For the Atlanta Braves, navigating this offseason successfully is absolutely crucial. As president of baseball operations Alex Anthopoulos said during his end-of-season media session, the Braves need to address their rotation, bullpen, and shortstop as well as the obvious need for a new manager. That is quite the offseason shopping list, but one unfortunate wrinkle could derails any hopes of the Braves swinging big before the 2026 season.
For the uninitiated, the existing collective bargaining agreement for MLB expires at the end of the 2026 season. While the owners and players are on slightly better terms than they were during the last round of labor talks that led to a lengthy offseason stoppage, the odds are extremely good that the owners will lock the players out again as issues like future TV rights, a possible salary cap, and all the usual details that turn into hang-ups are unlikely to be resolved before the CBA expires.
The problem for the Braves is that, with the sheer number of long-term deals they have on their books and the fact that they don't know what payroll/roster rules they are going to be playing under after 2026, making huge moves this offseason could be ill-advised.
Impending CBA negotiations could force the Braves to be conservative this offseason
Before Braves fans panic, the odds that the prospect of a new CBA is not likely to derail Atlanta's pursuit of Ha-Seong Kim if he doesn't exercise his player option. Barring a wild development, Kim isn't going to command so much in free agency to change Atlanta's mind about wanting to keep him around. There are certainly prices and contract lengths that should give the Braves pause, but that would be true with or without potential CBA hurdles.
Where things get sticky is making any multi-year deals beyond probably three years to address other positions. After the 2026 season, the Braves will have Spencer Strider ($22 million AAV for 2027-2028), Sean Murphy ($15 million AAV for 2027-2028), Austin Riley ($22 million AAV for 2027-2032), Matt Olson ($22 million AAV for 2027-2029), and Michael Harris II ($10.25-ish million for 2027-2030) under contract for multiple seasons under the new CBA and that doesn't include club options and/or a potential new contract for Ronald Acuña Jr. and possibly keeping Chris Sale around after next season. That is...a lot of money to have on their books already.
To be clear, the Braves are definitely going to be making some moves this offseason and it is extremely likely they will add players at all of the positions that they outlined as priorities. However, if you are a Braves fan and hope to see Atlanta playing at the top of the free agent market, the impending CBA negotiations could end up preventing that from happening until the front office knows exactly what the downstream impacts could be.