This offseason the Atlanta Braves and Alex Anthopoulos will have a few decisions to make that will impact the everyday lineup. Since most of the core is locked up to long-term deals, there won't be too many big decisions. Acuna, Albies, Olson, Murphy, Riley, and Harris II are all locked up to long-term deals. Even Orlando Arcia has two years on his contract after the 2023 season.
One place our eye is drawn to is leftfield. Eddie Rosario has a $9 million club option that will likely be exercised. $9,000,0000 for a player like Rosario is a good deal. However, if AA decides he wants to attempt to upgrade in LF, there will be a few big names on the free-agent market.
Eddie has brought a lot of positives to the Braves. He has the clutch gene, he won the 2021 NLCS MVP by smashing three homers in the six-game set and posting a 1.647 OPS. He has slugged the ball well this season. He currently has 20 homers and 20 doubles with a .489 SLG. During his entire tenure with the Braves, Rosario's slugging percentage is .444.
His OBP as a Braves is under-.300 at .296.
While his defense can get ridiculed for a few memorably bad plays, he has zero defensive runs saved in left this year, which is exactly league-average. He also ranks in the 70th percentile in outs above average, which measures his ability to get to balls compared to other outfielders.
We love Eddie, but there are some intriguing free agents out there who will get on base way better than a .296 clip that could be in the same price range. Let's take a look.