When one looks at the most successful organizations in baseball the last several years, the Atlanta Braves stand out. While teams like the Dodgers, Yankees, Mets, and Phillies have had to spend crazy amounts of money to remain in contention, the Braves have been able to combine homegrown talent along with smart (but still significant) spending to create one of the best teams in the league.
There are a lot of ways to build successful baseball teams. Yes, you can buy a great roster like a lot of the big market teams have done, although going down that path is far from a sure thing. Then you have teams like the Rays, Brewers, and Orioles that eschew spending in favor of player development. However, few teams have been able to blend the ability to spend along with integrating impact young talent like Atlanta has managed to do.
This is almost completely good news for Braves fans as having a perennial contender is hard to be upset about. However, the Braves' dominance and extremely well-rounded roster seems to also have created a bit of an arms race in the National League that has shifted the balance of power (and the spending) in baseball which has made Atlanta's path through the playoffs even tougher.
For two decades, the American League East conducted baseball’s economic engine.
— The Athletic (@TheAthletic) December 17, 2024
Now, the emergence of several spirited spenders in the NL has coincided with an era of AL caution.
The balance of power has shifted, write @TimBritton and @ByMcCullough: https://t.co/doLJmPs0Tu pic.twitter.com/9oiIdDDQit
The Braves have made most of the right moves, but that has led their NL competition to unparalleled heights
Atlanta has been widely lauded for the number of team-friendly extensions they have handed out to keep their young core intact. Assuming everyone continues to play well which is not assured whatsoever, the Braves have arguably the deepest roster in baseball with top end talent on both sides of the ball. Between Ronald Acuna Jr., Matt Olson, Marcell Ozuna, Spencer Strider, Chris Sale, Austin Riley, and Michael Harris II, you will struggle to find another ball club that has as many guys that can win games singlehandedly as the Braves.
The thing is that having such a formidable Braves team that is set to be really good for a long time has seemingly forced their rivals to go wild. The Dodgers have had to throw insane amounts of money around to keep pace and will probably continue to do so. The Mets just gave Juan Soto $765 million and if you think they would have done that if the Braves looked more vulnerable, we have some oceanfront property in Montana to sell you. The road to the World Series runs through Atlanta and that has created a massive target on the Braves' backs.
This is a pretty stark reversal from what baseball fans had been accustomed to. For the longest time, the biggest spenders in baseball were in the American League with the Yankees, Red Sox, and Angels being the biggest "offenders". The Yankees are still spending to be sure and Boston seems like they want to spend again, but the shift in dollars to the NL has been extremely stark and the Braves' success is a big reason why.
This isn't a universal rule here. There are still teams that don't have much money to spend and will still be successful going forward. We have also seen teams with lots of money fall short like the Mets and Giants as well as former big spenders back off like the division rival Nationals and, to a lesser extent, the Padres. Again, there are still a lot of ways to build winning baseball teams even if the massive contracts get all the headlines.
Even with the higher level of competition in the NL, don't expect the Braves to change their ways because what they do really works. They have a number of guys under contract on decent to very good terms for a long time and could continue that trend if they extend Spencer Schwellenbach or others. Braves fans are certainly anxious watching the competition get stronger this offseason, but history suggests that Atlanta's front office will continue to press the right buttons and give the league everything they can handle assuming they can avoid another rash of injuries like what befell them in 2024.