The Braves announced Monday morning that they’ve promoted general manager Alex Anthopoulos to president of baseball operations and extended his contract through the 2024 season. The Atlanta organization also announced contract extensions for manager Brian Snitker and his entire coaching staff; they’ll now be in place through the 2021 season. Anthopoulos had previously bee under contract through the 2021 season, while Snitker was signed through 2020 with a club option for 2021.
“I am very pleased that Alex will be leading the Atlanta Braves’ baseball operations for years to come,” chairman Terry McGuirk said in the press release announcing the news. “Since he joined the organization, Alex has continued the winning tradition that Braves fans have come to expect.”
The 42-year-old Anthopoulos has been the Braves’ head of baseball operations since Nov. 13, 2017, when he was hired following the ousting of GM John Coppolella. The former Blue Jays GM and Dodgers vice president of baseball operations wasted little time in orchestrating a complex, financially motivated swap with one of his former clubs; in December 2017, Anthopoulos traded Matt Kemp and the remainder of his contract to the Dodgers in exchange for Adrian Gonzalez, Brandon McCarthy, Charlie Culberson, Scott Kazmir and $4.5MM.
The remainder of the 2017-18 offseason was a quiet one for Anthopoulos, although his spring pickup of Anibal Sanchez proved to be one of the minor league signings in recent memory, as Sanchez completely revitalized his career as a key rotation piece for the division-winning Braves.
Since that first offseason at the helm, Anthopoulos has become considerably more active both in trade and free agency. The Braves, under Anthopoulos, have shied away from long-term deals for aging veterans but have been aggressive in short-term pacts, signing the likes of Josh Donaldson, Dallas Keuchel, Marcell Ozuna, Cole Hamels, Travis d’Arnaud and Chris Martin to one- and two-year deals. Lefty Will Smith is the only free agent under this regime to sign a deal of three years. Anthopoulos has been active at both trade deadlines under his watch as well, acquiring pitchers Kevin Gausman, Shane Greene, Mark Melancon, Darren O’Day and the aforementioned Martin in a series of July swaps.
The best moves the Braves have made under Anthopoulos were surely locking down a pair of their own core pieces, however. Ronald Acuna Jr.’s eight-year, $100MM contract and Ozzie Albies’ seven-year, $35MM contract are two of the most extreme examples of club-friendly deals throughout the sport. That pairing surrendered a stunning eight would-be free-agent seasons (four apiece), giving the Braves control over the majority of their prime years at well below-market rates. In the long run, both deals should provide exceptional levels of flexibility both in terms of actual payroll and luxury-tax obligations.
Anthopoulos’ track record isn’t spotless, of course. The Gausman acquisition paid dividends in 2018 but yielded disastrous results in 2019. It’s still rather surprising that he agreed to take on all of the $14MM owed to Melancon for the 2020 season in last July’s trade. And time will tell whether the decision to let Donaldson walk rather than match (or at least come close to matching) the Twins’ $92MM guarantee. All of that said, there’s little question that Anthopoulos has helped to maintain a strong farm system while supporting the big league roster with sensible, short-term additions. The Braves are in position to contend for a third straight division title in the NL East, and there’s little reason to think that won’t be the case for years to come, thanks to a controllable core centered around Acuna, Albies, Dansby Swanson, Mike Soroka and Max Fried.
Turning to the 64-year-old Snitker, he’s now locked in for what will be his fourth and fifth full years with the reins in Atlanta’s dugout. A Braves lifer who has spent a staggering 40-plus years in the organization in some capacity, Snitker served as a minor league coach, minor league manager, Major League bullpen coach and Major League third base coach before taking over as interim manager in 2016. This is the second short-term extension he’s signed since being hired as the club’s full-time skipper.
“Winning consecutive division titles illustrates the leadership and impact of Brian and his staff,” Anthopoulos said of the extension. “We are happy to know they will be leading the Braves through the 2021 season.”
Under Snitker’s leadership, the Braves have played at a 318-292 clip (.521) — including a 187-137 showing over the past two seasons. His 90-72 record in 2018 helped him to win National League Manager of the Year honors. However, the Braves have also yet to advance in a postseason series under Snitker. They were bounced by the Dodgers in the 2018 NLDS and by the Cardinals in the 2019 NLDS.
Also receiving contract extensions through the 2021 season Monday were catching coach Sal Fasano, pitching coach Rick Kranitz, bullpen coach Marty Reed, hitting coach Kevin Seitzer, third base coach Ron Washington, bench coach Walt Weiss, first base/outfield coach Eric Young Sr. and assistant hitting coach Jose Castro.
AA is being rewarded for the work of Coppy.
I actually agree with you. Not a lot of people talk about this, I’ve always felt I’m the only one.
AA is a name-only GM who only ever has built one playoff team in 7 years on his own. What the Braves have done over the last 2 years has very little to do with AA, and also, the Braves still have not won a title, nor will they ever under AA.
Coppy didn’t sign Josh Donaldson. That was ALEX. C’mon Braves FANS. Let’s not start with all of the negative, bs. No one expected &/or anticipated the Braves winning the DIVISION TITLE in 2018. Then they WON a 2nd DIVISION TITLE last year. Yes, they failed to win in the playoffs. They’re still young & hungry. They should be in contention for years to come.
Ballfour we all know your a Yankees fan.
Ummmm…I don’t think Coppy signed A&A into the next decade.
strike four – It is hard enough to even get to the post season let alone the world series. Some people just can’t be happy about anything. It’s sad really. Very sad. I will pray for you.
Trolls gonna Troll
Coppy did a good job with tearing down, AA has done a fine job with the building back up.
He didn’t need to build up anything. All of his best assets were acquired by Coppy. He has managed it in a decent fashion however.
So less draft picks and international draft pick sanctions, along with having 12 of your recent signees made available on the open market gutting your lower levels wasn’t anything? Building trust back within the organization after some top executives were forced out or permanently-banned and having to reconfigure the scouting department wasn’t anything?
For a proud franchise with mud on its face when he walked in the door, he’s done a good job picking up where Coppy has left off, but to say he “didn’t need to build up anything” is giving way too much credit to Coppy/Hart. Just remember that over the next few years when the farm is depleted at certain levels and John Hart is providing analysis on MLB Network.
well said
ehh I’d say 50/50… a lot of those high-end prospects Coppy stockpiled that have been dangled on a stick like a carrot for years don’t seem to be coming to fruition. But AA was definitely dropped into a good situation…besides the ownership
There’s something to be said for not screwing things up, ultimately AA hasn’t really had a “bad” move in three offseasons sandwiches between two division titles.
The Ozzie/Acuna deals, Donaldson’s one-year pact, picking up Anibal Sanchez, and grabbing Charlie Culberson in a salary swap/dump definitely go in the positives.
Duvall was big in the postseason, but ultimately has been well-compensated AAA depth, probably didn’t have to take on all of Melancon’s contract, and Gausman was a flop after a good stretch in 2018. None of those are crippling, just low risk misses.
The “what could have been” interests me the most. Seeing that Morton wanted to return to Atlanta before signing at 2/30 with Tampa Bay and not getting Realmuto are just two of the non-moves thqt could’ve helped us.
Why are you listing “positives” about a guy who hasnt won a title? Low ceiling much?
Given what the situation was when he took over, he’s done pretty well. Yes, it’s disappointing that they haven’t done more in the playoffs. The Braves are not the Yankees or the Dodgers payroll. Yes, there’s a difference between a World Series TITLE & a Division TITLE. Over the 162 game season Atlanta was BETTER than Washington. However, (just like so many times in football) a wildcard team Washington won the World Series.
YOU haven’t got a clue if any of those deals you wanted would have helped.
The team has won two divisional titles when slated to finsithird or below.
The best thing John Coppolella did was publicly name Greg Maffei as owner of the Braves.
Thank you Mr. Coppolella .
Are you on quaaludes? The majority of the young stars the Braves have on their roster including Waters one of their best prospects were acquired by Coppolella.
The best thing John Coppolella did was publicly name Greg Maffei as owner of the Braves.
Thank you Mr. Coppolella .
While simultaneously dealing with the punishment (i.e. less draft picks, international signing ability, having to clean house of scouts involved and getting the organization back on track). All that was accomplished while getting possibly the sports 2-most valuable extensions (Acuña, Albies), helping to create a familial clubhouse dynamic (via Snitker and company) and 2-straight division titles. Finding them is tougher, developing them is even tougher.
Technically, he’s seen the most benefit from Wren’s work so far. Both RAJ and Ozzie were Wren signings. Your point is also still valid though, because Coppy’s work has given AA a ton of options.
Does that makeup for the hole Wren dugs us in by running off the scouts that found Chipper/Freeman and signing many of the worst deals in franchise history (i.e. Derek Lowe, BJ Upton, Kenshin Kawakami, Uggla extension, etc.)? He was hired by Dombrowski and BOS, and is it coincidental they are going through their version of a rebuild…? What’s it called when they have opposite of the Midas Touch?
it’s called Herpes…the gift that keeps on giving
Hey, you’re right, Wren made his share of mistakes. Every GM does. He wasn’t very strong in FA. I’m not going to ignore his accomplishments due to his failures, though.
Signing them is one thing — developing them is another. Kevin Maitan was a much bigger coup than Acuna — yet look how he’s turned out. AA had to reconfigure the scouting department after Coppy/Wren ran so many people off.
Hilarious that so many give so much credit to discovering these guys, but not to the farms that nurture these talents, mold them into “the Braves way”.
For ALL THE TERRIBLE TOP PICKS Wren had during his tenure, thank God he found Acuna/Albies. I guess a blind horse can find water.
Horrible take really. Between the penalties that Coppy left him to deal with and all of the other uncertainties, AA has done an outstanding job. He got Acuna and Albie’s locked up for dirt cheap, which allows for a ton present and future spending. His short term veteran signings have been on point. Now that he’s been given more freedom to spend, he’s brought in good pieces that will help now and over the next few seasons. His short term signing of Ozuna allows Camargo and Riley to prove themselves this yr while still giving Atlanta a legit cleanup hitter. If the third base situation fails, they still can go after Bryant or Arenado. Baseball is chess, not checkers. It’s a moves and counter moves game. This team is set up to contend now and in the future.
AA has done a terrible job, getting two superstars for cheap is pure luck – or underhandedness/cheapskate-ness in not offering them the profits they could have easily offered them, not skill. Being shady is not a skill. AA is overrated and shady.
I dislike that players are signing team friendly extensions, especially big time players like those two, but AA didn’t put a gun to their head and make them sign the extension. They could of let it play out and gone to arbitration when eligible.
They could, but there are no small amount of players that flame out quickly.
I pulled up the BA top-100 from 2012 at random. Guys that could’ve likely have signed for 5+ years after turning pro:
Bundy
Montero
Miller
Walker
Turner
Harvey
It’s a small sample, but there are a lot of guys out there that start their careers strongly, and completely flatten out. The writers only remember the names of the guys that succeeded.
Yes, signing your star 20 y/o to the richest pre-arbitration contract ever is “underhanded and cheapskate”. They committed $100M to a 20 y/o with an immense set of talents.
Sorry no one would have committed $100 on you at that age, but jealous ain’t a good luck on ya.
As always, we have humble and realistic Braves fan who analyze data objectively, then we have this cluster of entitled whiny fans who it’s just never, ever enough. AA has done a fantastic job, primarily by retaining assets and rebuilding confidence. Did he get every free agent these fans demanded? No and thank God for that. Long live AA.
There is nothing lucky about it. AA had to re-establish the Braves culture, focus more on improving their defense, and had to bring in cohesive clubhouse guys to create and put back a winning and family atmosphere to Atlanta.
None of that is easy. What would have been easy would have been to go with a new, up and coming young coach, or go out and get “his guy”, but he decided to listen to his players, and stick with Snitker.
Having such a fun and cohesive atmosphere is one of the main reasons why Acuña Jr. and Albies signed those deals..
Please educate yourself before responding on topics you clearly know nothing about. It just makes you come off as an ignorant troll..
I’m guessing if he would have offered them more, you would be the first person saying, AA is garbage, because he should have signed them to cheaper, more team friendly deals. You clearly have some absurd personal vendetta..
It must be one lonely existence being so negative, but hey, at least you’re consistent..lol
Strike Four, I bet you watch a lot of Fox News and a Trump supporter. Luck? Underhandedness? Cheapskate? I haven’t heard that the Braves twisted anyone’s arm or put a gun to anyone’s head to make them sign contracts. You don’t think your hero Trump isn’t shady?
Ross Atkins gets credit for AA’s work too. Getting Vlad jr. and building a whinny fan base. So it’s a wash.
The Jays have won absolutely nothing under AA either, so maybe lets walk back “getting credit for others work” when the work means nothing, yall still are both title-less teams, lol
Strike4: Have you EVER looked at a glass as half full instead of half empty?
“Title-less”?? U clearly are a clueless troll. Look up back to back WS titles. Strike Four is only in Tball. Obviously where u still live.
It’s the same with a lot of GMs. Cashman got the benefit of a crazy loaded NYY team from Gene Michaels. Huntington & DD got the benefit of Theo’s drafts, and Bloom just traded off one of Theo’s draft picks for the next generation of talent. Duquette inherited a great core of young players.
If fact, I’d be that anyone signed by a team with consecutive 60-win seasons, has had some recent great drafts, by virtue of being a 60-win team.
The Astros didn’t get Springer, Correa, Bregman, Whitley, Tucker, etc., because they were smarter than everyone else. They got them because they were worse than everyone else.
Yes. The Astros didn’t buy their title with $. They bought it by tanking for 3 YEARS. I don’t know how anyone can say that’s better than paying players what they are worth and contending every year.
Of course it is better.
As a RS fan, I fully acknowledge that there is very little chance for a small market team to be able to compete with my $200M+ payroll every year. The only way a team like KC can compete is by cycling through winning and losing years.
To think that all KC has to do is to spend $200M every year, would be the height of entitlement on my part.
The other way a team like KC can win a title is to wait for lightning to strike once every 30 years. It takes serious money to compete 8 or 9 out of 10 years (and contend half of those) for decades. That’s the way it is and will be until revenue sharing is greatly increased. (At the same time a floor of $125MM should be established. Give it a 3 year advance notice and let owners sell off if they find that too onerous for their ROI goals.)
Of course. I think that is what I just said. It takes serious money, and the small market teams have far less money than the large market teams, and only a fraction of the uber-market teams.
And I agree 100% on having a floor and ceiling on salaries, but the union will never agree to it. If they took a percentage of revenue back when the union was winning every year, we wouldn’t be having this conversation, and players’ salaries would be 15% higher.
Astros didn’t win a title by tanking. They won a title by using cameras to steal signs.
Stop hating.
Do you mean the work Coppy did to help disgrace the Braves?
Look at it like this. Had AA been of the mindset many armchair GMs on this site are, you would’ve given out some knee jerk long term contracts to FA players by now.
Given liberty media’s budgets, and the debt on the new developments, the need to pay those down under the post guggenheim/dodgers debt overload restrictions mlb began holding clubs to… a long, or even longish deal, could turn into a david price/wil myers overpay handcuffing the team.
No, there’s been no WS trophy yet. But look at the deals to acuna/albies. Look at having the financial freedom to do the 1 yr high pay Donaldson deals. Those moves are pure AA, and coppy doesn’t get credit for that
Coppy was a frickin idiot, trading one of the top 5 defensive players in MLB history, Andrelton Simmons, for a pitching prospect with control problems. One who has still not conquered those problems today, and thus will probably end up a set-up man. And then there’s the horrible Alex Wood-Hector Olivera trade, another awful deal for the Braves. AA is a far more competent GM than Coppolella ever was.
Nice to hear the news. Hopefully we win it all under AA/Snit’s era.
You won’t, because AA is overrated.
Go hate somewhere else.
When the winter began Braves fans didn’t want Josh Donaldson back, they didn’t want Anthony Rendon or Gerrit Cole at the top of their rotation. No this is the announcement Braves fans have been waiting for.
Ask that “AA” dude again if bloodsucker Greg Maffei put any spending restrictions on him. Keep asking him every week so we can read that straight propaganda reply from Manfred’s memo.
“top five highest paid CEOs in the U.S. Number three on the list is Gregory Maffei, CEO of Liberty Media Corp., who made $391 million in fiscal 2012”
Maffei still living rent-free in your head. Just apply. Don’t let fear prevent you from your dream job.
Go live in the real world for a couple years and get back to us, clown.
Looks like we have another viable candidate after Maffei’s job. Make sure you use san serif on your resume – you’ll get more in that way without overdoing it on 2 pages. Bleh! We all hate those!
Troll
Atlanta has its highest opening day payroll ever. He’s spending now that he’s allowed too.
1-The only thing more expensive than a good CEO, is a bad CEO.
2-Y’all wouldn’t have to worry your little hearts about huge CEO salaries, had you not passed the law limiting the deductibility of salaries to $1M. All that did was to switch salary to stock options, which were 10x more lucrative.
3-Try not to obsess about how much money other people make. Worry about yourself.
“Try not to obsess about how much money other people make. Worry about yourself.”
You are a rotten mind if you truly think this. Or you are 18 and clueless about how American society has turned into a funnel where everyones broke except the 0.1%. Grow up, almost everyone is hurting and its all the fault of a broken capitalist system that MUST be regulated before its too late, and it probably is already too late. 2020 “jobs” that the right wing govt keeps touting are pure slavery.
There are many reasons why not everyone is rich.
#1 is globalization. When everything was made in the US, everyone had a good job. Now we share these jobs with the rest of the world. Good for the rest of the world, not so good for us.
#2 is our ridiculous educational system. We have tens of millions of kids being forced to attend failing failing urban public schools, instead of them being to use THEIR tax dollars to attend a school of THEIR choice.
#3 is the ridiculous assumption that everyone should attend college, even though we produce more college degrees than we produce jobs requiring a college degree.
#4 is the importing of cheap labor. By importing people that will be happy working for minimum wage, we make it more difficult for semi-skilled labor to demand more than minimum wage.
The top 0.1% is ~300,000 people. Drive through NJ or through or the suburbs of any MLB city or walk through any of dozens of neighborhoods in New York or, again, any MLB city. Show the world how your headcount stops at 300,000k. Love the delusion.
Coming from The Bronx, I probably see more of this than some others. Pass by Gunhill Road on a Friday evening in the summer. Bunch of guys sitting at tables playing dominos. Walk around by Our lady of Mt. Carmel school. The schoolyard across the street has 100s of kids running loose, and a couple of guys restoring an old Corvette. Get off at Melrose before a Yankee game. Walk one stop on the MN from Williamsbridge to Woodlawn. Again, kids playing B-ball, families having a BBQ.
The Bronx is filled with people living full lives. My kid played either with them of against them in AAU. They all have good lives. They just don’t have a billion dollars. And I, for one, have no interest in getting any more rich than I already am.
Troll
Strike Four, YOU have got to be the dumbest person on here. Above you were complaining AA was cheap and shady because he signed players to club-friendly contracts. You were worried about the player’s salaries, how much they made and now you telling someone not to worry about someone else money. Worry about yourself.
Well deserved overall. Wish they would get out of some of their old school baseball thoughts, but ultimately happy for them.
However, while they get paid the big bucks, and I get paid zero to be super critical via TradeRumors comment page… they better be ready for me to be on top of every bad decision they make. Lol I’m sure they are watching closely ….
Wha about Freddie?? Come on aa
He’ll get his soon enough, still has this season and next.
Must be nice to be President on President’s Day. Congrats to A.A. and staff.
Anyone who locks up Acuna and Albies on those ridiculously team friendly deals deserves to be rewarded.
Yup. Those deals alone are significant and often overlooked!
Now that the manager has been extended and knows he’ll be around for awhile, he can build himself a new Snit house.
I meant to say a brick Snithouse.
I appreciate the effort
Every FO situation is unique because every franchise is unique. AA has done a masterful job, considering what he walked into. Yes, he walked into a strong system; other teams have strong systems; it’s what you do with them. And he hasn’t just spent his prospect capital; he’s replaced what he took.
Pretty good job, IMHO.
What was SD’s farm ranked when Preller took over? Curious. Then they spent massive deals on Myers extension, Hosmer, Machado — are they better off?
Well put
I’m in the minority that likes Snit
Okay, now go find another solid arm for the rotation.
Boy oh Boyd
If ANYBODY deserves credit for where the Atlanta Braves are…it is John Hart. He was the architect of the rebuild.
Don’t get me wrong, AA has been terrific, but John Hart deserves a ton of credit.
Not Coppy and certainly not Frank Wren.
Absolutely. John Hart built Cleveland, helped with Texas’ success a decade ago and helped build Atlanta.
John Hart gets credit for the rebuild but none of the blame while his GM that reported directly to him was busy in enough shenanigans to be put on the short-list of being thrown out of the sport.
There’s no way Hart didn’t know what was going on and was involved and allowed Coppy to be the fall guy while he got a golden parachute send=off and cushy job at MLB Network. Disgusting.
Eh more snitker. Great.
AA is the most overrated GM, he built one playoff team in 7 years in TOR, and would not have a job if the Braves previous FO wasn’t banned for life. But people talk about him like he’s some elite GM when he’s done nothing to prove that – that bugs me a lot. Win a ring, or at least make the playoffs constantly before you deem someone a “mastermind”.
Spot on. Completely agree
There’s that “Show Me The Money” mentality. He’s been rightfully praised everywhere he’s worked for. Aside from a poor Gausman trade (which didn’t and will not cost much), being able to lock up Acuna and Albies is no small feat. The trade value he has established for these guys is through the roof. Would say Billy Beane is overrated because he hasn’t won a ring? If you do, then we can end the convo right now.
AA’s biggest strength has always been contract extensions. As you saw with Acuna and Albies, he did the same thing with Jose Bautista (5yr/$65mm) and Edwin Encarnacion (3yrs/$30mm) back in 2010 and 2011 respectively. His drafting is poor, and his trades are up and down.
.
If you only look at his good moves, he’d look like a master trader. If you only look at his bad ones, you’d think he’s an imbecile.
.
Overall AA is a good, not great GM, but certainly not bad.
By those metrics, there aren’t any “elite” GMs in the game.
strike four- gojaysgo – Trading for Josh Donaldson was a bad deal? Or Marco Estrada? Alex has always been great at trades and signings and has been great at recognizing which talent to keep and which talent wont make an impact and trade them for stars. He is a humble kind GM and the players want to play for him and that is why they sign long term deals to stay. He goes above and beyond and the players see that. There are a lot of bitter jealous ball fans out there that don’t like him getting any attention but too bad. He is here to stay.
@bullred.
“If you only look at his [AA’s] good moves, he’d look like a master trader. If you only look at his bad ones, you’d think he’s an imbecile.”
.
Try looking at AA’s entire body of trades. Lots of good trades. Lots of bad ones too. He’s pretty checkered here.
The moves he made this offseason are definitely over rated. Letting Donaldson walk but sign a bunch of meh guys. Imagine forfeiting a draft pick to sign Ozuna… The only reason their off season is not an F is because their moves left flexibility long term but lets see if he actually uses it. Don’t let delusional Brave fans tell you otherwise.
I would not have matched Donaldson’s contract. The base salary of $23M is great, but paying a 37 year old $23M seldom works out well.
They can handle 1 bad year on the end of Donaldsons deal. He is better than anyone they signed this offseason and took pride in being a Brave. They should have been all over bringing him back.
but paying a 36 year old $23M seldom works out well.
He restocked their bullpen, which consistently was a nightmare last season, and he turned it into a strength and weapon for the Braves. He got the 2nd best catcher in free agency, guarding against starting Flowers and an unproven Alex Jackson as their catching tandem. He found a bat to protect Freeman in the line-up, in Ozuna, and he avoided having to start a Markakis/Duvall platoon. He added flexibility to their bench, and he added some insurance at the AAA level, in case of injuries. Plus, he added to their rotation by adding a solid #4 SP for the team…
That is clearly an F off-season though right!?!…It could have been better sure, but it was easily very productive. Plus, not only did he leave financial flexibility moving forward, just as important is the fact he did not block any of their top prospects.
Now the Braves can make another postseason run, while they are still able to see what they have in Riley, Camargo, Pache, Waters, Davidson, Wright, Wilson, Anderson, Weigel, etc..and these prospects’ continued development and growth, or lack thereof..
You can’t rip apart a team and rebuild them properly in 5 years unless everything falls right. Alex did an amazing job with the Jays as GM but the owners started pulling the rug out from under him after 2013. In 2014 the Jays management told Beeston he would soon be retiring so Alex had to expedite his moves before a new president was hired. That’s why he got Price and Tulo and Donaldson for prospects that haven’t amounted to very much. The only prospect he ever regretted trading was Thor and he is always the one brought up for being a horrible trade. Every GM has made a bad trade. Beane traded Donaldson. Theo Epstein signed Heyward and traded Eloy. AA has too but overall he is excellent.
Trade Proposal……
Between Braves & the Cubs
Bryant, Baez & Heyward to the Braves……
Cubs get……Riley and Braves top 8 prospects.
How bad do you want to win Braves ?
A WSC is likely mostly a function of finishing 1st the most number of times. Only 4x in the past 15 years has the best record won the WS. What you are suggesting is that the Braves get a bit better over the next two years, and maybe not even as good as the LAD, and then basically write off the 6 years after that.
Exactly, That’s an absolutely horrible trade for Atlanta to make
How bad do you want Heyward out of Chicago?! is more like it. We avoided Heyward’s contract by trading him away after he didn’t want extensions more than once — you made your bed…sleep well.
Moron confirmed
This Braves team looks to be in pretty good shape for years to come, but they did lose Donaldson. A trade for Bryant at the break may be possible, but we’ll see how the year plays out. I think the Braves are in a real good spot.
Why would the Braves want Bryant at the break when Riley will have 25+ Hrs.?
Honestly I don’t care how many HR’s Riley can hit this season as long as he isn’t hitting .200 with 60-70 strikeouts and barely any walks. I think we all just want to see that he has worked on hitting anything other than fastballs which he has already proven he can smash. Chicks dig the long ball but I think this team will hit plenty of them between FF, Acuna, Albies and Ozuna. We will need guys to get on base especially Riley
“his spring pickup of Anibal Sanchez proved to be one of the minor league signings in recent memory”
There have been many, many minor league signing in recent years, hundreds if not thousands of them. This makes is sound like there have been just a handful.
Not signing an injury prone 34 year old is a good move now, no “time will tell”.
Braves extend AA for the work Coppolella did and they extend Snit for getting bounced in the first round of the playoffs twice. They sure do have a weird way of rewarding people…
You’re right – firing a Manager of the Year (2018) and 2019 finalist that led the team to 2 consecutive division titles while winning over your clubhouse of the organization that you’ve been a part of for more than 4 decades makes a lot more sense.
If you’re going to fire Snit, please extend Freeman first.
AA should have some time in July when other teams are signing their international free agents to send Coppy a thank you note – if only they which Radisson he’s GM of now.
The Braves are And have been in a much better position the last 2 years at the major league level by far. A far cry from where the major league team was under Coppolella. I think AA has done a pretty decent job. He has traded away any guys you feel awful losing. And yea he did take on the full amount left for Melancon but it was trade deadline and I’m sure other teams were in on him or the Giants were playing hardball. AA has kept the Braves farm where they want it all while slowly bringing up the talent that is ready. He has done his job. The decision not to resign JD will be judged in a year or so as good or bad. I just don’t think Riley is ready to be heavily relied upon and Camacho is to inconsistent.
We have all seen the new about Nolan Arenado and the disappointment with the Rockies. I think the Braves should go get him and spend some money to resign him. He is one of the best 3B in the game and would be a HUGE addition to this already championship worthy team. Gotta go and win games while you have the team to do so. GO GET ARENADO
Snitker has been the perfect manager for this team. Glad we were able to hold on to Ron Washington. I think he has been huge working with young infielders.
I wish Liberty media would just sell the Braves to a very very wealthy ownership group who is willing to spend money when needed. If AA would/could have signed JD to a 3-4 year deal last year. It would have been a great decision looking back and he would still be a Brave. Can’t always win with players on 1 year deals
Re-sign Arenado — you want him through his mid-40’s?
I remember when you AA took over. A lot of so-called Braves fans wanted him to trade the farm. I thought he got off on the wrong foot with the trade of Kemp, really didn’t make any sense for the Braves. It took on players that never put on a Braves uniform, played a single game for the Braves, added money to the team. But, that is in the past. The major thing that AA has accomplished is he didn’t trade the farm like a lot of so-called fans wanted. We still have our good young players. If he had listened to these so-called Braves fans, we wouldn’t have Swanson, Soroka, Freid and probably about 6 or 8 other prospects.
STEVE! “Anthopoulos had previously BEE under contract through the 2021 season…”. I expect this from Conner, but not you lol. Clean it up!
Any more proof needed that the Braves don’t care about winning?
Is it more important to win, or is it more important to finish 1st every year? Let’s say that you can find a good owner that cares about winning, but finishes last every year.
Would you prefer that owner who doesn’t care, but first every year?
FWIW, we have the same issue in the RSN, with the FOM. TGhey hate the ownership and the FO, while all the fans care about are the less important things, like a lot of WSCs.
Any more proof you only whine? Never a positive thing to say about anything. The Braves haven’t won a title but by your methods there were 29 other teams that don’t care about winning either. Try supporting a team instead of tearing it down constantly.
No contenders had serious interest in MadBum, which is why he ended up in the desert, yet ATL “doesn’t care about winning” because his mama birthed him a few hours northeast — and failed to teach him how to ride a dirt bike properly. Got it.
The Braves can’t develop pitching anymore and Bum would be the second-best pitcher in their rotation outside of Soroka. Luckily they hit the jackpot with Soroka albeit he is still unproven.
Regardless, this has nothing to do with Bumgarner. You guys can pretend this team has what it takes all you want. All I hear is talk, yet they continuously fail. Until proven otherwise, I’m not wrong. It starts with trading your prospects for proven talent when available.
Wrong again. Fried was better than bum last season and will be again. Bum will end up with a high 4 era like his last 2 seasons road era bc he is not pitching in sf anymore.
I think some fans think some players have a mystical ability to succeed at will. The RS have suffered from that for 5 years by pretending a very overrated Sandoval would be worth it, because he would succeed in the playoffs.
The Braves can’t develop pitching anymore
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Soroka, Teheran & Fried no longer count as pitching? 40-21 with a 3.50?
Is there some sort of hidden agenda here that might make some of this more understandable?
Thanks for saying something positive with your comment on soroka. Wasn’t so c bc ad huh?
c bc ad huh?
Not quite sure what that was supposed to be. Mostly I was just responding to NoBum’s inanity. There is plenty of room for opinions, but saying something stupid doesn’t fall under ‘I have a right to my opinion…’
What has Fried done again in his career to warrant high hopes? I know you people live off positivity over realism, but let’s wait before we call Fried a top-line pitcher.
Also, this is not the first time you brought up Soroka. I never once said anything negative about him other than he was still unproven.
Regardless, the teams’ flaws fall far beyond their bad rotation. Offensively, they have regressed or at least did not improve. When you have a chance to go after Bryant or Arenado, you go for it. The fact that the Braves are reluctant to trade prospects means they couldn’t care less about fielding a championship-caliber team. Instead, they will once again pray that the team overachieves. Too bad that always leads to first-round embarrassments.
You can once again argue I’m wrong. So far I’m right. The results on the field prove it. They are not taking a step forward. They will once again be a second tier team at best who has zero chance at the WS.
What has Fried done? Not much B-U-T still better FiP in the last 2 seasons than MadBum has had in 4 seasons…and at a fraction of the price. ATL got a TJ survivor and former 1st Rd pick, stuck with him and developed him into someone that could be a #2 in many rotations. Already he’s surpassed MadBum and the idea you don’t realize that says how delusional you are.
Bumgarner has done more in his career than Fried will ever achieve (on the Braves). Besides, why is everything about Bumgarner? Fried is not a top-line pitcher. Plain and simple. If you think he is, well hopefully he will prove you wrong.
FWIW, Fangraphs projects Fried for a 3.2 WAR, and Bumgarner for a 2.6. Considering the difference in age and salary, preferring Bumgarner is really difficult to understand.
Significant accomplishments considering small market, frugal ownership, and an apathetic fan base.
Even more apathy coming when they see another first round exit. Until they decide to make a legitimate effort to win a WS and stop being satisfied with division titles, I don’t expect anything to change.
If a 1st place finish, and an early exit, creates apathy, then the Braves’ fan deserve to lose.
And. FWIW, the terms big-market and small-market are misnomers. Teams like Boston & St. Louis aren’t nearly the size of Atlanta. It’s just that they have better fans, who attend games thick and thin.
In the last 22 years, the worst StL attendance was 2.9M. The RS have been as low as 2.6M, in the smallest and oldest park in the league. I occasionally get tired of fans that do not support their team, complaining about the disparities in spending.
“If a 1st place finish, and an early exit, creates apathy, then the Braves’ fan deserve to lose”
Easy to say for a guy who isn’t an Atlanta sports fan. St. Louis and Boston get it done. What about doing that on a year in and year out basis for the last 20 or so years? Putting aside the years where the didn’t win the division or had teams that just sucked, they haven’t gone all out to put themselves in a position to win the whole thing in a long, long time. The entire media around this team has fed the narrative and hype of winning division titles. I think they realize how hard they failed in the 90’s and kept feeding the fans the “14 straight division titles” thing like it was some big accomplishment.
I’m not going to address the rest of the part about salaries and $, because I never correlated any of what I said to spending. The problem I have is when they hold on to fizzle prospects for way too long. I’m not one of those guys that wants to empty the farm system, but I also don’t want to see prospects like Bryse Wilson/Kyle Wright/ etc sit in their minor leagues because they hope one day they’ll figure it out. Do you want to see your team be a good team, or a great team?
I would rather see the Braves try to win a ws in the next 5 years and possibly suffer another rebuild afterwards (With Albies and Acuna I don’t think they would even have to), then see them “contend” for the next 10 years and come up short to other teams that try harder than they do. That’s the big difference for me. They’ve been doing this same nonsense since the 90’s. You have to change your formula if you want to see a different outcome. And if that means suffering more losing years in the future to bring in WS titles, then I’m all for it.
“And if that means suffering more losing years in the future to bring in WS titles, then I’m all for it.”
The FO isn’t however, as AA made that very clear with an interview he did at the winter meetings in SD when he said something along the lines of “We would rather not have to go through another rebuild” when he was asked about trading prospects for deals.
This franchise would rather see a bunch of winning seasons with division titles, then they would postseason success. That is the problem.
Gads. Where to start.
The Cardinals draw both in their park and via TV revenues due to their being followed by fans in 4-5 adjoining states. This goes back a hundred years. Generations of Cardinals fans that listened on the radio and then watched on TV have no desire to root for the DBacks or Rangers. Go to any Cardinals game and look at all the out of state license plates in the surrounding parking lots.
The Atlanta market doesn’t have near the population that the Boston market (which includes surrounding New England states) or St. Louis market has.
One other point, MLB did not move into Atlanta until the mid-1960’s. As with other southern cities, the most popular sport for generations was college football, and then pro football when the NFL expanded. That’s a part of the culture. There’s a limited percentage of the population that follows and supports MLB in the south, same as there is a limited percentage of sports fans in the north that follow and support auto racing.
Learn history.
“Easy to say for a guy who isn’t an Atlanta sports fan. St. Louis and Boston get it done. What about doing that on a year in and year out basis for the last 20 or so years?”
Atlanta has done it year in and year out. That’s my main complaint. In the past 29 years, they’ve made the playoffs 19 times, finished 1st 17 times, went to the WS 5x, and won the WS once.
You know how many teams finished 1st more often? -0- How many teams have been to the WS more often? 1.
They lost 3 1-run games to MN.
They lost 4 1-run games to TO
They lost 3 1-run games to the NYY.
Except for some bad luck in the WS, this is the most successful franchise in baseball over the last 30 years. And you are trying to justify fan apathy?
Learn history.
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Atlanta metro area is 5.9M
Boston metro area is 4.6M
St. Louis metro area is 2.8M.
I didn’t need a history of my own team, but thanks I guess. They had much more than bad luck in the WS. They straight blew games. If you’d like to go over any of the four years (91,92,96,99) let me know. There were blown games in all of them. You’d have thought they’d at least luck into another WS win, but they’re deemed “chokers” for a reason. If they didn’t have the luxury of facing a team that chokes harder than they do (Indians), they’d have 0 titles. The fact that you are defending their success, or lack thereof, is astounding. If winning a single WS with a bunch of winning regular seasons is deemed “successful” then your standards are very, very low. You play to win the World Series. Period.
Wohlers throwing an off-speed pitch to Leyritz, when Leyritz was never, ever going to get around on his FB, was one of the dumbest pitches I have ever seen.
That said, in their first 4 forays into the WS in the ’90s, they outscored their opponents. I mean, when you lose 4 one-run games in the best of 7, it is just some bad luck involved.
Past that, if you make the WS 5 times in 29 years, that’s pretty good.
“…thanks to a controllable core centered around Acuna, Albies, Dansby Swanson, Mike Soroka and Max Fried.”
Ahh yes. None of which was acquired, signed or drafted by AA. Now, let’s give credit where it’s due: the Acuna contract extension is brilliant. The Albies deal simply bought out his controlled years. So what?!
AA = overrated
And this does what for you?
It’s not always about how many moves you make and sometimes even tho fans wouldn’t reward general manager for it but sometimes it’s about the moves you don’t make and being smart about when and if you resign a guy or get a FA. The truth is AA hasn’t had to go Out and make a bunch of moves because this team has been put together and some draft picks are starting to show their value now. If he makes the wrong move the whole thing could come crashing down.
A lot of trolls and haters on this site. AA has done well so far. I give him credit for the deals he has accomplished, and for not spending $$$$ on risky talent. Has he won a WS? No. Does that make him a bad GM? No. If he had the good fortune to be GM for NYY, BOS, CHI, LAD, HOU, he likely would have.
As an Atlanta fan that was at the blowout playoff loss last year, I wish we had acquired a top of the line starter, but Atlanta also doesn’t have the insanely deep pockets of BOS, LAD or NYY, and can’t afford to allocate the kind of money those teams spend on players. So AA has to be smart about locking up talent, finding bargain relievers, and selectively acquiring talent that may become part of future deals.
I grew up in the quad cities, rooting on the underdog cubs as they lost game after game on WGN. As an Atlanta resident now, I’m grateful for the team we do have and the opportunities and successes we’ve had.
Hoping that we have some young starters that make advances this year!
Well said my friend!
Give it time. AA will gut the braves as he did Jays. Then pack his bags and head out of town.
You really are a screwball. Thanks for letting us know.
A lot of the same people on here being so negative about Atlantas future and this upcoming season Will once again jump on the bandwagon if and when the braves gets off to another hot start. It’s almost like if Atlanta doesn’t make the FA signing or trade that you yourself want than you get all bitter. It’s not about just your fan experience. Part of being a fan is supporting the team NO MATTER WHAT. No madbum? Who cares. Didn’t resign JD. Oh well. The FO didn’t trade the whole farm for a Kris Bryant who hasn’t played the same since his MVP season. Get over it. The people making these decisions in the FO are there for a reason. Wait and see how THIS season starts before you start making predictions about Atlanta not winning a World Series for the next 70 years. Enjoy the Braves success. It’s been good the last 2 years. It’s better than the what 5 seasons under Coppy during the rebuild years.