What are the Atlanta Braves going to do about the outfield?

The Atlanta Braves — excuse me, the World Series champion Atlanta Braves — have some important decisions coming over the next few days and weeks.

When the Atlanta Braves registered the final out of the 2021 World Series and became champs (it is not gonna ever get old); the off-season officially began, and it did not take long for the stove to get hot.

All teams, including the Atlanta Braves have already mapped out a plan for how they want this off-season to go and decisions have been made privately for many weeks in many instances.

The Braves are no exception to the rule but they too have decisions to make on a couple of player 2022 contracts and their status with the team… not as many as some other teams, but important nonetheless.

The most intriguing part of the roster to watch over the next few weeks at least to me will be what the Braves do regarding the outfield.

First off, it is not a problem by any stretch, but the Atlanta Braves could possibly have an abundance of outfield talent if they play their cards right.

Now before we go on, it is important to note that the battle over the next few weeks will be the collective bargaining agreement and the way the league operates may be completely different after it is all said and done.

Finally, both leagues may be on even ground when it comes to free agency if the DH comes to the National League like many, myself included, fully expect.

That could be extremely beneficial to a team like the Atlanta Braves for a myriad of reasons, but the biggest perhaps being it might allow them to keep most of these star players that have become beloved in the Atlanta Braves fandom.

The first couple of guys that we had some kind of sense though is Joc Pederson and Adam Duvall. Both of these players have contractual decisions that will have to be resolved over the next couple of days. Let’s get into them first.

Let’s go ahead and get this thing started by evaluating what the Atlanta Braves might do about the two previously mentioned players.

The Atlanta Braves still hold contractual rights over Adam Duvall for the 2022 season if they tender him. They held this same decision last year and as we all know declined it. Say whatever you want about the guy positively or negatively but he can mash and he plays great defense.

For the (in today’s game) estimated cost of $7 million or so, I see no way the Atlanta Braves do not tender a contract to Adam and keep him around for the 2022 season.

Of course, I said the same thing last year and was proved wrong so perhaps there is a chance but I think the Atlanta Braves realize the mistake they made last Winter.

That moves us along to Joc Pederson who declined his side of a $10 million mutual option, in essence gifting the Atlanta Braves $2.5 million which was the cost of the buyout they would have had to make if they would have declined the option.

I get it, he is flashy, funny, seems like a great teammate, big time power bat, and most of all a winner. However, one of these guys is going to be on the outside looking in and frankly, my money is on Joc. The $10 million saved could possibly go get us a good back up infielder which is something I look for the Braves to try and upgrade on this Winter.

Take away the big time home runs this past postseason and Joc was pretty abysmal and it got worse as the playoffs went on.

I obviously would not hate Joc coming back as I think he is great for the team in a lot of ways, but my gut tells me he will the man holding the short straw at the end of this.