3 more moves Alex Anthopoulos needs to make to build on Jurickson Profar signing

The long winter of discontent for Atlanta Braves fans finally began to thaw on Thursday, as the team agreed to terms with free-agent outfielder Jurickson Profar on a three-year, $42 million deal. After months of quiet, Atlanta signing literally anybody would have been noteworthy. But Profar is coming off a career year with the San Diego Padres in 2024, slashing .280/.380/.459 with 24 homers, 10 steals and underlying metrics that suggest it was anything but a fluke. And he brings some stability to a corner outfield situation that was in desperate need of it, especially with Ronald Acuna Jr. not due back until April at the earliest.

Profar is a rock-solid player on a reasonable contract at a position of need, a major win no matter how you slice it. But Anthopoulos can't afford to take a victory lap just yet. While the Braves remain among the most talented teams in the league, they also happen to in arguably the most talented division, with the New York Mets and Philadelphia Phillies looming. Add in the Los Angeles Dodgers building a superteam out west, and Atlanta can't afford to leave any needs unfilled ahead of Opening Day. Profar's deal should leave some $20 million or so left to spend, and there are still plenty of targets out there.

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3. Sign RHP Spencer Turnbull

The Braves could use some more depth in both the starting rotation and the bullpen. Fortunately, Turnbull would provide both, having been effective in both roles with the Phillies last season. Really, the righty has been effective whenever he's been healthy, but he's thrown more than 60 innings in a season just once at the big-league level.

But the Braves don't need Turnbull to be a workhorse. They just need him to be a cog in their machine, someone who can be called upon to reliably eat up innings either starting or in middle relief. He's exactly the sort of swingman they need to plug holes up and down the pitching staff, and he likely won't be too expensive.

2. Sign INF Ha-Seong Kim

How committed is Atlanta to entering the season with Orlando Arcia as its everyday shortstop? Committed enough not to completely break the bank for Willy Adames, to be sure, but is there really no way for Anthopoulos to find an upgrade within the team's budget?

At this point, Kim's market might be cool enough to make it work. We've always known that he wouldn't be ready for Opening Day after undergoing shoulder surgery last year, and there have been scant few rumors about him over the past few weeks. But as long as his medicals check out, there's a lot to like, from his defensive versatility to his base-running and OBP skills. Even if he's roughly league-average with the bat, that's still much better than Arcia did last year, and he brings a very well-rounded skill set to the table. It's hard to imagine him commanding more than Profar did on the open market at this point, which means he could be in the Braves' price range at around $10-12 million a year.

1. Trade for LHP Jordan Montgomery

Spencer Strider looks set to return not too deep into the 2025 season, but the Braves could use some insurance, as well as another option to toss into the Grant Holmes/Bryce Elder/Ian Anderson/AJ Smith-Shawver mix when he does get back on the mound. The Arizona Diamondbacks have made no effort to hide the fact that Montgomery is available, especially after signing Corbin Burnes over the winter, and Atlanta could likely acquire him with nothing more than a mid-tier prospect and a promise to pay down some $10 million of his deal or so.

Montgomery had a disastrous 2024 season, but he also was adjusting to a new team after signing in Spring Training. His previous track record feels much closer to his actual ability, and he could be exactly the innings eater this team needs given the injury risk inherent with Strider, Chris Sale and Reynaldo Lopez.