What Are the Atlanta Braves Even Doing?
Last year the Atlanta Braves started the season with one of the best farm teams in the league and hopes to soon be a team in contention. And then a funny thing happened on their way to to the end of the season. They won the division.
Then the off-season came along and with a ton of money cleared off the books, many thought they would make some major acquisitions to ensure that last season wasn’t a fluke. Right out of the gate, they signed Josh Donaldson to a $23 million contract to bridge the gap to their top third base prospect Austin Riley.
OK! There we go! What would be the next move? Bryce Harper to play right field? Patrick Corbin to anchor the pitching staff? Craig Kimbrel to lock down games? Um, what about “none of the above”?
Harper went to the Phillies and Corbin went to the Nationals. Then the Mets acquired Robinson Cano and the Phillies got JT Realmuto and Jean Segura.
The Braves re-signed Nick Markakis. There were three teams in the NL East that were making themselves a lot better and the Braves were not one of them.
And then the off-season dragged on. Kimbrel is still available and Dallas Keuchel is as well. He’s no Corbin, but at half the price, he would still be an effective use of funds for the playoff hopeful Braves.
Well, the word on the street is the Atlanta Braves are not currently interested in free agents Dallas Keuchel and Craig Kimbrel.
Looks like they’re set with their team and it doesn’t matter how inexperienced their starting rotation is or how thin their bullpen is. In a way, you can’t blame them. They weren’t supposed to win last year, so maybe they know best and they’re counting on the Nationals, Phillies and Mets to underperform again this year. Could happen.
The Braves are projected by FanGraphs to win 84 games this season—same as the Mets. That’s two behind the Phillies and six behind the Nationals.
But if you take a team that’s projected to win 84 games and you add Kimbrel and Keuchel, you’re adding something around four wins. That’s 88 wins. That’s a playoff spot.
We know they have the money for these transactions. Their payroll is currently down more than $20 million from last year even after signing Josh Donaldson. They’re not spending this extra money on their new stadium. They got the public to pay for that. And they’re the only team in the league that is not still paying Matt Kemp for having played baseball for their team.
Additionally, the Braves are one of the very few teams that isn’t still paying off some stupid free agent contract. One could make an argument that these two would be stupid free agent contracts. Fair enough.
Despite promoting Ronald Acuña and Ozzie Albies, Atlanta still has a top five farm system that will be pumping prospects into the Majors for years to come. But the only “year to come” that matters right now is this year. And the team as currently constructed doesn’t look like a winner.
The other teams in their division are spending money. And they are getting better. The Braves need an effective starter and they need a powerhouse closer. Hey, guess what? They’re waiting for your call. Do it.
Hey, maybe they can sign the players and just get the public to pay for that as well.
