Braves Rumors: Ron Washington replacements, Ohtani dream dead, Fried trade?
By Mark Powell
Braves Rumors: The Shohei Ohtani dream is dead
Shohei Ohtani to Atlanta was always a longshot this winter. Ohtani has very little connection to the Atlanta area, and the Braves aren't ones to sign any one player to a contract that large. David O'Brien of The Athletic essentially put any Ohtani talk to bed just a few short days ago.
“He ain't coming to the Braves,” O'Brien said on Foul Territory. “Realistically...even with the TJ (Tommy John) surgery, he's gonna get less money than he would've if he was healthy… it's going to be well over $40 (million). The Braves, with all of the extensions they gave out in the last three years, they got eight guys signed long-term, six of them really long-term extensions. Not one season of any of those contracts, including Ronald Acuna's, including (Matt) Olson's… none of them is there a salary higher than $22 million dollars (per year)."
O'Brien does make a good point. While some pundits assume that the cheap extensions to star players give the Braves even more leverage, maybe they have no intention on spending that money. Certainly, they won't spend all that money on one player.
The Braves were good enough as currently constructed to win 104 regular season games. Some additions around the margins makes sense, but a big swing for Ohtani is unnecessary.