The Atlanta Braves haven't done a lot of business with the biggest free agent names in the last few offseasons. While that can be frustrating for fans, there are often reasons the team is better off having not signed them with most of them being financial.
Scott Boras isn't known for being the most beloved agent as it relates to Major League Baseball. He is usually very good about getting the most money for his clients as possible. However, it often seems he is very bullish during the negotiating process.
Typically, these negotiations can slow the market and cause prices to soar above their projections. Three of his top clients (Soto, Burnes, Snell) have combined for $1.16 billion in contracts signed. Boras' clients must rely on a team's willingness to wait for the right deal to be presented or have the most money available. This can work out in their favor but sometimes it can backfire.
For example, last offseason four of his clients accepted last-minute, short-term deals because of his negotiation tactics. That has happened again with a few of his clients this offseason as a few of them remain unsigned a month out from spring training. This includes Pete Alonso, Jurickson Profar, Ha-Seong Kim, and Alex Bregman.
Now, this doesn't mean those players won't sign contracts but waiting too close to spring training proved detrimental for Jordan Montgomery last season with the Diamondbacks. He had the worst season of his career and even had Arizona's owner publicly mention that signing him was a mistake. That's not a good look.
The Athletic's Ken Rosenthal touched on the Braves and Dodgers lack of agreements with Boras clients and stated, "Both teams’ current lack of Boras clients, however, reflect in part their respective approaches to roster construction — approaches that do not always jibe with the way Boras does business."
The Braves don't like to hand out long-term deals to free agents very often. Since Alex Anthopoulos took the helm as GM, Atlanta has only signed one high-dollar long-term contract. That was Marcell Ozuna's four-year, $65 million contract in 2021. Rosenthal pointed out that the highest AAV handed out by Anthopoulos was to Josh Donaldson in 2019 when the third baseman received a one-year, $23MM contract.
Atlanta prefers to reward players with extensions, whether that be internal options or trade acquisitions. We've seen this with many players over the last few years and it's allowed the team to keep a competitive core.
The Braves don't shy away from drafting players who are represented by Boras or pursuing players in trades that he represents. Atlanta has been rumored to have trade interest in Jordan Montgomery. However, when it comes to the agent wanting his players to receive the largest deal possible, that's where the disconnect lies.
Scott Boras, on Alex Bregman:
— Foul Territory (@FoulTerritoryTV) December 11, 2024
“We all know what comes after AB. That is the ‘C’ in Champions. In Bregman’s case, that is ‘C’ is squared.” pic.twitter.com/4yD3F0pQfm
Braves dodging Boras limits their options, but that is probably a good thing
AA is a pretty big fan of short-term deals and the team handed out a one-year deal to Dallas Keuchel, who was represented by Boras, in 2019. That experiment did not work out very well for the Braves. Rosenthal also mentioned how the Braves wanted to offer Carlos Correa a one-year contract in 2022. That didn't work out as Boras instead found the shortstop a three-year, $105.3MM contract with an opt-out after the first year.
So, it's not that Atlanta doesn't want to deal with Boras, it's just that their organizational strategy doesn't align with how he operates. That has proven to be the same so far this offseason. However, it's important to mention that the Braves aren't usually involved with most major free agents on the market.
Going all out for someone like Juan Soto wouldn't have made much sense for the Braves. He was an obvious fit for the team but his contract would have weakened the organization's ability to build depth around him. If Atlanta was looking to sign one of the Boras clients that is still available, they may have been stuck waiting until March for them to sign as Boras tries to extract every nickel he can out of the market. It just isn't a situation Braves fans should want to sign up for.
The Braves simply do not need to rely on Scott Boras clients to be competitive. They have found a way to build one of the best rosters in baseball without him and that will likely always be the case unless the right deal falls in their lap.