We have been light on actual Atlanta Braves news for a few days with BBWAA awards being all done. Despite having most of big questions not being answered yet, a lot has transpired this offseason, so if you need to get caught up on the Braves’ offseason so far, here is our offseason tracker that has all of your transaction/payroll/rumor needs covered.
This week, we began rolling out our Tomahawk Take awards. This was a fun project started by Trent just to get us all involved and collaborated and I am thrilled with the result. On Tuesday, we got started with our Braves MVP award which Dansby Swanson narrowly won over Michael Harris. We have covered most of the angles possible for why the Braves should or should not bring Dansby back, but MLB.com put out a nice list of teams that could be bidding for Dansby’s services this offseason (hint: there are many).
More Braves News
Elsewhere on the site, we looked at another free agent target that the Braves could/should look at in Michael Brantley. Brantley was a popular name amongst Braves fans to bring in before he went to the Astros and while some of the shine is off of him now as he is coming off an injury, he should, in theory, still be a really good hitter and could be reasonably inexpensive to give the Braves some help in left field and/or DH.
Finally, our season review series rolled on with Spencer Strider’s amazing 2022 rookie season. It isn’t hyperbole to say that Strider’s entrance into the rotation and subsequent awesomeness is a key reason why the Braves were able to repeat as National League East champions last season.
MLB News
Aaron Judge is one of the big free agents in this free agent class that fans really want to know where he is going to end up. A return to the Yankees certainly may be the betting favorite in terms of outcomes, but Judge is reportedly meeting with the Giants who seem every motivated to compete in the National League West.
MLB also announced its Comeback Players of the year. Justin Verlander only pitching six innings the previous two seasons and then winning the AL Cy Young was an easy decision. On the National League side, Ronald Acuna Jr. had a strong case, but Albert Pujols turning back time late in the season to get 700 career homers and help the Cardinals solidify a playoff berth in his final season got the nod.