Atlanta Braves offseason roster holes and financial considerations list

After a highly successful regular season, the Atlanta Braves are poised to… do what this Winter?

The Atlanta Braves will have to deal with several issues this Winter – some obvious, others not so much. Part of this involves the roster itself; part involves the finances to make such changes.

In short, there’s probably a lot more work – and a lot more money that will need to be spent – to plug some holes for next year’s team.

As has been noted, team turnover is inevitable, though it’s not seen as being terribly critical to success when you’ve got a team not necessarily expected to compete for a title.

That’s no longer the case in Atlanta.

The rebuild is over; the sustained growth of success is what fans want to see now.  There will be expectations – particularly after this 2019 season and those expectations will be difficult to reach.

So as we sit here in the middle of October, let’s examine the changes that will be necessary due to the simple attrition of players who contributed, but who are on expiring deals.

Starting Pitching

• Dallas Keuchel is set to be a free agent and I don’t see a scenario in which the Braves go after him at all.
• Julio Teheran has a $12 million option for the final possible year on his contract ($1 million buyout), and while that number has to be considered ‘team-friendly’, it’s hard to gauge whether that option will be picked up.
• All others are still in the fold with no sense that there’s a non-tender option in the group.  Mike Foltynewicz will be in his 3rd and final arbitration year… that makes for an interesting Winter for him.

CORRECTION:  HE GETS AN EXTRA ARB YEAR (H/T to the twitterer known in the shadows as Braves Options Guy).  It’s still be interesting for him since he’s at that magical ‘2 years of control left’ when teams need to consider long-term plans.

THE TEHERAN TEST

Teheran’s ERA’s for 2018-19 have been under 4.00, but that’s a very inconsistent ‘under 4.00’.  Nonetheless, he’s been extraordinarily durable, and that makes this an interesting call.

You might be thinking “well, pick up his option then trade him elsewhere”, and while technically that’s possible, though it’s not normally baseball’s ‘style’.

You’d also have to be working very closely with another club willing to give you something of value in return.  That said, it could work in this specific case.

Still, we’ll know early on if the club intends to vigorously pursue a frontline starter based on whether Teheran’s option is exercised. That deadline date is 5 days following the end of the World Series.

Aside from Keuchel, the top possible free agents are:

• Gerritt Cole (don’t hold your breath here)
• Madison Bumgarner (might be most willing, but is he really better than Teheran now?)
• Stephen Strasburg (he will likely exercise his opt-out rights, but bring $100 million+ if you want him, for that’s what he’d be walking away from)
• Yu Darvish (another opt-out possibility)
• Cole Hamels (is he close to being done?)
• Hyun Jin-Ryu (somehow I don’t think he’s leaving LA)
• Michael Wacha (a sleeper pick: can he be fixed?)
• Alex Wood (injury comeback?)
• Corey Kluber (will Indians take up his $17m option? Will they attach a Qualifying Offer?)
• Jake Odorizzi (excellent season w/Twins)

Atlanta really does need to pursue another frontline starter, and there will be interested candidates. We’ll talk about money later.

The easy route might be to take what they already have in hand (Teheran), though I’m about 50/50 on whether he returns.