It’s starting to look like the Atlanta Braves might actually spend money like a big market club should this offseason with the rumors going around.
For a while now it’s been frustrating as an Atlanta Braves fan to see the franchise not spend like some of the other big markets.
Atlanta SHOULD be a big market team, especially when you have a fanbase that stretches across the entire Southeast.
But now coming off a World Series championship, could we finally see them spend money like a big market team?
Braves Possible Payroll
The Braves finished 2-21 with the 11th highest payroll in all of baseball at $153 million. That was already a bump from 2019 when they ranked 15th at $143 million.
Things are certainly trending in the right direction now that the team is clearly out of the rebuild and competing for (and winning) championships.
Alex Anthopoulos already said that the payroll will increase in 2022.
How much higher it goes we don’t know, and just signing Freddie Freeman will increase the payroll from the end of last season.
My original guess was that we’d see the payroll increase to around $160 million, which pretty much only allows room to re-sign Freeman and make a couple of small moves.
But with the signing of Manny Pina and the rumors of them being interested in Justin Verlander has me hopeful that they’ll actually increase the payroll to around $180 million.
That’s the type of payroll a team like Atlanta should have, and it still wouldn’t put them in the top five of all of baseball.
But it would get them closer to the “stupid money” range, which is where the Philadelphia Phillies are at with a payroll of $189 million in 2021.
According to Spotrac, the Braves currently have the 11th highest payroll for 2022 at $119 million.
That doesn’t include the $9 million Adam Duvall is set to make in arbitration, or the $25-$30 million Freeman will cost, or the pre-arb costs.
You can probably add another $45 million for those three things, putting the total payroll around $165 million.
But, there is a chance they get $16 million back if Marcell Ozuna is suspended for the 2022 season, putting the current payroll at around $150 million.
That means the Braves could potentially have around $20 million to spend this offseason — assuming a total payroll of $180 million in 2022 and AA always wanting to save $5-$10 million for in-season moves.
That should be enough to solve left field, get another inexpensive bat for the bench, and possibly a veteran in the rotation.
I’ve been burned with my optimistic hope before, but this feels like the offseason we could actually see the Braves spend big.