. He’s at the senior level, he’s the one that oversees that department even though there’s directors that run the day to day.
Pete’s going to be at the senior level like the same way (Jason) Paré is assistant GM of (research and development), but again, we have a big staff and so on. Pete is going to have oversight of that department. Jonathan will continue to run it. I just think it allows us to devote more time, more energy, more of a focus on that department by someone at the senior level, that their attention is dedicated to it.”
Schwartze was the Giants’ director of baseball analytics. He joined San Francisco as an analyst in 2017, then was promoted to manager of baseball analytics before the organization made him its director of analytics.
Could Charlie Morton pitch next season?
After the Braves were eliminated from the postseason, Charlie Morton stood at his locker and answered questions on his future – perhaps his final media scrum as a major leaguer. Morton has pondered retirement in previous years, but he’s continued pitching.
This time, though, felt a bit different. It seemed like he might actually hang ‘em up.
But wait!
The indication is that he might actually pitch in 2025 instead of retiring.
He would be 41 years old, and it would be his 18th big-league season. A return to the Braves would be a feel-good story, but it’s probably too early to evaluate Morton’s potential market.
In previous interviews, Morton has talked about balancing baseball and family: Every moment at the ballpark is time away from his wife and kids. This weighed on him. On the other side, though, he’s felt like if he can still hit 96 mph and spin a good curveball – which he can – then why would he retire?
He’s always seemed conflicted about it all, but at peace with whatever outcome he would reach.
It seemed like the wild card series would be the final games of his career. But he hasn’t officially called it quits.
He could pitch again next season.
About the Author
