With the 2016 season winding down and the Braves on pace for the number one overall pick next draft season, 2017 needs to be the year the front office said it would be after the rebuild engine was fired up: competitive.
And although we may not see the return of Mallex Smith this season, the recent promotion of Braves top prospect Dansby Swanson shows that the Braves are expecting their top position player prospects to stick and begin contributing full time in 2017. Coming off the heels of what could be his best year, Freddie Freeman will be poised to strike big again as he enters his prime. The addition of Matt Kemp might underwhelm or overexcite you, depending on your opinions of roster construction, but there’s no denying he is still a legitimate source of right handed power that the Braves will control for the next three seasons. Nick Markakis has rebounded from his horrendous May that I wrote about, and is showing signs of still having moderately above league average offensive output over his next two contract years.
But we all know about the holes the Braves have for the immediate future at third base, catching, and reliable starting pitching. Add those in with concerns about how Kemp and Markakis will age in the field and at the plate, and it’s pretty obvious what has to be done. To field a competitive team next year, there will have to be a major addition of some sorts. And with pitching likely to come from within, or low risk depth signings, I’m going to take a look at some of the best options the Braves have at filling these areas of need.
Anyone who checks their Twitter feed regularly has seen rumors and rumblings of what fans and the front office would like to do, and I’m going to take a look at the most logical and popular potential moves the Braves could make this off season at the positions mentioned above.
Next: Preface