3 Braves who won’t be back next season if they miss the playoffs

Jorge Soler’s bat, and glove, may have him heading back to the American League

The only thing we know about the Braves outfield heading into next season is Acuña starts in right field as soon as he is healthy. This marginalizes some of the guys Atlanta general manager Alex Anthopoulos acquired back in July. So of the four outfielders he traded for last month, Jorge Soler is probably the most likely not to return because of his so-so glove, as well as his powerful bat.

Atlanta will not let Adam Duvall out of its sight after what happened last time. Though Eddie Rosario has yet to play for the team, he is a better all-around outfielder over Soler. As for Joc Pederson, he has more range defensively over Soler. While Atlanta may be done with Pederson, Rosario and Soler after three months, Soler is just not as valuable to a National League team.

Altanta’s bullpen will be blamed for 2021, and Josh Tomlin could be a scapegoat

Should Atlanta fail to reach the postseason, the bullpen will be the position group receiving the bulk of the blame. While the relief corps has pitched better since the start of July, you cannot bring back the same cast of characters from a leaky bullpen the following season. The problem is many of the guys in the Braves relief corps are not pending free agents, which brings us to Josh Tomlin…

His role with the team is purely middle relief and a bit of the long-arm guy. If they need a guy to eat up innings in a laugher of a ballgame, Tomlin is your man. As with Vogt, he is 36-years-old and a pending free agent. Given that he has not been otherworldly at any point of his three-year run with the Braves, he is an easy choice for Atlanta to walk this offseason once he hits free agency.

Even if the Braves do make the postseason, the 2022 roster will look quite a bit different than this.