The offseason is nearly here, and MLB experts are already hard at work trying to predict how much free agents will get on the open market and where they will land. For the Atlanta Braves, this offseason represents a critical moment for the franchise, and one that Alex Anthopoulos absolutely cannot afford to mess up. The Braves not only need to address their underperforming offense, but they have a severe rotation depth problem to reckon with, too.
As is customary, former MLB general manager and current MLB insider for The Athletic Jim Bowden put together his initial predictions for his top 40 MLB free agents earlier this week. Some of those predictions, including Randy Arozarena as a potential free agent option for Atlanta as well as connections to old friends Raisel Iglesias and Mauricio Dubon, make plenty of sense, even if one has qualms over the exact dollars and years.
However, some of Bowden's other predictions (or lack thereof) just make no sense in terms of what the Braves' plans are likely to be, especially when it comes to their rotation.
Jim Bowden seems to think that the Braves don't need starting pitching...and that Tyler Mahle doesn't exist
Look, maybe it is too much of a stretch to connect the Braves to Tarik Skubal's market, although being unrealistic has never stopped Bowden previously. However, the Braves are clearly in the market for multiple starting pitchers, but the only starter that Bowden even mentioned as a potential fit is RHP Hiromi Itoh, a 5'9 command-first Japanese pitcher that almost certainly won't sign in Atlanta.
The Braves would be a fit for several free-agent arms, including Michael King, Clay Holmes, or Trevor Rogers, and that's even before you consider all the Scott Boras clients out there that Atlanta tends to avoid. It is almost like Bowden repeatedly forgot the Braves existed when he was putting the list together, and one of his most notable omissions might prove that to be true.
Tyler Mahle was clearly one of the best trade deadline acquisitions in the entire league in 2026, and he certainly played well enough to earn a raise. However, he apparently didn't do enough to rank among Bowden's top 40 free agents this offseason, while such "powerhouses" as Sean Newcomb and the ghost of Shane Bieber made the cut. In fairness, had Bowden included him, he might have forgotten that he played for the Braves anyway.
As a national MLB guy, Bowden is going to miss some nuance with each individual team, and that is fine. However, his handling of the Braves in his rankings and predictions feels incredibly lazy and ignores what will be a very obvious market dynamic where Atlanta will be a featured character. Thankfully, these predictions don't really mean anything, especially this early on, despite being incredibly annoying for those looking for quality information and analysis.
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