The Atlanta Braves may be out of the playoffs, but that doesn't mean all has been quiet around the team. The offseason is just around the corner, and that means we can expect loads of speculation over personnel moves, free agency targets, and trade rumors in the coming weeks.
That chatter started pretty early after Alex Anthopoulos' end-of-year media availability. Anthopoulos not only provided insight into the Braves' thinking about the state of their rotation and what roles we could see Didier Fuentes and some of their injured arms play at the start of the 2027 season, but he shared some very interesting additional nuggets of information. Here is the latest Braves news that you may have missed.
Braves haven't had definitive talks on whether Jurickson Profar will be brought back, but it is coming soon
Jurickson Profar's name gets a visceral reaction from many Braves fans when his name comes up. Getting hit with one PED suspension can be chalked up to stupidity and/or an honest mistake, but a second one means you are a cheater and a bad one at that. For many, even the suggestion of seeing Profar in a Braves uniform again is a nonstarter. Even if he is somehow a changed man that found redemption, there is no guarantee that Profar will even be any good after missing most of the last two seasons.
However, the Braves have apparently not decided on Profar’s fate yet. According to Anthopoulos from that same media session. Anthopoulos mentioned that the team will have internal conversations as to how to move forward regarding Profar very soon. Those conversations will be a large factor in the Braves' decision, but it is hard to see a world where the organization welcomes Profar back.
Braves plan to take full advantage of the exclusive negotiating window after the World Series with at least Mauricio Dubon and Tyler Mahle, but don't hold your breath
The Braves don't have many free agents this year, but they do have a few key players Atlanta would probably like to bring back. Mauricio Dubon may swing at everything, but he had some big moments, and his defense at shortstop helped keep the Braves afloat during Ha-Seong Kim's lost season. On the pitching side, Tyler Mahle is the name to watch, as Atlanta desperately needs rotation depth, and he excelled after Atlanta acquired him.
Thankfully, it sounds like Anthopoulos is also interested in bringing both players back, though he stopped short of predicting whether or not it would happen. The Braves' GM indicated that the Braves have an exclusive negotiating window with Dubon and Mahle during the first five days after the World Series ends, and Atlanta is going to make good use of that time.
William Contreras' continued rampage with the Brewers is a brutal reminder of most puzzling trade of Alex Anthopoulos' tenure
One of the weirder Braves trades in recent memory was the three-team deal that brought Sean Murphy to Atlanta. The Braves deciding that they needed a defensive upgrade at catcher isn't that strange. However, it was definitely odd that the Brewers were involved at all, and that the Braves gave up a catcher in William Contreras, who has gone on to be one of the better catchers in baseball, has proven to be a decision that is currently haunting the franchise.
Atlanta thought Contreras' defensive and game-calling ability wouldn’t get the job done, but that has proven to be incorrect. Now, the Braves are being forced to watch Contreras go on a rampage in the playoffs, including his demolition of the Dodgers on Monday night in Game 2 of the NLCS, and wonder what might have been.
Add us as a preferred source on Google