Braves' Willy Adames backup plan could be a really tough pill to swallow

The Atlanta Braves are coming off a season from hell. While they exited the postseason in the same round as did the Milwaukee Brewers, only one team still feels good about the year that was. Atlanta did make the postseason for the seventh year in a row, but got smoked in the NL East race by the Philadelphia Phillies and bowed out in the minimum number of the games to the San Diego Padres.

Atlanta needs to first and foremost, get healthy. Next, I would say the Braves need to take a long, hard look at adding to its rotation, especially in the wake of Max Fried and Charlie Morton leaving, as well as improving its situation at shortstop. For as good as Orlando Arcia was in his first year as the starter in 2023, he was anything but that in 2024. His salary is next to nothing, so Atlanta can upgrade there.

Unfortunately, one of the top shortstops on the free agent market in Willy Adames of the Brewers may not end up signing with the Braves. No way would Milwaukee have traded him to a fellow contender in the National League, but since he is a free agent, he can pick wherever he wants to go. I think there is a chance the Braves just ride it out with Arcia. Will his 2025 be more like 2023 or 2024?

I would suspect Arcia's third year with the Braves to be somewhere in between the last two seasons.

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Atlanta Braves may need to accept rolling it back with Orlando Arcia again

It may not be the worst thing in the world. Arcia has shown to have one of the better gloves at shortstop in MLB. When he is locked in and seeing the ball well, he can hold his own the plate. The problem is what bringing Arcia back as the Opening Day starter at shortstop would look like to Braves Country. It would feed into the narrative that Alex Anthopoulos is pennywise, but also pound foolish.

Liberty Media has said it would put forth a competitive payroll. With the utter cash cow that is The Battery, as well as the Braves literally being a tradable asset on the stock market, there are no excuses. Teams like the Los Angeles Dodgers and New York Yankees would have no problem spending a billion dollars to compete for a championship. So would the New York Mets. Get a clue!

No, I am not going to say that Adames is the panacea this team needs in the middle of its infield, but the Braves are firmly in win-now mode. They owe it to the fans to go for the win every single year. Last year was not their year. It happens. The best and fastest way towards making last year the new reality is a general manager thinking with his wallet and not with his baseball mind. Aggressive wins in life...

If Arcia is the way to go, by all means, go pay someone like Max Fried what he is worth on the market!