It has been awhile, but there was a point in time where Liberty Media and chairman Terry McGuirk routinely faced the ire of Atlanta Braves fans for not investing enough in the team's roster. Fan sentiment understandably warmed once the Braves started having a top 10 payroll every season and deep runs into the playoffs started happening, but there has long been a sense that the powers that be would turn off the support if team stopped printing money.
The good news is that, according to McGuirk on an investor call, Atlanta is still growing revenues despite the team's struggles this season. Revenues are somehow up 12% through the first six months of the year which translates to around $40 million more coming in than the team brought in in 2024 over the same period.
However, McGuirk's comments did not end with their revenue numbers and some in particular should insult Braves fans. On that very same earnings call as relayed by The Athletic's Evan Drellich, McGuirk maintained that the Braves did have "dry powder" and could have added at the trade deadline, but they didn't because:
"Our threshold for investment there was basically that investment either needed to move us towards a playoff position this year, or help us dramatically in ’26. And our limited activity during that period sort of reflected the inability of the market to meet those two requirements.”
Terry McGuirk's assertions about the trade deadline was absurd, but his comments on 2026's payroll are more promising
In fairness to McGuirk here, he was talking to investors and instilling some calm with the bean counters after the Braves basically did nothing at the trade deadline is just part of the game. Baseball fans may know that teams playing badly don't add at the deadline, but telling investors that it was a conscious choice and not because of a lack of financial flexibility is the standard PR move.
However, these transcripts are always made available to the media as the Braves are a publicly traded company. That McGuirk is trying to sell that there was no one available at the trade deadline that could have helped the Braves in 2026 is objectively insane. Atlanta's bullpen looks like the Island of Misfit Toys going into next season while guys like Jhoan Duran and Mason Miller changed hands at the deadline. The Braves thought that neither one those guys could help them going forward? Doubtful.
With a trade deadline like this, it would just be refreshing to not hear corp speak and instead hear, "We made a baseball decision, not a financial one. There were players we liked, but they either cost too much or we couldn't finalize a deal in time. Given our place in the standings, we decided to stand pat, give fans a good experience the rest of the season, and then aim to be aggressive this offseason." Is that so hard? Apparently so.
Assuming fans (and investors for that matter) are stupid is unfortunately a common occurrence with executives. Just ask Craig Breslow in Boston as he consistently fails in this department. The end result may not have changed at all, but confidence that the corporate overlords aren't lying through their teeth would be there.
The good news from McGuirk is that payroll can go up in 2026. When asked about the Braves' future payrolls, McGuirk said, "I’d start off saying that we have been a top-10 payroll team for some period of time. I see us continuing to maybe move up that ladder.” Notice the multiple escape hatches in that answer? Fans should believe payroll will go up when they actually see it.