5 free agents the Braves can sign to win 2024 World Series

3. Blake Snell might be a Braves pipe dream, but the conversation is necessary

One of the calling cards for Alex Anthopoulos throughout his tenure with the Braves has been not overextending the franchise financially. Though they have made splashy trades and some big moves, Atlanta has not been in the business of looking at the top of the market in free agency. One could make the argument that's the reason that Freddie Freeman and Dansby Swanson are in LA and Chicago, respectively.

At some point, though, Anthopoulos might have to buck that trend and pony up the dough -- and that time might be this offseason. Yes, some would argue that the Braves could try to make a play for Shohei Ohtani. However, the more pivotal use of that type of spending might be to address the glaring starting pitching need with the best on the market: Blake Snell.

Despite the immense issues with the Padres this past season, Snell was far from the problem en route to likely winning the NL Cy Young. The soon-to-be 31-year-old southpaw led the NL with a 2.25 ERA while posting a 1.19 WHIP (largely only that high due to his questionable walk rate) and was tied for the third-most strikeouts with 234.

Should he end up taking home the hardware this season, he'll be one of only a handful of MLB pitchers to have won a Cy Young in both the AL and NL. Yet, as San Diego tries to pick up the pieces of this failed season, they're likely to allow Snell to walk in free agency this offseason.

Now, imagine a 1-2-3 top of the rotation of Strider-Snell-Fried, or whatever order you want, for the Braves. That's the type of group that dominates postseason play, which should be the ultimate goal for Atlanta. It would be against the trends we've seen in terms of offseason spending, but it could prove worth it if Anthopoulos were to take that type of swing.