The Atlanta Braves are a good team. Maybe even a great team. Alex Anthopoulos has done a masterful job building out this roster and creating a sustainable, affordable pipeline for long-term success. One could credibly argue that Atlanta is the biggest challenger to L.A. in the National League.
So, don't get me wrong here. The Braves know what they're doing. That said, it's fair to be critical — at least a little bit — of what Atlanta did this offseason. Or, more accurately, what Atlanta didn't do. These past few months were far too quiet in ATL. It feels like the Braves are coasting on their laurels a little bit.
The Braves' 2024 campaign was cursed. Snakebitten. We don't really need to go over the whole spiel. There's no way Austin Riley, Matt Olson, Michael Harris, and Ozzie Albies are all hurt and slumping again, at the same time... right? Atlanta won 89 games in a "down" year and still felt like a player in the postseason, so any panic rings a bit hollow.
That said, the Braves now understand better than most how injuries can derail a season. Their unwillingness to insure against injuries with key upgrades this winter felt oddly shortsighted — and, to be more blunt, cheap.
Now, with the regular season around the corner, Brian Snitker is trotting out an old, tired line to reassure an anxious fanbase.
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Brian Snitker cites looming returns of Ronald Acuña Jr., Spencer Strider as reason for Braves optimism
It's not like Anthopoulos did nothing this winter, but it was awfully close to nothing. The Jurickson Profar signing was a great, classic Braves value play, but the offseason was otherwise like searching for water in the desert if you're an Atlanta fan hoping for an improved roster. Max Fried and Charlie Morton both walked, replaced by... Ian Anderson? Bryce Elder?
The Braves should have better injury luck this season, but let's not kid ourselves. Chris Sale and Reynaldo Lopez were both All-Stars in 2024, putting together career-best efforts to keep Atlanta's ragtag rotation afloat. Both have a long history of elbow problems and other nagging issues. What are the odds that both can sustain their excellence for another full season? Not high.
Meanwhile, Profar has already been through an injury scare in left field this spring, while Sean Murphy is nursing a broken rib. The Braves aren't healthy now, and the potential fallout of another ill-fated injury spate is cataclysmic.
So — and again, please stop me if you've heard this before — Brian Snitker is here to assuage Braves fans with a reminder. Atlanta is about to "trade" for Spencer Strider and Ronald Acuña, so all is well.
"We’re going to make two really good trades here early in the year,” Snitker told MLB.com. “We're going to get an MVP and a potential Cy Young Award winner back. I think everybody realizes that. Their presence in the lineup and on the team is going to probably do more than they’ve ever thought possible."
Look, he's not wrong. Getting back a 26-year-old Cy Young frontrunner and a 27-year-old former MVP will help. A lot. Many of the Braves' current shortcomings subside with those two in the mix. But, Atlanta's rotation is still short on depth, and Acuña can't replace Sean Murphy behind home plate or bring Matt Olson's slugging back to 2023 levels.
Atlanta was allowed to shore up the roster and bring back their best players from injury. It's not an either-or proposition. Strider and Acuña were on the books already; it's not like the Braves are incurring a sudden influx in salary. This is such a lame excuse, and it's one Snitker and Anthopoulos keeping parroting ad nauseam to avoid facing up to even the lightest bit of scrutiny. Let's do better.