While the Atlanta Braves still have some major offseason items on their shopping list they have yet to fully address, they have been far from idle. Their first two significant moves came in rapid succession in the middle of November with the trade for Mauricio Dubon as well as re-signing Raisel Iglesias. With the Winter Meetings coming up quickly, those moves should allow the Braves to focus their efforts on seeing if they can find an everyday shortstop as well as shore up their rotation.
As for the moves themselves, they seem to be being received well. Fans don't see a problem with them being a starting point as long as they don't represent the entirety of the Braves' offseason. Even experts are weighing in, including Bleacher Report who gave the Braves solid marks for both moves in their rolling list of offseason grades.
Bleacher Report likes the Mauricio Dubon and Raisel Iglesias deals for the Braves
Of the two moves, the Dubon trade got the lower grade with a B, but that makes sense. B/R's Zach Rymer did note that Atlanta got the better player in the trade in Dubon and he does have some upside on both sides of the ball. However, he also accurately noted that the Braves took on a bit more salary in the deal and that Dubon is a limited offensive player and both of those things are absolutely true. Giving a B here feels about right.
As for the Iglesias reunion, that one got top marks. Rymer seems to be very bullish on Iglesias next season given how well he finished the 2025 season. He also observed that unlike a lot of closer, Iglesias' arsenal should age significantly better than other closers who rely on insane spin rates and power stuff. Assuming he doesn't repeat the same mistakes from the first half of 2025, Iglesias has a really strong chance of being worth every penny in 2026.
Not all the news from B/R was glowing, however. The Braves did sign Joel Payamps to beef up their bullpen depth and Rymer was decidedly not a fan, noting that Payamps doesn't miss enough bats to be considered a reliable bullpen option even though he was a cheap signing. Unlike the other two moves, inking Payamps only managed to get a D and that felt generous given the description in the article itself.
One hopes that the rest of the Braves' offseason gets similarly glowing reviews going forward. If Alex Anthopoulos has any missteps or stands too pat before the 2026 season, the grades on all of these moves are very likely to get adjusted downward.