Liberty Media CEO Greg Maffei briefly discussed the Braves offseason outlook in a television appearance on CNBC yesterday. In the course of a ten-minute interview with CNBC’s David Faber, Maffei indicated that the club plans to “spend some money” this winter, even after the club’s recent addition of roughly $30MM in new commitments to their 2020 payroll.
“We’re well set up…with young talent,” Maffei told Faber before referencing Freddie Freeman, Ronald Acuna Jr. and Ozzie Albies as some of the club’s key young players. “But in addition, we just signed Will Smith–probably the best reliever in baseball. Yeah, we’re going to spend some money, and we have relative freedom under the cap and in our payroll compared to most people, including the Mets.”
These comments, which begin around 6:44 in the above-linked video, can’t be taken as an outright declaration that Atlanta is expecting to shake up the free agent market with a number of high-dollar-figure pacts–after all, phrases like “some money” and “relative freedom” really only tell us that the club isn’t completely hamstrung from a financial perspective
Also from the cold water department: though Maffei references the division-rival Mets, it seems like a stretch to interpret his comments as anything more than a playful barb toward a division rival–consider also that Faber, his interviewer on Thursday, is a self-professed Mets fan. Besides that, it’s simply unlikely, given club history, that Maffei and his associates at Liberty intend to contend with New York from a payroll perspective.
All of these caveats aside, Maffei’s relative candor here shouldn’t be taken lightly–especially considering these comments come at a time when several club executives and ownership figures around the league have cited luxury tax and flexibility concerns as harbingers of quiet offseasons to come. And, to be certain, the Liberty-led Braves do indeed have an enviable slate of contract commitments moving forward, especially when considering the way recent extensions have locked in premier performers at affordable rates.
As it stands, Albies and Acuna are the only Atlanta players under guaranteed contracts past 2021. Readers will remember that the all-world Acuna was locked up via an eight-year, $100MM extension last year; ditto for Albies, who will earn $30MM from 2020-2025. Those deals, regardless of one’s personal feelings about them, should allow the club a great deal of flexibility in its long-term outlook–and that’s before factoring the bevy of quality young players it still maintains at team-control rates, including Mike Soroka, Kyle Wright, and Austin Riley.
The Braves sported a season-ending payroll of $144MM in 2019, and, as things stand now, their 2020 Opening Day number sits at roughly $106MM after accounting for forthcoming arb awards for nine players. The club will see $24.75MM in 2020 commitments to four players–Mark Melancon, Nick Markakis, Tyler Flowers, and Darren O’Day–come off of the books at the conclusion of next season. It’s unclear if the “some money” Maffei refers to may be an additional commitment that would inch Atlanta closer to last season’s season-ending figure, but it is worth noting that the club has room in its long-term outlook for a sizable addition. Given their activity this offseason and Maffei’s comments, it would seem they’re inclined to agree.
So far this offseason, the club has signed Smith while also retaining Chris Martin, Darren O’Day, Tyler Flowers, and Markakis. Atlanta has already emerged as one of the winter’s early players, and there could clearly be more action for Braves fans to anticipate in the coming weeks and months: just yesterday, we heard that Atlanta “checked in” on Yasmani Grandal before his signing with the White Sox; they’ve also been said to “have some interest” in former Cardinals and Marlins outfielder Marcell Ozuna; As for the third base position recently vacated by Josh Donaldson? GM Alex Anthopoulos has been said to be making an “aggressive push” to retain the bringer of rain, while also keeping one eye trained on former Royals and Brewers third baseman Mike Moustakas.
Of course, a less conservative rendering of Maffei’s recent comments may lead us to believe that the club is intent on making a serious addition to the payroll–perhaps in the form of Donaldson, or an even bigger fish. The Braves have never exceeded $122MM in Opening Day commitments, but it’s fair to wonder whether recent playoff appearances–and early playoff exits–may encourage club leaders to lock in a March roster more closely situated toward 2019’s $144MM year-end ceiling. As our own Jeff Todd recently noted, the club could also open up another few inches of headroom by finding a landing spot for Inciarte or Shane Greene, perhaps giving the club upwards of $40MM+ in theoretical payroll space.
I’ll believe it when I see it. I’m not getting my hopes up though.
It’s also not really been talked about in depth in previous years. The talk of spending I should say.
“We can shop any isle” doesn’t mean spending. It means under the right situation they could. The right situation didn’t present itself to do so though.
I think it’s a good sign for Atlanta.
Land, ho!
I agree…the braves have money but they will use it right bs potentially bad contracts. Buy short for win now
President and CEO of Braves Development Mike Plant just did an interview you can find in ajc.com. He seemed to mirror some of the things that Maffei said but spoke more about the Braves revenue increases and how the Braves expect the increases to continue thanks to the development of the Battery.
For those of you that don’t know what the battery is, it is a development that consists of the Braves Stadium, restaurants, office buildings and even apartments that are all on the same multi-use property. Fans can live, work, eat and go to as many Braves games as they want without ever stepping foot in a car, train or bus. The best part is that Liberty Media owns the entire development.
Plants said the revenue has gone up 21% overall. He pointed out that frequently teams get new stadiums and notice a short term increase in attendance that then drops once the stadium is no longer new. He claims the Braves stadium is past the “new” point and The Battery will cause revenue to continue to increase. He said the Braves are “going after it” and will make “acquisitions of key veterans.” He even went so far to say, “I can assure you that one of these years I’m going to stand up here and have a World Series trophy with me.”
Josh Donaldson bring him back AA!
The dude who wrote a novel about this in the comments section of the Granite news is gonna be so happy to see that this was addressed.
War and Peace Rumors
Yayyy! Thanks Dylan and Jeff! Walls is right!
i know everyone is saying “ill believe it when i see it,” but they did just sign both Smith and Martin. already off to a great start.
Unfortunately that’s what we all said last year after signing Donaldson and McCan. I’m hopefully they learned you can’t go halfway. So great we finally addressed the bullpen. Now let’s bring back Donaldson and find a TOR stater to trade for (Kluber please). Then probably bring back Cervelli and a bench bat.
Who else was available fo Atlanta last year, that you would have liked them to do get?
You can’t say the Braves won’t spend money when they give JD $23m for one season.
I think the bullpen would have been a bit more steady if Minter and Vis didn’t get hurt early on last year. Minter put himself behind and never really found a groove after missing ST.
I think a big part of the problem last season was the fans took the “we can shop any isle” as meaning they’d spend at the highest. That’s not what it meant.
It’s a balancing act of now vs the future. Fans don’t typically think long-term when it comes to that type of stuff. They want results now. They think in the now.
Just to mix it up a little …. when I see it, I’ll believe it…
I’m hoping the Smith and Martin signing are good indications (o’day also). But I’ve seen stories like this play out before…
If they are serious, go get JD, Wheeler, and Bum/Dallas/Cole hamel. Or better yet go get g. Cole in that mix. Then trade for WC. Then our team will be legit and we know mgmt is putting their money where their mouth is.
Bumgarner, Hamels and Keuchel? You think the Braves should sign Bumgarner, a no.4 pitcher when you look at the Home runs he’s allowed and his xFIP and road ERA, and then 2 more okay no.3 pitchers?
The Braves might spend more money then they typically do but if you think they are going to spend THAT much than I think you’re crazy. The Braves have been very stingy about prospects as well, so I dont see how their will be a trade for one. The only way Atlanta is getting an ace is if one emerges so we need roster spots for prospects like Anderson and Wright.
I also think the Braves should sign MadBum. I think his clubhouse leadership can be a good thing for the young generation of arms coming. Look at guys like Fried, Soroka, Anderson, Folty, Newk – what SP are they going to lean on for leadership?
If it were me, I’d bring in MadBum and Hamels. DK showed he wasn’t worth much last year, he helped a bit, but it’s time to move on from him. Let him be someone else’s problem.
I have always loved Hamels’ leadership , and I think it would be a big plus for Atlanta.
he clearly meant 1 of the 3.
If we are putting in our Christmas wish list to Liberty as our Santa, a Rendon deal would top my list. From there, Bumgarner and a deal for Castillo and the Braves would have a very happy holiday.
Will Smith is probably -not- the best reliever in baseball, Career 4.5 bWAR? Yeah no.
did you actually just use WAR as a measuring stick for not only a pitcher, but a relief pitcher.
Yeah, that he what he said
Baby troll…. hay pookie. Strike hows life?
I’ll believe it when I see it!
One thing to keep in mind is that a decent chunk of revenue the last couple seasons went to funding construction projects in and around the ballpark. Those were somewhat of a one-time expense category, and, they constitute an interesting dynamic-
1) More revenue comes in to the team due to control of nearby development they lacked in the past
2) this means more raw income is available, a portion of which can be invested in the team
3) the better on-field product makes the nearby developments at the battery more profitable
4) again, further increase in raw income with some funds available to the team.
It’s not a limitless cycle, but, it should be sufficient to see record payroll in the not distant future and set a new plateau for normal spending until the tv rights deal comes back up for renewal.
Why do I see the braves going after the many japanesse or korean players coming over, and actually scoring on one of them, like a kwang-hyun kim. It’d be nice gamble for the long relief, and maybe interchange him with sean newcomb when needed.
Kawakami left a bad taste in Braves fans’ mouths. It was different management, but still…
Oh, I forgot about that. Well, back to therapy.
My thoughts exactly, a proven asian player maybe. A player who has had success in America. Our talented players are far superior to they’er players, on a one on one basis, a great foreign player quickly becomes mediocre against our players.
Also, Kawakami wasn’t happy about being relegated to AA for a year. NPB may not have forgotten…
The Kawakami signing was 13 years ago.
It was a long time ago but I am actually still pretty bitter about. Seems lame but I can’t help it. That guy was advertised to the fans as a solid #2 starting pitcher and he was terrible. He finally got so bad that they had to send him to triple A to try and figure himself out. He complained about it incessantly like he expected the Braves should just keep putting him out their every 5th day to give up 7 earned runs over 4 innings while they were in a division race. Then when he got sent down he still got shelled in the minors. He thought he was too good to be in the minors when he was actually not even good ENOUGH to be in the minors. He kept complaining and the Braves brought him back up just to see him get shelled again. Then the Braves just ate his contract and released him. He never did anything in the majors again. The scary thing was that Kawakami had a solid track record in Japan over his career and I think he finished top 2 the previous year in the Japanese version of the Cy Young award. His velocity didn’t drop and he wasn’t I injured. It kinda made me distrust whether “good”Japanese league players were worth the gamble on even assuming there is even a solid chance they will be good enough just to stay on a major league roster. I know plenty of them have been great but the $ is guaranteed. I would love to see the percentage that translate to even close to what they were in the Japanese league. I have no clue what the percentage would be. It’s just scary when a guy that was considered one of the best 2 overall pitchers in the Japanese League isn’t even remotely good enough to keep a spot on a major league roster as a mop up relief pitcher. Especially when you are paying him 8 figures and he complains the entire time about not getting every fifth start when he blows every start that he gets anyway. Unless they consistently pitch at 97+ mph and have a great strikeout rate I don’t wanna take the risk. Too much anxiety. I’d rather know what I’m getting and that’s typically more likely from a guy that already has MLB experience.
Because of the money invested in the pen, the Braves must increase payroll so that they can fill other team needs. The Braves are in “win now” mode and there is no way they are going to ignore remaining team needs while spending so much on relief pitchers. Such a move would be foolish!
We can hope…
Bumgarner, then worry about everything else!
But as someone else said rightfully, I will believe it when I see it.
Donaldson first.
I’d rather focus on a guy who wants to win, who wants to compete and wants to be better than everybody else versus somebody running around the bases with an invisible umbrella.
The invisible umbrealla is because he’s winning, competing and being better then the guy on the mount, choad.
I want madbum too…but I’d want him more if he didn’t just want those things and delivered on them like donalsdson does.
You’re joking, right? Donaldson is every bit the competitor that Bumgarner is. I’d personally rather have Donaldson. He brought a lot to this team last season, and I enjoy watching players actually have fun playing the game.
Waiting for it
Braves to sign Joey Bautista to play third
Been there done that.
Duh
They still need a starter or two, whether it be Wheeler (from the Atlanta exurbs), Bumgarner, etc.
I’m actually okay with how the Braves have been ran under AA. They don’t need to be (and won’t ever) be the team that pushes the luxury tax, but he’s been very calculated with who he gives money to and which prospects he trades.
Was never really a fan of Scherholz or Wren and you have to trust (lol) Hart/Coppy during the rebuild because they were supposed to be bad. AA’s certainly stepped into a great situation, he’s definitely earned the benefit of the doubt for the moves he’s made and will make as the offseason unfolds.
The Braves should absolutely push the luxury tax, except their tv deal blows. Solid fanbase, geographic territory is 20+ million people, based in the 9th largest metro and they dont share it like 4 of the metros above them.
In 10 years they should easily be outspending the rest of their division.
Lol what? Have you been to any NL East city? Let’s just talk about real estate, and ignore the median income.
Here’s the average price per square foot in each zip code of the ballpark.
Atl- $176
Miami- $416
DC- $553
Philly- $183
NY- $793
How do you compete with the budgets of people who’s fan base has to make $4 to every $1 of yours to afford to eat?
Move
Hey guys, who replaces donaldson? Will they spend it on rendon, or will it be riley?
My guess is Moustakas
Bumgarner and Grandal was how I was hoping they would spend that money.. I wouldn’t cry about resigning JD, but I’m very worried about who is going to split time with Flowers.
I wonder how their expiring tv contract in 2027 will affect their handling of the payroll. The Braves have the worst tv deal in baseball. They should realistically have one of the 3 largest tv deals in the NL.
Would the Braves be willing to raise payroll so much that they operate at $0 profit in order to create a winning team that will boost revenues and fan engagement in the run-up to the negotiations for the new tv deal to boost the value of that deal?
I need a ranger’s deal or rumor, I will be on that like white on rice,,,
Smith, best reliever in baseball? Uh, no?
Name 2 better. Go! I’ll wait. Will Smith was easily the best RP on the market.
Kirby Yates, Josh Hader, Ken Giles, Aroldis Chapman.
The point can be argued a bit, but Smith is pretty comfortably in the 15-25 range for best relievers.
Can’t we all just agree he likely meant best reliever on the market…
Yes, let’s get stuck on the semantics of a Colorado executive speaking about his shiny new toy on a lowly-rated cable news show.
He said “probably the best reliever in baseball”. Why would we interpret it any differently than what he actually said?
Best on the market does not mean best in baseball.
The battery cost a lot to build. But it will pay dividends for Braves fans for years! They will be a perennial playoff contender for the next 4-6 years at least. I think AA has more money than he knows what to do with! He brought the Blue Jays out of the cellar. He will turn the Braves into a WS threat in a year or two.
The Braves payroll situation is unique. In all honesty this guy can do as many interviews and announce as much as he wants in reality LM really doesn’t have to much to do with the day to day operations and spending of the Braves.
Any and all spending has to come thru the revenue generated by the Atlanta Braves. Liberty Media can not as they say nail the Braves out in regards to payroll and they can’t sit back & be cheap and suck dry any profits.
Any profits LM will see will come when they sell the team. Other than that the only profit they will see is in form of the tax breaks they get from the actual acquisition of the team.
Liberty Media did not buy the team to get into baseball. They received the team by trading shares of time Warner back to time warner and not selling them and getting killed in taxes. Once the tax breaks are done & a new tv contract is negotiated in however many years they will more than likely sell the team.
There have been countless articles written about this. The only person who I want to hear from when talking about payroll and spending is Terry McGuirk. He is the defacto man in charge of the Braves per MLB. Yes he has ppl to answer to but at the end of the day he is the man that dictates what is spent and where and to who.
And I am in no way saying the Braves won’t be spending any more money. What I am saying is that I have no idea how much money they have to spend.
If LM was allowed to they could be far & away the biggest owners in baseball with the deepest pockets.
But the problem is they can’t use Liberty Media money to funnel into the Atlanta Braves. Any Brave money being spent has to come from revenue made from the Braves. I just don’t know how much money they have to spend.
STANDUPGUY!!!! I owe you an apology sir. You were completely correct.
Now that that’s out of the way, I have been reading up and down these comments and I can’t help but laugh. Being a Braves fan will teach you to be cynical. I know there are fanbases that have it worse than us but it’s plenty frustrating watching your team be dreadful for a few years and then to watch them emerge and produce real, significant talent to go and not give that talent the support it needs.
So..just like majority of Braves fans, I’m not going to fill out my Christmas wish list just yet. I do think this should make Braves fans a little more optimistic but I’m also pretty sure there won’t be a Gerrit Cole or a Stephen Strasburg under the tree.
If the Braves bring back Donaldson, sign
Robinson Chirinos and maybe Marcell Ozuna? I’m not the biggest fan of Ozuna but his 2 DRS and 5.7 UZR looks like gold glove stuff compared to Castellinos -9 DRS and -4.4 UZR. The pickings for OF are pretty slim this year and I’m not really excited about how much it would cost to get Haniger. After that..Zack Wheeler maybe. But he’s getting a lot of attention. Bidding could potentially drive up the years beyond what is wise for a 30 year old pitcher.
If not him than I would be okay with Hamels as he has already said he would except a 1 year contract from contending teams.
I just don’t want any part of Bumgarner. You look at his rediculous 5.29 road ERA, 4.31 xFIP and the 30 home runs he surrendered despite playing at Oracle park, one of the top 3 pitcher friendly parks in the MLB, and you see that his regression is worse than it seems. Oracle park has covered up how much he has fallen. Compounding this, you will have to overpay for his name for several years as opposed to Hamels.
Any of those Braves fans who like to say we can overpay for Bumgarner because we underpay the young players are just wrong. Its just not a good idea to save money in one place to overpay for a no.4 pitcher. I would rather apply the savings to upgrade in other places, especially when there are other more reasonable choices out there.
After recently reading that Hamels would be willing to take a shorter deal I am in the mind frame of rather seeing them go for him. He can provide the young rotation with the same leadership qualities that MadBum brings to the table.
And it is me that talks about overpaying for MadBum because the rotation is underpaid.
I got news for you all in their prime free agent contracts are overpays. No GM goes into a contract believing they won’t be hurt by the back end of a deal.
My feelings are guys like MadBum bring more to the table than just what they do on the field and that is ok by me to overpay a bit for.
This is what ppl on this site need to realize. It’s not so much an overpay it what the market dictates. When teams have holes they need to fill they have to find a way to fill them.
The only big money free agent pitching contract I feel was successful was CC Sabathia. And a huge part of what made that successful was the off field and locker room stuff he brought to the table. That is also the stuff MadBum or Hamels bring to the table.
But I am now off the MadBum boat and would now rather them sign Hamels for 1 year and if the competition gets to hard or too high than extend the offer to 2 yrs and if need be 2 with an option.
That at least gives the Braves a chance to see full value for a contract where yes with MadBum the backend of a 4 year deal will see no value for years 3 & 4.
Saying an overpay is every contract where at the back end you have to eat value is only going to bring us to an argument in simantics because my idea of an overpay is different. I would say an overpay is when a GM signs a player to more money than he’s worth the first or second year of his production and not at the end. But contracts that you have to eat value in, particularly at the end, is still business as usual.
So when I say overpay for Bumgarner, I am saying we will overpay him and I think it will be his very first year with the Braves. At Sun Trust park, Bumgarners full regression will be on display and we will get to see how much Oracle park covered up for him. His road ERA 5.29, xFIP 4.31 and 30 home runs allowed is screaming this.
Now I do believe in intangibles. But hey, we have an outfield spot we might want to fill. How about going out there and signing Edwin Encarnacion for his leadership and playoff experience for the young players? Intangibles has its limits. Maybe you’ll say we have Markakis for that but he doesnt have anymore playoff experience than Acuna and even if he wasnt there, I some how doubt you would like the idea of Encarnacion patrolling RF with his cement block hands.
If Braves bring back JD, which I hope they do, how do you feel about trading for Whit Merrifield to play OF?
The amount of talent it would take, not worth it. Atlanta has their OF of the decade, Pache, Waters & Acuna.
KC has shown 0 desire to trade him either, not sure why people continually mention him. You’d literally have to blow them away, more than what Atlanta did to AZ for Shelby Miller.
I do think there’s potential there w/ MadBum in Atlanta. Obviously he’s not a #1 or #2, but he’d be a real solid #4 for Atlanta with leadership. Those are things you can’t look at the stat sheet and point to.
He had 2 games w/ 6er, 4 games with 5er. Not terrible for a #4. Obviously I wouldn’t get in a bidding war for him, but if he’s willing to come closer to home? yes.
A solid #4 for what most likely be a franchise-record contract for MadBum (if north of $75.25MM)? Cue: a dollar can’t buy what it used to.
I suppose you could put him at the TOR, but I wouldn’t. I think Soroka, Folty & Fried are all better than MadBum. I’m sure he’ll command more, but I wouldn’t go over $15m for him. 2-4 years, 3 years w/ option, something like that.
I can’t see him signing a long-term contract anywhere. I think the biggest threat for him is Minnesota, but given the two, you’d think he’d pick Atlanta based on close to home, better weather, etc.
It’s okay Salary. You don’t really have anything to apologize for. Some people were just saying I made the whole thing up but all you did was ask for sources. Luckily Sid Bream was going around behind me and actually posting a link to the video. I gotta thank him, too.
I own shares of the Braves, so follow how they manage the books pretty closely.
Liberty basically mandates that the baseball team and real estate operation of the ballpark and surrounding area operate right around breakeven.
The real estate operation has really taken off in the last 12 months, with most of the apartments and office space filling up. I expect that they definitely can spend some money and probably even get to about the $140M payroll level.
But anything more than that won’t come until the current TV deal expires. At that time, Liberty is either going to spin off the team, or sell it, which should be a huge windfall to shareholders. But that won’t be until 2027 unfortunately.
Ok stockholder guy but Liberty Media mandates nothing. Mlb mandates the Braves be run thru only the revenue produced by the Braves. Mlb has specifically mandated that LM not profit off the Braves whatsoever on a year to year basis. Their profits come from when they sell the team and the tax breaks they receive.
Now how & when they spend the money is up to them. If they want to sit on money they don’t see worth spending they can. But they can’t take it out to spend or pocket.
So, you just basically said the same thing that he did, while throwing in a nugget that MLB mandates it.
Donaldson, Wheeler, Avila, and call it a day unless someone decent has a price that really drops. I would like to see them trade for Marte as well.
Avila, really? Yeesh. Call up CHW and see what they want for James McCann. Personally, I’d prefer Castro to Avila, though Avila is better defensively and would be cheaper. But honestly, we are talking about the difference between beige and taupe.
I could be ok with a Marte trade if it revolved around Ender going to Pittsburgh in some fashion.
Give CF to Pache (he’s ready) and Acuna in RF, Marte in LF. In 2021, Waters takes over and you buy out Marte for $1m.
If Atlanta doesn’t feel that Waters will be ready in 2021, then a trade for Haniger from Seattle could work, so long as Ian Anderson is not involved.
If they’re not going to groom Wilson to be the closer of the future (with Smith signed, it’s unlikely) then he should be traded as well.
Skip going after Donaldson, and offer a 3-year deal to Moustakas now. Yes, Donaldson is a better player, but he’s going to get $8-10M more per year than Moose. Going after (and signing) Moose allows some room to go after either another SP or someone like Ozuna for the OF.
No way do I want to see that. Why take the lesser play at 3B to save money for an OF who is so-so, but will be paid like a star? Sign Donaldson for whatever it takes, then look into trading for Marte. That’s all doable while still getting a SP, unless your plan for a SP includes Cole, but I don’t think Atlanta will wade into those financial waters.
With all the investments LM have made in generating “auxiliary” revenue, expect the Braves to be aggressive. They’re Red Sox-like; they’ll have to win to maximize all that earning potential, unlike the Yanks (people will pour in, win or lose) or, say, the Rays (people will stay away, win or lose). You don’t make money running the movie; you make it selling the popcorn.
They’ve already been making significant moves; I expect others.
PAY FREEMAN
He’s being paid, no worries.
Yes he’s being paid, but an extension would be nice rather than Braves fans bite their nails the last year of his contract hoping he gets one.
The common denominator is always money.
If Donaldson heads elsewhere ( Texas ) Bryant form the Cubs would be good, power, can play RF also if needed. Moose would be second option.
Hamels seems a no brainier, Wheeler would be nice. Cleveland has pitching to trade and Braves have a deep pool in the minors for trades.
Catchers is a shallow pond, maybe McCann ( was good in Detroit ), Lucroy can still catch, Barnes from Dodgers could be done. Maldonado good catcher so so hitter, some power.
The Braves can make many deals without busting the bank or raiding the minor talent.
There still is dead wood on this roster that can be traded and or just released.
Please sell the team back to Turner
Where are all the clowns who said SUG was making this up?