It was a small move, made the Friday before Thanksgiving. The Braves non-tendered Ramon Laureano, who started 54 games since being signed in May after Cleveland cut him. He played all three outfield positions on a team running low on outfielders. He batted .296 with an OPS of .832 on a team that didn’t hit much. He wasn’t great – 64 strikeouts against eight walks – but he was OK.
Laureano was eligible for arbitration. Matt Swartz of MLB Trade Rumors projected a salary of $6.1 million for Laureano in 2025, which isn’t cheap for an outfielder who’s only OK. And yet: Latest reports hold that Ronald Acuña Jr., coming off a second ACL tear, mightn’t be available for the new season’s first two months.
Jorge Soler, whose second Braves stint was less emphatic, was traded to the Angels before October was done. Though the Braves deployed Soler in the outfield, he’s essentially a DH. They didn’t need two DHs – Marcell Ozuna being the other – making $16 million apiece. But here are the outfielders with MLB experience on this 40-man roster who figure to be heathy in April/May:
· Michael Harris, and thank heaven for him.
· Jarred Kelenic, relegated to the bench by the end of last season.
· Eli White, who’s 30 and whose career batting average is .191.
· Luke Williams, who’s 28 and whose career average is .228.
And that’s it. Yes, it’s still early – MLB’s winter meetings convene this weekend in Dallas. Yes, the Braves will address this shortfall. As we speak, that 40-man roster includes but 36 names. So far, though, this offseason has seen Alex Anthopoulos subtracting, as opposed to adding. (The Braves did sign Connor Gillispie, a 27-year-old reliever who has logged eight big-league innings.)
Laureano is gone. Soler is gone. The pitcher acquired in the Soler swap is gone. (Griffin Canning, we hardly knew ye.) Travis d’Arnaud is gone, the Braves declining their option to keep him. They’ve redone the contracts of Reynaldo Lopez and Aaron Bummer. According to Spotrac, the Braves’ payroll has shrunk from the $236M of last season to $183M.
Those who live to bash Liberty Media will see this as a corporate mandate to cut costs. The belief here is that Anthopoulos plans to put these savings to work, and not by buying T-bonds.
I doubt the Braves will re-sign Max Fried, though they’ll try. I doubt they’ll land Willy Adames, though they might make a run. The Braves have long considered splurging in free agency as the least efficient way of roster-building, and they’re not wrong.
The Dodgers can buy whomever they please and delay payment from here to eternity – The Associated Press reports that, with the signings of Blake Snell and Tommy Edman, L.A. has topped $1 billion in deferrals – but the Braves aren’t the Dodgers. The Braves, at least for the moment, are stuck with Diamond Sports Group. The Dodgers co-own the local network that carries their games. Big difference. Huge difference.
The guess is that the Braves will seek to upgrade via trade, which will come at the cost of a pitching prospect – Hurston Waldrep or AJ Smith-Shawver – and maybe Ozzie Albies. (Though I would NEVER trade Ozzie Albies.) But the Braves cannot sit still this winter and hope to rule the summer of ‘25. What happened last summer stands as an object lesson.
The 2024 season was the first under Anthopoulos that marked a backward step. That the Braves still have a slew of good players under long-term contract means they’re not apt to be bad anytime soon. Still, going 89-73 and slipping into the postseason by winning Game No. 162 was not, by Braves standards, up to snuff.
Shortstop is an issue. Catcher is an issue, especially without d’Arnaud as a security blanket. Left field remains a turnstile. The rotation, assuming Spencer Strider returns to eminence, looks good 1 through 4, but rotations are never ironclad – and Chris Sale turns 36 in March.
Every front office has the same mission statement – try to get better every day. If you’re not getting better, you’re getting worse. I’d be surprised if December ends without a major Anthopoulos move.
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