The Atlanta Braves ultimately decided to use Friday's non-tender deadline to mostly keep the band together with a couple notable, but not earth-shattering departures. There were certainly some strong arguments to non-tender more players than Atlanta did, but the amounts of money per player we are talking about are pretty small in the grand scheme of things. The only uncertainty with the players currently on the roster now is Dylan Lee who was tendered, but has not agreed to a contract for 2026 and will likely head to an arbitration hearing.
With the non-tender deadline representing the last major deadline of the offseason that deals with roster housekeeping before we get into spring, we now have a chance to take a (mostly) complete look at the Braves' 2026 payroll and what it could mean for the rest of the offseason.
Braves' still have payroll room for big moves this offseason, but exactly how much depends on their luxury tax plans
Assuming that Spotrac's estimation for Lee's 2026 arbitration contract of $3 million is correct, the Braves' projected payroll for next season including pre-arbitration players is currently estimated to be around $211,630,000. That is certainly a hefty amount to have on the books, but it is also an amount that has room for more roster improvements.
The competitive balance tax (affectionately known as the luxury tax) has escalating and pre-set thresholds in the CBA and the 2026 threshold is set at $244 million. For those that hate math, that means Atlanta has $32,370,000 of space left before they have to worry about playing the luxury tax at all. Because the Braves successfully reset their luxury tax penalties by not exceeding the threshold in 2025, Atlanta could theoretically go over that threshold by up to $20 million before incurring any penalty at all beyond a 20% surcharge on the overage.
If we take that $20 million overage as a hard cap (which is probably what the team treats it as), that means the Braves have and estimated $52,370,000 in space on the 2026 payroll. That doesn't (probably) allow for an acquisition like Kyle Tucker, but that is more than enough to add a decent starter and a competent shortstop while having some left over to bring in some bullpen reinforcements to pair with the recently re-signed Raisel Iglesias.
There is no guarantee that the Braves will use ALL of that potential space and we know quite well that Alex Anthopoulos likes to have some cash to play with at the trade deadline. However, fans can probably still expect Atlanta to be pretty active this offseason even after the $16 million Iglesias signing. Exactly how the Braves handle things will tell us a lot about the front office's current philosophy for this roster.