In this day and age, there are MLB teams out there who make their intentions pretty well known either from team officials directly or through pretty explicit leaks. Such organizations see value in "creating buzz" around potential moves as a way to get exposure for the team even things don't turn out as plans. Then, there are teams like the Atlanta Braves who seem to want to keep everything close to the vest and don't reveal any information that Atlanta doesn't want to.
There is a lot of merit to running things the way Alex Anthopoulos does. Negotiating in the media can create a number of problems, incorrect expectations, and can entice other clubs to insert themselves into a situation they might not otherwise be aware of. Team awareness and chatter has value, but so does keep one's plans under wraps as much as possible and the Braves certainly prefer the latter. There is a reason why the running joke is that no one knows what Atlanta is up to until the team issues a press release.
With the Winter Meetings just days away, it is abundantly clear that the Braves are using the same playbook.
Braves fans, the Braves haven’t cleared so much roster space and payroll to sit on their hands. They’re going to make significantly additions. We haven’t even gotten to the Winter Meetings yet. Which is when the Braves traded for Kelenic last year and on 12/30 they traded for…
— Beaneater Buzz (@BeaneaterB) November 30, 2024
Braves entering the Winter Meetings as one of the league's biggest mysteries
As the market has begun to heat up and is likely to get moving in a hurry once Juan Soto signs, there has been precious little in the way of concrete Braves connections to available players. Sure, there have been updates on Max Fried's suitors and plenty of names have been floated as fits for Atlanta, but no one actually knows what the Braves are up to beyond that they are shopping around. Some have even openly wondered if the Braves will be active in free agency at all.
One would hope that fans and experts would know Anthopoulos and the Braves front office a little better than that. Time and time again, the Braves have come out of nowhere to make a move or moves that no one saw coming. How many of you saw the Chris Sale trade last offseason coming? We suspect very few of you. What we do know is that Anthopoulos and co. are always looking at multiple ways to improve the Braves' roster and he delivers far more often than not.
Instead of trying to guess what the notoriously enigmatic Braves will do, it may be best to focus on what we know. The Braves have cleared a good bit of payroll so far this offseason between somewhat surprisingly trading Jorge Soler, declining 2025 options, and a number of non-tenders. Just looking at the state of the roster, left field, shortstop, starting pitcher, and the bullpen all could use varying degrees of love. Players like Nathan Eovaldi, Sean Manaea, Luis Robert Jr., Garrett Crochet, Willy Adames, and others have been mentioned as options in free agency or trades, but there is no word as to where the Braves are trying to push their chips in just yet.
If history is any indication, we won't know for certain what the Braves do until they tell us and honestly, that is pretty fun especially given that fans should expect by now that Anthopoulos is not letting the offseason pass him by.