NORTH PORT, Fla. — Braves president of baseball operations Alex Anthopoulos recently saw a quote from Phil Jackson, the legendary basketball coach, that resonated with him. He sent it to manager Brian Snitker.
It goes something like this: “My philosophy is that you don’t motivate players with speeches. You have motivated players that you draft.”
The point: Motivated players make great teams.
It might be cliché, and it is difficult to measure, but there seems to be a different feeling around CoolToday Park this year. And even if it is early in spring training – the team has not yet held its first full-squad workout – a couple of Braves already boldly stated the club’s expectations with a different confidence than the previous two seasons.
The key term through two days here: World Series or bust.
“I think we need to get everyone coming into spring training like, ‘Hey, this is World Series or bust,’” A.J. Minter said Wednesday.
On Thursday, Spencer Strider followed with this: “I don’t think we should be afraid to say we want to win a World Series. There’s kind of this aura around it that it’s something that’s out of your control. All outcomes are out of your control, but we want to leave everything out there to guarantee ourselves the best opportunity, the best chance. When the season is over, regardless of how we finish, I want to be able to say, for myself and the rest of us, we did everything we could at that time to try and secure the outcome we want.”
Often, athletes shy away from the all-or-nothing mindset. Of course, everyone is in it to win it all. But saying that might come with backlash if it doesn’t pan out in the end.
But the Braves clearly are fearless.
World Series or bust, it is.
“That just tells me these guys are really driven, they’re really motivated,” Anthopoulos said. “(The Phil Jackson quote) made me think about our roster. We have a lot of really motivated guys. Coming from a guy like Phil Jackson who’s won that much, it landed with me, and I really started thinking about our team and our roster. When I see comments like that, however these guys want to view it, whatever they use as fuel, is great.”
Added Snitker: “I love the guys and how they come to camp, the determination and how driven they are. I (say it) every year: I don’t have to worry about these guys. They’re going to go out, they’re going to do the work, they’re gonna compete, they love to compete. I wouldn’t expect anything less from them. They know how to win. And they’ve been to the top of the mountain, and they’re driven to do so.”
In 2022, a dominant Braves group – the hottest team in baseball from June through September – faltered against the Phillies in October.
Last October, a historic Braves team saw the same nightmare unfold in an eerily similar way.
The Braves experienced that, and seemingly came to a concussion: They don’t want to feel that again. So they have come into camp with added purpose and focus.
Well, we had a layoff before the National League Division Series.
Well, it’s just one series.
Well, we went cold at the wrong time and the Phillies got hot.
The Braves could’ve explained away one early exit with these rationalizations. But two? When it happens again, something might need to change.
“And you can’t control it, you can’t guarantee an outcome,” Strider said. “But like I said, we want to have the best opportunity possible. We want to try to get as close to guaranteeing ourselves the outcome we want as we can. Ultimately, there’s always going to be things out of your control. I want to know for myself – and I think the rest of us do, too – is, how good are we? That’s kind of the test. If we can truly get the most effort out of ourselves in everything we do, then we’ll find out.”
At Braves Fest in January, Strider mentioned changing the rhetoric this season as a way for the Braves to outline their goals more clearly. Usually, the team’s emphasis is on winning the division first. Yes, that must happen, but it cannot hurt to vocalize what everyone else knows.
This Braves club – with its talent up and down the roster – must capitalize on it all by hoisting the World Series trophy at the end of the year.
So, does this spring feel different?
“Yeah, I think so,” Strider said. “A lot of guys showed up really early this year. There’s definitely sort of a quietness with which these guys are working, and I like that a lot. I think that everybody is very focused on the little bit of time that they are here, that they can work. There’s only so many hours in a day and so much time we can spend here, so I think we can make that as quality as possible.”
On Thursday, five days before the first full-squad workout, Austin Riley, Matt Olson and Michael Harris II were among a group of position players that worked out. Jarred Kelenic also is here. So is Luis Guillorme. There are others. They weren’t scheduled to report until next week, but they are here.
Success, in part, takes high-character guys, as Anthopoulos outlined Thursday. Especially when you sign those players to long-term deals. You’re betting that they won’t change, that they won’t become complacent, that they’ll always work hard.
An example from Anthopoulos: There could be a delicious spread in the clubhouse, but Riley will head toward the salad bar. “He could easily just not make the right decision,” Anthopoulos said. “No one’s telling him that.” But Riley, and others, possess great “makeup,” which is the baseball word for character.
Yes, talent matters. The Braves have plenty of it, which is why they should once again be one of baseball’s better teams.
But an important part is that those players are the ones leading the charge. They’re guided by Anthopoulos and Snitker, but they’re the ones pushing this forward.
“We’re a player-driven organization and team, and these guys are motivated,” Snitker said. “I don’t worry about these guys. I don’t worry about them being ready. They’re gonna get their work in. They don’t consider what we’re doing and everything we ask them to do (to be) work. It’s great to be around a driven, motivated group.”
The Braves, like everyone in baseball, want to win a World Series. This season is, to them, World Series or bust.
So it doesn’t much matter how they say it.
That’s their goal, and they’re beginning the drive toward it.
“Whatever these guys want to use as fuel, right?” Anthopoulos said.
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