It has been a painfully frustrating season for Atlanta Braves baseball. From the 0-7 hole to start, to losing one player after another to the injured list, to whatever it is the coaching staff is being paid to do, this team stinks, and I hate it! Even more concerning, I have made a hard 180 on how I feel about general manager Alex Anthopoulos. He could do no wrong once. Now, can he do anything right at all?
On pain point has to be the lackluster play of second baseman Ozzie Albies. He be the longest tenured player on the team, but his inconsistent nature at the plate throughout his decade-long run with the team is utterly maddening. Albies stubbornly continues to switch hit, even though he is a walking out at times from the left-hand side. He is only hitting .220/.290/.316 on the season so far.
When Albies is on, he has 25-to-30-plus home run power. Not to shabby from the second base position. He may be a three-time NL All-Star and a two-time Silver Slugger recipient, but the last two years have been dreadful. Outside of the 2023 MLB season where every Braves player was a superstar, Albies has not been a great player since the 2021 World Series Championship campaign.
Since he makes basically nothing, of course, Atlanta will give him the club option in 2026 and 2027...
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Why Alex Anthopoulos may not cut ties with a declining Ozzie Albies
Ahead of the 2019 MLB season, Albies signed an incredibly team-friendly seven-year, $35 million contract. He has made $5 million annually each of the last seven seasons. When he has been an All-Star, the Braves have been taking candy away from a baby. When Albies has played like he has this year, he reminds Braves Country of the downfall of Orlando Arcia over a shortstop the last few years.
Since the Braves have club options for Albies for both the 2026 and 2027 MLB seasons at $7 million a pop, of course, they are going to do it. He would be making the same amount of money, regardless of what he does at the plate. Atlanta could bounce back next year or the year after that, but how many more down years of bad play from Albies at the plate are we going to be able to even stomach?
Yes, it may be Anthopoulos' inherent stubbornness, but I think it really comes down to the fact that Brian Snitker and pretty much the entire coaching staff needs to go. As soon as they brought Fredi Gonzalez back into the clubhouse, I was completely out on this team. I hate it for some of the players, but this team needs a complete reboot. This is why you do not let marquee free agents walk, folks.
Anthopoulos may be the king of his castle, but he has sadly devolved into King Nothing with Atlanta.