It is no exaggeration to say that this offseason could make or break the Atlanta Braves for years to come. If they address their depth issues on both sides of the ball, this team could continue to be a playoff contender for years to come. However, if Atlanta can't address the obvious issues with their roster, no one should be surprised if the Braves are on the outside looking in next postseason. Complicating matters, the impending lockout and subsequent CBA negotiations are likely to be very contentious.
Everyone agrees that MLB will enter a lockout on December 2 when the current collective bargaining agreement (CBA) expires. While you will get a wide range of opinions over how long the lockout will last, we know the league will have about a month to make moves before all baseball business comes to a halt.
One hopes the Braves take a different stance than they did before the last lockout, because they will probably be very disappointed if they do.
Braves cannot be passive before the lockout and hope they can win the wild offseason derby once it ends again
Before the previous lockout, the Braves were very tame on the transaction front and only made a handful of minor signings. Part of the issue was that negotiations between Atlanta and Freddie Freeman were still ongoing, and the team couldn't act in that loaded free agent class and trade market until that was resolved.
However, this offseason is vastly different. The Braves don't have a critical negotiation to plan around, and this free agent class is shallow at best anyway. The few quality players who are set to be available will be very popular early on in the offseason. If Atlanta thinks they can wait until after the lockout and that they will have another Matt Olson waiting for them, they will be sorely disappointed.
By all accounts, the MLB will be very busy ahead of this lockout. Some of the teams with the smallest payrolls will try to add players as a hedge against a salary floor going into effect, and all contenders are going to try and get their rosters in good shape before the rules of the game change. One hopes that the Braves will be right in the middle of the chaos, because there is no guarantee at all that they will be able to do much once baseball returns.
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