It is frustrating to diehard fans of the Atlanta Braves that the team struggled so mightily during the 2025 season.  In truth, both the volume and the significance of player injuries meant that little or nothing could be done to overcome those losses.

But with that said, it is all the more concerning that we’re now seeing the a ‘Window of Opportunity’ that is closing.

Already, the team has seen the departure of three major contributors:  Freddie Freeman, Dansby Swanson, and Max Fried.  You could also mention William Contreras (dealt in the Murphy trade), though few could have anticipated the offensive force he’s turned into.

Ozzie Albies just had his 2026 option picked up by the club; this is the first of two option years before he is scheduled to hit free agency after the 2027 season.

Ronald Acuna likewise has an option for 2027 that will almost certainly be exercised, but his time in Atlanta will likely be done when he and Albies walk out together.

Chris Sale has be a life raft to the rotation, but without an extension, he’s done after 2026.

All of that takes me back to the big concern for this discussion:  while the team on the field had a bad 2025, I’ll argue that the team in the front office performed worse.

Front Office Foibles

Problems started a year ago.  Alex Anthopoulos told the media that the Braves’ payroll would increase (again) for the 2025 season. 

We knew that this would take some effort:  the free agency of both Max Fried and Charlie Morton left a considerable gap ($35 million) to fill before any add-ons, and the only significant raise coming to any returning player was for Sale (a $6 million increase).

That raised hopes and expectations that the Braves would be highly active in the Winter markets last December, and yet… we heard only the sound of crickets.

Sure, it’s tough to make trades for high-end players – particularly when your farm system has the same kind of respect usually reserved for Congress, but Anthopoulos couldn’t even convince (i.e., “pay”) any useful free agents to sign on last Winter (I’ll leave judgment on the ‘usefulness’ of Profar to the reader, given his suspension).

As the Spring of 2025 unfolded, the injuries began piling up, and the writing was on the wall:  this was the nightmare scenario for Atlanta – probably worse than when Kris Medlen and Brandon Beachy were both lost during the same week of Spring training in 2014.  Neither pitcher recovered well enough to fulfill their promising careers and the team didn’t surface above the .500 level again until 2018.

But with no other help in 2025, the Braves were forced to turn to Any Available Arm just to get through the season.  Sure, there were bright spots (notably Hurston Waldrep), but we held our breath whenever any pitcher took the mound… fearing another injury.

So maybe… just maybe… it was time to cash in a couple of chips.

Trade Deadline Entanglements

The trade season opened in promising fashion, as Rafael Montero was dealt to the Tigers for SS Jim Jarvis.

But that was it.

This writer opined in July of the near-certainty that both Raisel Iglesias and Marcell Ozuna would be wearing different uniforms come August.

Iglesias is now listed among the Top 50 available free agents on mlbtraderumors.com (#32) and last summer he was one of the few available with notable closer experience. Certainly, he was desirable last July.

The Braves even had the luxury of being under the luxury tax threshold and could therefore afford to pay the freight of either/both Iglesias or Ozuna in the hopes of ‘buying’ a really good prospect.

But that didn’t happen.  Afterwards, Anthopoulos suggested that they were kept with the mindset that perhaps they might be re-signed in this off-season.

Balderdash. This was GM gaslighting at its worst.

For one thing, he could offer to re-sign either player regardless of whether they were still on the roster (and both are now off that roster as free agents).  For another, there was no point in getting nothing back for the loss of their services… particularly given the aforementioned state of the Braves’  farm system.

While we clearly don’t know the details about discussions that might have taken place, it still feels like something bordering on profession malpractice that either player was still sporting a Braves jersey into August.

There was perhaps a secondary effect, too (one that would be difficult to quantify):  having both players on the field, Atlanta might have eked out perhaps a couple more victories down the stretch.

As you might recall from the discussion in this article, those extra victories could have cost Atlanta a few more ping pong balls in the Draft Lottery coming up in December.

So yes:  I understand that fostering a culture of winning is important for the team, but playing the ‘long game’ of replenishing your farm is another means of doing that.

So instead of getting: (a) one or two decent prospects; and (b) a higher draft pick, the Braves held their bad cards and bluffed their way into a better finish – one that accomplished no good purpose.

Re-rack, Reload, Retry

Stop me if you’ve heard this one before:  the Braves have already stated this Fall that they want to have a Top 5 payroll in 2026.  CEO Terry McGuirk made this statement, though Anthopoulos (properly) nuanced that remark in subsequent media discussions.

It is true that anybody can spend money.  Doing it well… that’s the tricky part. At least they’ve managed to reset the luxury tax rate back to minimum levels.

The 2026 priorities for Atlanta are these:  shortstop and starting pitching.  The shortstop part of this is going to be the most difficult task, since it comes down to Bo Bichette, Ha-Seong Kim, and hardly anyone else worth mentioning.

While Kim definitely had his moments as a Brave, his hitting reached a near-career-high of just .253 over those 24 games.

But Nick Allen wasn’t much worse offensively (.221) and fangraphs ranked him as the 4^th best defensive shortstop in baseball among those with at least 100 innings at the position in 2025.  But contrast, Kim was 50^th of the 62 names on that list, and Bichette was dead last.

On the pitching front, there are several names in play, but two factors may stand out:  the need for durability and the need to open the wallet.

Anthopoulos has been reluctant to give out a long-term deal to any pitcher over 30 years of age (even Sale’s 2+ year deal was a little surprising).  He has also never paid anyone more than $23 million in a single season.

Both of those barriers may need to be broken this Winter.

The names?  Dylan Cease.  Framber Valdez.  Ranger Suzarez.  Michael King.  Zac Gallen.  Brandon Woodruff.  Shota Imanaga.  Chris Bassitt (the Braves being a favorite destination guess by the MLBTR staff).  Merrill Kelly.  Lucas Giolito. 

I’m skipping Tatsuya Imai, since I have no expectation that Atlanta will even give his agent a courtesy call.

There’s actually a lot of durability in that list, though the flash and star-power may be a bit lacking.

Atlanta should be looking at almost all of these starters (maybe avoiding those represented by Scott Boras given that Boras’ timetable doesn’t mesh with Atlanta’s need to strike early and often).  Note that if the Braves thought Aaron Nola was worth a pursuit, then Cease is definitely worth a long look:  put a solid defense behind him and that lowers his ERA by at least half a run.

But others know this too, which means he could make $200 million this Winter.

Still, Alex Anthopoulos isn’t used to losing, and he lost in 2025.  Now is the time to change that.  He has the payroll space.  He had one bad year.  That isn’t typical, but it needs to be turned around.

Hopefully we’ll know how things are going within the next 45 days.