Braves good vibes come to abrupt halt with reliever target joining bitter rival

The Atlanta Braves finally built some offseason momentum last week, landing former San Diego Padres outfielder Jurickson Profar on a three-year deal. Finding a corner outfielder had been priority No. 1 for Alex Anthopuolos, especially with Ronald Acuna Jr. set to miss at least the start of the season as he rehabs from his torn ACL, and in Profar they landed a versatile veteran player who seemed to unlock a new level during a career year in 2024. One need filled, Anthopoulos could now pivot to the rest of his winter to-do list — like, for example, the team's bullpen, where Joe Jimenez is set to miss all of 2025 with a knee injury.

Unfortunately, that pivot doesn't seem to be going all that well at the moment. Not only did Anthopoulos whiff on one of his top targets on Wednesday, but he let that target go to the team's fiercest rival. And even worse, he didn't seem to try all that hard to keep it from happening.

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Braves couldn't do the bare minimum to keep Ryne Stanek from the Mets

Earlier this week, hard-throwing righty Ryne Stanek had emerged as a pitcher of interest for the Braves. And it's not hard to see why: He has strikeout stuff, and he caught fire down the stretch for the New York Mets last season, getting some big outs during the team's run to the NLCS. Considering how lacking Atlanta's bullpen was in velocity, nabbing Stanek would have been a huge boon.

Which is why it was crushing when it news broke on Wednesday that Stanek had agreed to return to the Mets on a one-year deal. And the Mets didn't even have to break the bank to do it; according to SNY's Andy Martino, Stanek's contract is somewhere in the $4-5 million range.

Of course, there are still bullpen targets remaining on the market, and Anthopoulos will almost certainly add one of them before the start of spring training. But it's disconcerting that a player Atlanta was reportedly in on slipped away to a division rival, and it's not like that salary number suggests there was much of a bidding war for his services. Amid an offseason that's seen the Braves get a bit too complacent at times, this sure seems like more of the same.