5 takeaways from Atlanta Braves GM Alex Anthopoulos' end of year statements

Atlanta Braves president of baseball operations Alex Anthopoulos is widely regarded as one of the absolute best GM's in all of baseball. He is beloved by Braves country for a number of reasons. Just like the Braves fanbase, Anthopoulos was a little deflated with the way Atlanta's season ended.

With that said, AA and his front office got right to work reviewing what happened in 2023 and what things can change as they navigate the 2024 offseason. Obviously, Anthopoulos is pretty guarded in what news he let's get out into the public, so his 2023 offseason team building blueprint wasn't laid out in these quotes, but we can at least get a sense of some direction with what he gave us. Today we break down all of Anthopoulos' comments since the Braves historic season came to an abrupt end.

There is no secret formula for postseason success

Trust me I know it's hard to see such a talented team you care so much about come up short. The Braves getting bounced by the Phillies in the NLDS for the second straight season put all of Braves country in a really sour mood. But AA quickly preached on it in his end of season comments, it was four games where the Braves didn't show up. That doesn't mean it's time to tear the house down.

Nobody has an exact formula, otherwise somebody would be winning every year

Alex pointed out the facts, this Braves team had their opportunities in their postseason series, they had times with runners in scoring position and never got the big hit. Moving forward AA said he knows this is still a very talented offensive club and he can sleep well at night knowing that.

Still full confidence in Snitker

Not that there was much doubt in Braves country, but Anthopoulos quickly shutdown any possibility of Braves manager Brian Snitker not being the guy to lead this team in 2024. Snitker just turned 68 over a week ago, but based on the conversation between AA and Snit there isn't much reason to anticipate Snitker retiring.

When AA was asked about some of the questionable decisions made by Snit in the NLDS, Anthopoulos issued a level-headed response. "My big takeaway from the series was that outside of Game 3, where the score was pretty out of hand by the end of it, we were in the other games, and obviously one of those we won. We had opportunities in the other games, and what is clearly the strength of our team and was clearly the strength of our team the entire year, we had traffic, we had opportunities, we had men in scoring position. We just weren’t able to capitalize with the big hit.

Anthopoulos clearly knows how to take a step back and evaluate, something he does quite well when making these key decisions on players. None of the questions that AA was asked brought out any type of overreaction about the NLDS. At the end of the day this great team just didn't hit to their capabilities across four games.

Pitching will be addressed

The first big decision Anthopoulos is faced with this offseason is the choice of Charlie Morton's $20 million option. As of now we know Fried and Strider are locks for the rotation. However, this is Fried’s last year before hitting free agency so finding a reliable rotation piece for years to come is a need for Atlanta. Anthopolous praised Charlie’s talent and how great of a teammate he is, so it sounds like they want him back. Ultimately, it may come down to if Charlie wants to continue pitching at all.

Elder took steps this past season, but I don’t think we ever reach a world where the Braves feel comfortable starting him in a playoff game again. Sadly, Kyle Wright is out all of next season after his recent shoulder surgery. Smith-Shawver and 2023 first round pick, Hurston Waldrep could be inserted in at some point next year, but the Braves can’t rely on that.

As for the bullpen, we’ve long known Alex Anthopoulos firmly believes in investing into that. He already brought back righty Pierce Johnson on a two-year deal, and he certainly isn’t going to stop there. Joe Jimenez is a free agent and Kirby Yates has an option that Atlanta has to decide on. Johnson, Minter, and Iglesias make a sound unit in the backend, but don’t be shocked when Alex adds some more talent to help out.

Orlando Arcia has earned the starting shortstop job

Heading into last spring the Braves had a position battle at shortstop after Dansby Swanson left for the Cubbies in free agency. In the end it was veteran Orlando Arcia who won the job thanks to his reliable defense. All Arcia went out and did in 2023 was slash .264/.321/.420 while providing plus defense at shortstop.

However, given the cold streak Arcia experienced at the plate in the second half and into the postseason, some questioned if that spot could be upgraded this offseason. Anthopoulos quickly shot that idea down when he told reporters that Arcia proved himself last year and has earned that spot. And when you look at the free agency shortstop crop, you can see why AA has no intention of making a move there.