Braves Rumors: Ohtani intrigued, Bank-breaking target, Wash takes another coach

Braves Rumors: Aaron Nola connected to Atlanta, Anthopoulos willing to spend

Braves general manager Alex Anthopoulos has been blunt already this offseason about the club's desire to bolster the starting rotation and pitching staff for the 2024 season in free agency or via trade this offseason. The big question has been if Anthopoulos, who has been quite stingy in terms of handing out big paydays on the open market, would be willing to cut the check to one of the top arms on the free-agent market.

Indeed, it sounds like he is.

Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic ($) reported on Monday that, "for the right starting pitcher", Anthopoulos and the Braves would be willing to hand out the highest AAV on a contract -- they have not signed a player to more than $22 million per year in his tenure -- this offseason. More importantly, Rosenthal had one pitcher in mind: Aaron Nola.

"Of the pitchers available, righty Aaron Nola is perhaps the most intriguing fit. Nola is close with Braves pitching coach Rick Kranitz, who was with the Philadelphia Phillies from 2016 to ‘18. And as a native of Baton Rouge, La., who attended LSU, he might prefer to sign with a team in the south," Rosenthal wrote.

Rosenthal noted that Nola's lack of an extension with the Phillies -- a fun wrinkle in this -- could be indicative that Philadelphia isn't going to re-sign him and could look elsewhere. Nola on the open market would be coveted, but when you combine need and status as a contender, few places would make more sense for the veteran righty than the Braves, especially with those connections.

The Braves rolling out a top three in the rotation of Spencer Strider, Aaron Nola, and assumedly Max Fried (at least for now) would be quite formidable. But most importantly, Anthopoulos' reported willingness to spend on the right starting pitcher opens a ton of doors for Atlanta to make a big splash that their pitching staff might truly need to get back over the hump.