Atlanta Braves offseason ahead according to Alex Anthopoulos

The Atlanta Braves are looking for a top of the rotation starter, but the market’s pretty thin and prices are going up. That kind of market calls for strategic thinking, something Alex Anthopoulos does well.

In a busy trading/signing week, the Atlanta Braves made little news. Others did, so let’s start with a quick recap of the action so far.

Last Friday the Nationals added Yan Gomes from the Indians for a double-A outfielder, a relief pitcher of sorts, and the ubiquitous PTBNL.

After a weekend of “will they – won’t they,” Monday saw the Mets and Mariners finally consummate their deal with a news conference introducing Robinson Cano and Edwin Rodriguez.

Not to be outdone by an ex-agent, Mike Rizzo added Patrick Corbin to Max Scherzer and Steven Strasburg creating one of MLB’s best rotations since the Phillies could send Roy Halladay, Cole Hamels, and Cliff Lee out on consecutive nights.

Later that day the Mets new GM suggested they were looking at A.J. Pollock. Tuesday reporters asked, “how will the Braves respond?”  Yesterday the Atlanta Braves GM gave a few hints.

Atlanta Braves plans according to the GM

Anthopoulos told reporters that the signing of Josh Donaldson and Brian McCann took a bite out of this year’s projected spending.

“We spent a good chunk of our offseason dollars on Donaldson and McCann, and we still have money to work with, but we have to be a little more selective now because we made those moves . . .”

Adding McCann’s name to that sentence borders on laughable; most one year $2M deals go unnoticed. The GM probably regrets saying that though he’ll never admit it. No one believes the McCann signing seriously damaged spending limits and O’Brien said as much. So let’s call this limiting expectation and move on.

The GM says Donaldson may bat second, not fourth. The Jays used Donaldson in the two-hole in 2015. He responded with a .297/.371/.568/.939 line, 154 wRC+, a .398 wOBA and 8.7 fWAR.

“If we end up starting off the game with Acuña, Donaldson and Freeman, the guy on the other side is not feeling good. But Snit will make that decision.”

Snitker might make the official decision, but the GM saying it publicly should tell you how he feels about it. It could also indicate the focus of the corner outfield search.

That also makes find a true cleanup hitter important; I really don’t want to see McCann and Tyler Flowers floundering in that spot.

The search for missing pieces

Anthopoulos sings the same song all the time, aren’t close on anything. They made a serious run at Diaz but Seattle wanted multiple starters, and the Braves walked away.   They called back about Mitch Haniger, but Gabe Burns, writing for the AJC, reported that Seattle wasn’t interested.

The Diamondbacks said thanks but no thanks when asked about David Peralta, and Michael Brantley’s wants three years and $60M.  I like Brantley – not that much, but I do like him. At that price, I prefer Andrew McCutchen. According to O’Brien in the Athletic, team Anthopoulos remains in the outfield market, but not at the Brantley price.

Starting pitching is expensive – who knew? The Reds are hard in on Keuchel and Pollock, that should be fun.

The Indians extended Carlos Carrasco, and would rather trade Trevor Bauer who upset the word when he told the truth about excess values, then got in a Twitter war trying to explain what he meant people who didn’t want to understand what he said.

Burns piece suggests the Braves see Bauer as a clubhouse problem. He reminds me of Sheldon on The Big Bang Theory, he’s smart but never majored in diplomacy.

Nate Eovaldi agreed to a deal to return to the Red Sox – no surprise there – so the pitching market is thinning rapidly.

Summing up everything said by Burns and O’Brien is pretty simple. They see things they like, but the ask is too high no matter if it’s money or prospects. Teams seem to think if they wait long enough, they can squeeze prospects from Atlanta. As an old state trooper friend used to say, “That answer just won’t work son; try again.”

Atlanta Braves Payroll

The Atlanta Braves made a point of telling everyone that Liberty Media had no say at all in payroll issues. As I’ve noted here on many occasions, Terry McGuirk makes the final payroll decision based on input from his baseball brain trust and income projections for the year.

O’Brien suggests $135M as an upper limit. His numbers suggest about $20M left to spend; more if they can move Teheran.

They seem unlikely to spend big on the bullpen; the GM told O’Brien the Braves would “probably” piece it together as they did last year. If they bring in a closer, they want a proven closer. Applying the GM’s previously stated wants of control and relatively low-cost, Kirby Yates fits the description as does Will Smith and maybe one or two others.

A starter will come via trade and if possible, their corner outfielder as well.