3 areas of the Braves roster that the front office must address in the offseason
The 2024 season exposed a few weaknesses the Atlanta Braves need to address in the offseason.
Heading into the 2024 season, the Atlanta Braves were favorites to capture the World Series title. However, in the words of Micahel Scott, "Well, well, well, how the turntables."
Thanks to a perfect-storm combination of injuries and underperformance, the Atlanta Braves have found themselves in a battle with their division rivals the New York Mets for the last NL playoff spot. At this point, a National League Wild Card bid is the only hope for Brian Snitker's club to take the field in October.
While many of the factors that led to the Braves' disappointing season could not have been avoided, some could have. If Atlanta wants to make sure they don't find themselves in the same boat again next season, Alex Anthopoulos and the front office must address these three areas.
3 things the Atlanta Braves must address in the offseason to prevent another disappointing season
Starting pitching has to remain one of Atlanta's strengths
If there has been one bright spot in the Atlanta Braves season, it has been starting pitching. Chris Sale is the front-runner for the National League Cy Young Award and has even been mentioned in MVP discussion. Reynaldo Lopez when he's been healthy has been great. Max Fried has been shaky at times by his standards but is still a force to be reckoned with. Rookie Spencer Schwellenbach has shown tremendous upside and has provided hope for the future of the rotation. So why target starting pitching?
Where would the Braves be without trading for Chris Sale?
— Flippin' Bats Podcast (@FlippinBatsPod) September 12, 2024
Certainly not the playoffs
“The Chris Sale trade with the Red Sox is one of the more underrated trades ever.” - @BenVerlander
Full convo 🎧: https://t.co/Dfog2EZXPs pic.twitter.com/TIVyMsEwph
Well with each passing day, it seems more likely that Max Fried will leave Atlanta in free agency. Chris Sale will be 36 years of age next season in his 15th year and has a reputation for visiting the IL quite often. 2024 is likely the last year of Charlie Morton's career and Reynaldo Lopez is a reliever turned starter who has thrived this season. But he still may be a bit of a question mark for the future.
Although the Braves will return superstar Spencer Strider to their starting rotation next year, it feels like for them to be a World Series contender, they must bring in reinforcements to take care of any uncertainties.
Improving the Braves bench depth is crucial
The most unpredictable factor that every team in Major League Baseball faces year in and year out is injuries. It feels like the 2024 Atlanta Braves have been dealt the worst hand in recent history in that regard.
Atlanta has taken pride in rolling out a dangerous lineup from the top to the bottom. This still holds when the team is healthy, but when the injury bug bites Ronald Acuna Jr., Ozzie Albies, Austin Riley, and Michael Harris II all at the same time, the Braves have been frankly average at best.
Injuries feel inevitable every year. Now in the Braves defense, 2024 has been an extreme case that no one could have fully prepared for but once these superstars went down, Brian Snitker was left with very limited options.
A few years ago, Atlanta could have just shopped in-house and called up one of their many rising prospects in the minors. Now, all of those prospects are either on the MLB roster or have been sent elsewhere to build the current Atlanta Braves. Whether infielders, outfielders, or utility players, the Braves must add depth to their bench to become a bigger threat in 2025.
Orlando Arcia's time with the Braves may have reached its end
Like many other Braves players, Orlando Arcia made 2023 a career year. He posted a .264 batting average to go along with 17 home runs and 65 RBIs. While his power numbers have been close to the same in 2024, his average has dipped to a disappointing .220.
As stated before, when the Atlanta Braves are fully healthy they are one of the most complete teams in baseball. While Orlando Arica could potentially improve when he has more superstars around him like he did in 2023, the Braves may have better options.
A couple of names to keep an eye on this offseason are Ha-Seong Kim who is currently with the San Diego Padres and Willy Adames of the Milwaukee Brewers.
30 homers for Willy Adames! pic.twitter.com/vvO0ZcwE2h
— Talkin’ Baseball (@TalkinBaseball_) September 7, 2024
Kim is a 28-year-old shortstop who will become a free agent at the season's end and could be a potential boost for the Atlanta Braves in 2025 if Alex Anthopoulos breaks out the checkbook. He's a great defender who doesn't strike out a lot at the plate and walks a good bit.
Without making changes at shortstop this upcoming season, the Braves would still be good enough to win another division title. And Arcia is also extremely affordable with just $2 million owed next season. By being aggressive in the offseason, they could improve their chances for another World Series title by a significant margin.
More from House That Hank Built
manual