The 2025 season is a little over a month away and the Atlanta Braves are preparing for another exciting season. Fans were a little surprised with how little the team added to the big league roster. They did sign outfielder Jurickson Profar which was a massive need but every pitching addition was primarily for depth.
Atlanta's rotation will be without Max Fried and Charlie Morton next season. However, they expect Spencer Strider back after about a month into the season and have plenty of internal options to fill the void until then.
The bullpen is the biggest question mark as they lost two major relief arms. A.J. Minter joined the Mets and Joe Jimenez is expected to miss the entire season due to injury but that's why the team added so much pitching depth.
This has led a lot of fans to question what is going on with the organization's payroll plans. Braves general manager Alex Anthopoulos recently spoke with media at the team's spring training complex in North Port, Florida.
Atlanta Journal-Constitution's Justin Toscano stated AA informed them the team had discussed a potential deal in the offseason that would have put them over the luxury tax for the third straight year. What was that deal? He didn't mention but he did state the talks didn't cross the finish line. We will just have to take his word for it.
But Anthopoulos said dollars weren't an issue and that they'd be happy to go over if it was for the "right deal". However, he mentioned future years as a reason for stopping them from making a long-term commitment. This includes future payroll and rosters (specifically not blocking players from advancing from the minor leagues.)
Right now the team is under the first tier $241 million luxury tax threshold at an estimated $230 million according to Fangraph's Roster Resource. It certainly seems like they are trying to be careful so they have financial flexibility during the season.
It doesn't make a ton of sense to reset the luxury tax as it doesn't save them a lot of money. At the beginning of the offseason, AA said payroll would increase but as of right now, payroll sits around $212 million versus $223 million on Opening Day in 2024. If they don't add anyone, that won't be the case.
Braves GM Alex Anthopoulos' comments on being "selective" may foreshadow future roadblocks
This could foreshadow what the team has planned for the future. Ronald Acuna Jr and Ozzie Albies are close to reaching free agency and the team will want to have funds to extend them if they want to. There could also be pitchers they want to target in the next free agent class.
Right now, the team seems content with using internal options to fill their remaining voids. There's a lot of talent and upside within the organization, but it isn't very reassuring at the same time. That's not all AA's fault as plans can change in the offseason and like Toscano points out, he isn't the one setting the budget.
But going back to the long-term contracts, the Braves have a good bit of them right now. Austin Riley, Matt Olson, Sean Murphy, Michael Harris II, Strider, and Acuna all will be here for the next few years. However, they will need to build around this core, and the organization cannot always just hope to look for bargains each offseason. They're bound to strike out doing this long-term.
AA spoke about this a bit and the biggest takeaway was, "We explored all kinds of things — signings, trades, things like that. Our payroll is in the top 10, we have a lot of commitments already, and we’re going to be much more selective in things that we do.”
That's not encouraging to hear for the future but it's the reality of how the organization is run. They're going to be more selective with their offseason decision making due to the commitments they have beyond 2025. It's great the team has such a great core to work with but it does feel like the team's championship window is nearing a close.