Among the biggest questions on the minds of Braves fans at the moment is whether star shortstop Dansby Swanson will be retained, and whether the long-circulating speculation about a potential run at Jacob deGrom, who’ll opt out of his Mets contract in a couple weeks, will come to fruition in the looming offseason. Either of those endeavors would likely require a nine-figure expenditure, and while Atlanta has spent plenty of money over the past half year, it’s worth taking a deeper look to see just how plausible those scenarios — and any other major splashes on the free-agent or trade markets — might be.
Firstly, with regard to that comment about the Braves spending money, any look at their payroll should begin with a recap of president of baseball operations Alex Anthopoulos’ historic run of contract extensions. Dating back to March, each of Matt Olson (eight years, $168MM), Austin Riley (ten years, $212MM), Michael Harris II (eight years, $72MM) and Spencer Strider (six years, $75MM) have put pen to paper on long-term deals, effectively etching them in stone alongside Ronald Acuna Jr. and Ozzie Albies as the Braves’ foundation for the foreseeable future. The Braves also preemptively exercised Charlie Morton’s $20MM club option for 2023 and tacked on another $20MM club option for the 2024 season.
It might not have been quite as jarring as seeing the Rangers spend a half-billion dollars on a pair of free agents in a span of about 72 hours last winter, but the Braves still put down their own half-billion dollar investment to keep the bulk of this 2022 core intact for the long haul. That doesn’t even include the eye-opening deadline addition of closer Raisel Iglesias, whom the Braves acquired at a relatively cut-rate prospect cost because they agreed to absorb the entirety of his remaining contract from the Angels. He’ll be paid $48MM from 2023-25.
What does that do to their payroll? As one might expect, even though the majority of the extensions have bargain potential and are backloaded in nature, the 2023 books have inflated in a hurry. The Braves owe a combined $153.8MM to the 15 players who have guaranteed contracts on next year’s books. Add in a potential $12.5MM salary for Jake Odorizzi, who has a player option, and the number jumps to $166.3MM.
Further taking into account Matt Swartz’s projected $20MM in arbitration salaries to Max Fried, A.J. Minter and Mike Soroka (presuming non-tenders for Guillermo Heredia, Silvino Bracho and Tyler Matzek, who recently had Tommy John surgery) — the number balloons to $188.3MM for 19 players. Round that out with pre-arbitration players earning at or near the league minimum, and the Braves will have just over $193MM on next year’s Opening Day roster, before even making an addition.
That figure checks in north of what was this season’s franchise-record Opening Day payroll of roughly $178MM, making the Braves one of just three teams in MLB whose current 2023 payroll projection would be a record high before even making a single move. (The Rockies and Blue Jays are also in this boat, by my calculation.)
Does that mean hope is lost for a significant offseason expenditure? Not necessarily. Braves chairman Terry McGuirk told the Atlanta Journal-Constitution earlier this month that his goal is to be able to allow his front office to field one of the sport’s five largest payrolls. That doesn’t mean the Braves will spend for the sole purpose of soaring up the payroll ranks, but it’s nonetheless a bold declaration from a team’s control person and the type of candor we rarely see from such personnel.
For context’s sake, the sport’s top five Opening Day payrolls in 2022, per figures from Cot’s Contracts, belonged to the Dodgers ($281MM), Mets ($264.5MM), Yankees ($246MM), Phillies ($229MM) and Padres ($211MM). The Braves already ranked ninth in Opening Day payroll this past season, and the projected increase to $193-194MM could well boost them another spot or two.
Of course, when looking at large-scale expenditures and top-five payrolls, the notion of the luxury tax has to be considered. The Braves have never before paid that tax, but if McGuirk is being earnest about fielding a top-five payroll, incurring luxury-related penalization becomes practically a given.
It should be noted, too, that while the Braves’ bottom-line payroll for the 2023 season should check in around $193MM (as things currently stand), the luxury bill is quite a bit higher. That’s the one “downside” to locking in so many stars so early; those extensions come with inherent luxury hits that would not have existed had the team gone year-to-year. Luxury taxation is based on the average annual value of a contract, so keeping Strider and Harris on one-year, pre-arbitration contracts for the 2023 season would’ve meant they’d count for around $1.5MM combined against the tax threshold. Instead, they’ll now come with a combined $21.5MM hit. Roster Resource’s Jason Martinez already has the Braves projected for a bit more than $217MM in luxury obligations — only about $16MM shy of next year’s $233MM first-tier threshold.
Perhaps the Braves will be able to find some takers for a portion of the less-desirable contracts on the books. It’s hard to imagine any team wanting much to do with the remaining two years and $36MM on Marcell Ozuna’s ill-fated four-year deal, but finding a taker for Odorizzi’s final season or the one year and $4.5MM owed to backup catcher Manny Pina is more feasible.
Still, there’s no viable scenario where the Braves could shed enough payroll to be able to re-sign Swanson and make a play for one of the market’s other top free agents without skyrocketing into luxury territory. If McGuirk and Liberty Media (the corporation that owns the Braves) are genuinely willing to push toward a top-five payroll, though, then the Braves can’t be ruled out from making ample free-agent splashes this winter.
It’s also worth bearing in mind that the team could yet have hope of extending top starter Max Fried. If that’s the case, the notion of re-signing Swanson and extending Fried alone would push the Braves into luxury territory. In other words, merely keeping the current group together will make the Braves a luxury tax payor. Adding a marquee free agent/trade acquisition (in addition to a potential Swanson and/or Fried deal) could send them hurtling toward the second tier of luxury penalization.
If the Braves are going to have a particularly active offseason — or even if they’re just going to maintain the status quo — they’re going to have to follow a Padres-esque trajectory and set themselves up as potentially annual luxury-tax payors for the foreseeable future.
Ideally, in a world where money isn’t an issue, we get turner or Swanson, DeGrom, and someone who can play lf
There isn’t a world where money isn’t an issue.
Wise words bham
Just a gut feeling here but the cost of money is rising and outside of the obvious big market teams, others may not be willing to spend as has been in the recent past. This in my view includes corporately owned teams and those with many partners. It will be much easier for the Mets with a single owner (who happens to be the wealthiest) to continue to big-time spend if he chooses to than others. The Braves may soon face Wall Street scrutiny if the market stays bearish.
Xbox, just turn the salary cap off and live in your dream world.
Perhaps you should check on the world Friedman and the Dodgers live in. Money never seems to matter to them. I can’t think of any other team that would absorb the contracts they took from Boston twice. Even after making those trades they still added more.
Liberty has got the money, you should see what they’re throwing around Las Vegas for their F1 race.
I only see him returning on a team friendly deal with braves.
Don’t do deGrom.
Agreed. Curious to know what PoBO out there would be interested in him on a multi year deal. Maybe JdeG eventually settles on one of those 1 yr Arte Moreno specials.
Cohen will give him multiple years if no one else does.
I’d bet the house on it.
They won’t. He’s going to be asking for more than $40 million a year. I can’t imagine the Braves paying that.
Trade d’Arnaud and Iglesias for Gleyber Torres and Higoshioka and clear about $16m in payroll.
You must be a Yankees fan!
And then you don’t have your team leader catcher and one of the best closers in the game. How does dumping them to create $16m to sign someone else make any sense? I’m genuinely curious.
I’m not a fan of either of these teams.
Contreras is ready to move into the catching role, and that saves $9m. Iglesias was good for Atlanta, but he has a track record of being inconsistent. The Braves have Kirby Yates coming back which should bolster their pen, and as they’ve done in the past – adding relief help isn’t difficult or expensive. They have several in-house options they could use already.
So what do the Braves lose in production in that deal? Some bullpen help, but they clear a lot of $, and if they could get rid of Odorizzi and his player option that he’s going to pick up, now you have $28m to work with to add a Carlos Rodon + bullpen help, or maybe that goes to Verlander.
Verlander and Fried would be the nastiest righty-lefty duo in the game.
d’Arnaud isn’t going anywhere period. He’s the leader now. You obviously don’t watch the games. What did you think of Kirby Yates’s performance this year? Were you aware that Iglesias pitched in 28 games for the Braves and allowed all of 1 earned run – 0.34 ERA. You’re a fool if you think he’s inconsistent – baseball-reference.com/players/i/iglesra01.shtml since his first season he’s had 6 with a sub-3 ERA and one that was a little over 4.
The Braves have a lot of money coming off the books after this year, and after 2023. They could afford extending Swanson and Fried. They need to pass on deGrom.
Big time pass.Risky
deGrom’s health just isn’t worth the risk for me. I also agree that Fried and Swanson should be the focus. Within 2 yrs, the Braves won’t have to pay Ozuna, Morton, Rosario, Odorizzi, or d’Arnaud. That’s a ton of money available to extend Wright and fix LF.
I think there’s nearly zero chance the Braves get deGrom. This at least opens up the possibility of Dansby returning which is definitely needed.
You pay BIG $ for certainty in MLB and the only thing certain with Degrom is that he is fragile, costly and will miss half the season on the IL recovering from something. I cannot see the Braves giving Degrom 40 mil a year to rehab from his latest injury. Some team will, but not the Atlanta Braves in my humble opinion……
Mets or Red Sox are best two bets for De Grom. Braves is a fun match on paper, but just can’t see it. I’d rather see them extend Fried, move Odorizzi, sign a high upside veteran coming off injury, and hope Soroka and/or Anderson can come back and make an impact.
New format is fun. Postseason baseball is a crapshoot. Braves had a great season. Lots of options out there to improve an already great ball club this off-season. Braves will be a force for a long time. Keep those extensions coming!
I was looking forward to a Braves-Dodgers NLCS. Damn Padres and Phillies got in the way. Maybe its true that teams who have already won it all, aren’t as “hungry” as the teams that haven’t. And I think Albies and Strider injuries didn’t help things. Strider especially.
To add to the myriad reasons to not sign DeGrom, if he clocks in at a 40-43.5AAV, what does that do to Fried’s extension AAV? Dude’s been an ace on a World Series winner. He’s proved himself durable. Do you really wanna create that kind of artificial in house salary competition that you KNOW agents will attempt to thoroughly leverage?
Same thinking goes for Kyle Wright…
And anyone think it might be worth packaging someone(s) like Shewmake and Dylan Dodd as incentive to take the Ozuna contract?
Definitely need to sign Wright down the road also.
I agree. I do think we need more grinders in our lineup, way too much swing and miss. I also think that Rosario vs lefties is better than Grossman. The new format is crap.
Dansby is gone. He’s probably still burnt AA didn’t resign Freddie. The first words out of his mouth after they won the WS was “resign Freddie” (the rest is history don’t reopen that argument just making a point) But if he wanted to hammer out an extension it would have happened by now. AA only pays pitchers at market rate (or overpay depending on how you look at it).
We won’t sign DeGrom that would be ludicrous. When was the last time he survived a season? So what exactly is he contributing in his 8 games? He’s getting older not younger. He’s like a slightly healthier Strasbourg.
AA is cheap (which isn’t a bad thing) he wants to try and maximize the dollars at the lowest rate possible. Which doesn’t always work (Olson’s swing will not age well). DeGrom makes less sense than resigning Dansby to a long and expensive extension. Also the real Dansby is the guy who spent the last two years before this season trying to launch every pitch into the stratosphere and striking out at a prodigious rate. He’s not fine wine (his hair is though) it’s not going to age well.
But what the h do I know
Part of Dansby’s allure isn’t necessarily expecting an offensive repeat but more about how good he is defensively. An average bat with his defense is a big plus for the team.
We do need to stop kidding ourselves with guys like Rosario and Grossman in that corner outfield spot though. That’s where we need more production from the offense. Can’t wait for another year of Adam Duvall!!!
I have no issues whatsoever with his defense it’s made some of the pitching look better than they would look without him running around like a Dyson.
Our outfield is an analytics black hole outside Harris (Acuna gets a pass also). AA can build a team when it’s presented to him as a financial spreadsheet with analytics giving him a statistical model to build out a team. That was apparent in some of the moves he did or didn’t do that were more just understanding the nuances of baseball. The team was exposed this year so it’ll be interesting how he reacts
The Braves outfield is 2/3rds Harris and Acuna. How’s that a black hole? Exposed? They won the East with 101 wins. I’d like to give you the benefit of the doubt but it’s hard to ignore that you’re an idiot.
Well that escalated.. I was referring to the revolving door before Harris came along. Which you could have just asked me to clarify but you went 0-dolt at the speed of light
How was the team “exposed” as you have put it? I think they were exposed with Manfred’s new format.
In the post season, Fried was ill. he did not pitch for 10 days, and he obviously wasn’t at full strength. In saying that, he had 2 outs in the first, a ball was hit by 2nd base that Albies probably eats, and then Castellanos dinked one into right field and Acuna was hesitant to charge that ball. Then when we batted in the 1st the bases were loaded, the ump called a ball a strike on Contreras that was clearly 2-3 inches inside off the plate that would have walked in a run, and it makes the whole complexion of the game a lot different if we score a run there. Kyle Wright pitched superbly. Strider hadn’t pitched for 3 weeks, he should have been pulled after ball 4 in the 3rd, he threw his slowest pitch of the year in this game at 96.4mph, but Snitker had no one up in the bullpen, and then Morton gets smashed on the inside of the elbow by Bohm and had to come out of the game, and before the usual suspects say or assert, oh you were beaten by a better side you’re just ‘salty’, that is abject nonsense, what I have outlined are facts, and the other thing is that regardless of who the opponent was, there should be no 2nd or 3rd wildcards, it’s rubbish, and it has made baseball soft. The new format is garbage, it advantages the teams playing, baseball players shouldn’t be made to sit around on their bums after playing 162 games, they want to get into it in the post season, not wait to see who they’re playing.
As for the outfield, the biggest problem there is the lack of consistent playing time to Ozuna and Rosario. Platooning players is of little assistance, it is hard enough to hit a baseball playing day/in day/out, but with platooning, you’re expecting the guy to come up and hit when he’s in the line-up, it is just not going to happen like that. Rosario for example has solid reverse splits, but he was benched against left handers, then given his eye issues, I just don’t see how that helped him at all, but what could the Braves do, Grossman/Ozuna/Rosario, 3 into 1 doesn’t work. Therefore, I don’t know what they’re going to do with this situation if they retain Dansby and give games to Grissom in the outfield. I don’t see the Braves keeping Dansby, but we’ll see.
I am also on my own, that I want De Grom, but only on a ‘reasonable’ deal, no overpay.
Why? Because you need elite pitchers in the post season. Pitchers get injured, it happens, the most important thing is that he isn’t another Cole Hamels.
Both Harris and Acuna looked absolutely dreadful defensively in the postseason. You can win all the regular season games you want but Harris looked like he was out of gas and Acuna’s head definitely wasn’t in the game. That’s a huge concern imo because it happened over the course of multiple playoff games.
If the second and third Wild Cards are rubbish then clearly the defending World Champions should have dispatched them quickly and handedly. They didn’t. So it basically throws your entire argument out the window because that rubbish competition ended up being the better team.
You can put ANY team in the post season, and they will have a shot at it in a two horse race, especially given what the Braves were contending with in their pitching staff as pointed out above. The format is rubbish, that has been spoken about by Frank Thomas, Pedro Martinez, ARod, J Rollins, to mention a few, they said sitting around for 5 days does not help anyone, and when your hitters need to score runs, sitting on your bum is not the way to get AB’s in the most crucial part of the season. Of course, they were as politically correct as can be as they don’t want to ‘hurt anyone’s feelings’.
The Phillies aren’t the better team, if they were they would have won the NL East in the regular season, they didn’t, they were 14 games behind the Braves/Mets,
The best teams should be the teams in the post season ie. the teams that won their divisions and one wildcard from the AL/NL, not lottery ticket teams who inserted into the lucky dip have a 50/50 chance in a two horse race. Those lucky draw teams have no business being there-fact, they didn’t earn it.
I thought that too about Ronald Ocuna. It was as if he was distracted by someone in the crowd.
Yes they were exposed. And winning 101 games means nothing when you get bounced out of the first round of playoffs. The Dodgers were exposed much in the same way. Most wins in the MLB and got handled by a team that was 20+ games behind them in the division race.
Black hole in the outfield, from the start of the 2021 season there have been something like 12 different players starting in the outfield before Acuna came back and Harris took over Center this season. If that isn’t a revolving door then I don’t know what is.
You want to blame Manfred then look no further than forcing them to play day games in the NLDS. 30 point difference in Batting average day/night
They didn’t get bounced in the first round, they had the bye
Semantics but fine the first series they played.
The AA didn’t sign FF narrative has already been busted. AA made multiple offers and the final was at a higher AAV. Freddie lied and left. If Swanson leaves, it will be because he’s chasing money because he’ll absolutely get an offer. Your final question is accurate though.
deGrom’s health is beside the point. Even if he were 100% healthy, the Braves are not spending that much on one player.
I think bringing Morton back really signaled no intentions of going after deGrom
Fried
Wright
Strider
Morton
You question whether they really even need him now. Can’t really see them spending so much for a pitcher they don’t really need when there are other priorities, mainly SS and a corner outfielder.
Ian Anderson is only one bad year removed from looking like a key piece of the rotation. Bryce Elder looked good at times. And you have Kyle Muller who was a bit up and down but has the talent to be a legit option too.
It’s really hard to justify signing deGrom no matter good he is before addressing other weaknesses on the team
Soroka should be in the rotation in 2023 too..
Jacob deGrom will be 35 next season. It’s hard to say how he ages but it’s safe to say he remains a Met this time around.
I can see Atlanta and New York swapping Marcel Ozuna and Aaron Hicks. Both wore out their welcome and may benefit in a new environment.
I agree that the Braves should trade Pina and his 4.5 M contract, though I doubt that will be possible until he shows he is healthy in Spring Training. Odorizzi may take his 6.25 M buyout and look for a longer term contract elsewhere. I believe that speculation that the Braves will go after DeGrom is just that – speculation. The Braves have given out a lot of big contracts, but none are top heavy. No one is making more than 22 M a year. I believe that Swanson has not re-signed with the Braves because he is looking for more than 22 M a year. The Braves are just not the type of organization that wants to compete for the highest priced free agents.
I hadn’t thought about Odorizzi opting out because he thinks he can get more than $6.25 MM somewhere else. Someone will give him that. The Braves should have enough starters in the organization to fill 5th spot and use the Odorizzi money for other needs.
AA is a smart GM. If he was hesitant to pay Freddie, there is zero chance he is paying Dansby, who has been mediocre until this season.
Dansby has been good for the last 4 years
define good?
WAR
2019 – 1.1
2020- 2.8
2021 – 1.9
2022 – 5.7.
Guy has been average since he came into the league…until this season.
Average would be 0 WAR. So he’s an above average player based on this moronic unprovable stat. His defense is GG caliber, his leadership is legit, his bat/power has consistently improved, and he’s always been big in the clutch. None of that says average.
He was very good in 2020… that War is for a little over 1/3 of a season so it would’ve been much higher (if he continued on that pace)
I don’t think he’s a superstar but have to be fair
LOL.. I see you did absolutely no research in this. I kindly recommend you look up WAR scale. 0-1 WAR is replacement player level. 2-3 WAR is AVERAGE. His above average defense compensates for his below average offense.
0 is average, therefore anything above is above average. But like I said, it’s the the worst way to judge a player anyways.
Zero is not average. Zero is a fringe MLB player. That is not MLB average….which is like I said 2-3 WAR.
0 is replacement level, aka, average.
Didn’t they offer Freeman a deal that would have netted him similar total $’s as LA?
If Freddie had taken the Braves deal he would have actually made more when you account for the difference in taxes and cost of living between California and Georgia. Freddie left because he wanted that guaranteed 6th year and the Braves refused to go beyond 5. Money had nothing to do with Freddie leaving.
This was actually comforting because I don’t want them to re-sign Swanson. Let some other team overpay then regret the signing when he’s ops’ing .750 with and OBP sub .320.
The core is locked in, move on.
So who steps in for Dansby to provide his GG defense, leadership, and clutch hitting?
You rarely replace someone with a player that mirrors their exact traits. Teams move on and younger get players get a chance. The other players in the lineup would have to carry that load. Riley, Olson, albies can be leaders no problem.
Braves already have 3/5 of the infield and 2/3
of the outfield locked up for a while, which is pretty crazy. Players need to develop.
This is a team ready to compete now for the WS. You can’t just replace those intangibles, especially with an inexperienced player. Atlanta has no one in the organization ready to play SS and there’s no other FA SS that’s worth anything that would be cheaper. You keep the well oiled machine well oiled if you have these expectations.
Imagine if Bellinger had been a Brave. Would’ve got that epic extension just to flame out. They’re gonna have at least 2 of those flame outs with all these deals they’re handing out.
The White Sox are experiencing that with Moncada plus Robert and Jiminez can’t stay healthy.
But AA has been creative getting rid of contracts that haven’t panned out.
Since you can predict the future, go ahead and tell us which players.
I see you can’t help LOLMETSing
Bellinger didn’t “flame out”, as you put it. Cody hurt his shoulder and broke his leg, along with a long list of other minor injuries. The injuries have just taken a toll on the guy.
Injuries can happen to any player. It could bite the Braves on one of their extensions, sure. It could bite the Mets with Lindor, too. Pick a team, pick a player. Doesn’t mean you never offer extensions.
Just wanted to point that out since you’re so clearly trying to twist facts to paint a false picture.
Jake is deciding to opt out of $32M speculatively to get a Scherzer 3 year $43M a year or more deal. He will be a 35 year old who in the past 3 years has averaged 13 starts and 75 innings per year. Who will give him the $40M per year multi year deal? Braves? No, Yankees? No, Astros? No, Mariners? No, Guardians? No, Jays? No, Rays? No, Phillies? No, Cardinals? No, Padres? No, Dodgers? Doubt it, Giants, No, Brewers? No, Orioles? No……that takes care of every team that had a winning record in 2022 except the Mets, and Jake wants to win. Jake is deciding to opt out of the $32M………what a fool.
You’re crazy if you think the Dodgers wouldn’t give deGrom that much money, especially with all of the money coming off the books both this and next year. They gave Bauer just as much money despite a weaker track record and character questions (even prior to his suspension, he was always seen as a wild card). They’ll be in the mix for deGrom.
@rct It’s why they got a ‘doubt it’ and everyone else got a ‘no’. He’s a bad investment at that price though.
Not fair to put in a three year avg… he pitched the full 2020 season w no issues – not his fault it was a shortened year
He didnt have injury concerns until the last two seasons, and agree, he’s definitely an injury risk now
Id be kind of shocked if Chaim Bloom doesn’t check in on Odorizzi. We need pitches and have money coming off the books so if they threw something in, that’s literally the kind of deal he likes.
Spend the money and get these guys locked up. No one has even mentioned the joke TV contract the Braves expiring soon. Those TV deals allow teams to spend cash because the get more out of the TV money than plain revenue produces. Braves Country shows up at the Battery tack on a hefty TV deal and there is your top 5 payroll.
While the Braves TV deal has been one of the worst in baseball, in 2023 they actually get a pretty good boost of $20M increase from what they’ve been making from it. Braves have been making $80M per season under the deal but that goes up to $100M in 2023 and by the last year of the deal in 2027 it will be $120M.
But you’re absolutely right, Braves are basically swimming in money right now and there’s no reason to expect that to dry up anytime soon.
I think the Braves have proven that if they wanted Swanson or he was in their plans he would of been locked up. They are moving on to Grissom most likely.
There’s no way on this planet Vaughn Grissom is the Braves opening day SS in 2023. Grissom’s defense isn’t good enough to stick at SS. We saw his defensive shortcomings at 2B. That would just get more exposed at SS. Grissom’s defense was a question before Grissom ever was called up. The Braves might not keep Dansby but the Braves will have a proven elite SS in 2023. There’s no way they go with Grissom or Arcia or some other low cost player.
I would put more money on Shewmake being the starter than Grissom, at least at SS. They might try Grissom in the OF, especially if they can get a fringe team to eat Ozuna’s deal by throwing in a high prospect or two (think the reverse of the Bronson Arroyo deal a few years back). I realize Ozuna mostly DH’s, but it would free up DH opps for those Acuna to get rest and therefore open up more spot starts in the OF. I would hate to lose prospects just to move Ozuna, but it would take that unless they brought on an equally stinky contract. and just to a scenery change thing.
They do have Arcia, but I think they prefer him as a spot starter.
I think an idea off-season is
1. Re-sign Dansby 5/115
2. Sign Brandon Nimmo 4/65 ad a LF
3. Re-sign Luke Jackson 2/6
4. Trade Marcel Ozuna for anything while paying 20 of the remaining 32 million.
5. Sign max fried 4 years/85 million.
All of those would be great but I believe they’re stuck with Ozuna unless they attach a top 3 prospect. Fried is gonna want a longer deal than that also.
I think an idea off-season is
1. Re-sign Dansby 5/115
2. Sign Brandon Nimmo 4/65 ad a LF
3. ARe-sign Luke Jackson 2/6
4. Trade Marcel Ozuna for anything while paying 20 of the remaining 32 million.
5. Sign max fried 4 years/85 million.
I think your too high on Dansby, too light on Nimmo and Fried and punch drunk if you think anyone would take on a cent of Ozunas contract
I really wish people would stop mentioning Liberty Media when they talk about the Braves payroll because LM doesn’t control the Braves payroll. The Braves are operated as a completely separate entity and Terry McGuirk operates as the de facto owner of the Braves. That’s why when LM posts their quarterly earnings reports the Braves are listed in a completely different section and referred to as Braves Group or Braves Holdings LLC. Liberty Media has never directly controlled the Braves and how much money they spend.
Liberty Media absolutely controls how much they spend. They may be listed separately but they still foot the bill.
AUTiger is correct, McGuirk sets the limit, NOT Liberty! This report has been published SOOOOO many times, look it up for yourself.
McGuirk may publicly set it but he is absolutely given a max.
You are 100% wrong., LM has no input in Braves decision and can not transfer one penny of other revenue to the Braves per FTC regulations. The Braves survive on their own and live off the revenue they produce. LM has ZERO control of how the Braves are operated
LM owns the Braves, period. The Braves are a cash cow for them. They absolutely have a say on the money. They don’t have a say on personnel though.
I really do hate when people talk in absolutes and have no idea what they’re talking about. Liberty Media does not control the Braves payroll. They never have and they never will. It’s illegal under the terms of the deal they made to acquire the Braves. They cannot just write a bunch of blank checks to increase payroll. They can’t just pocket the Braves revenue money. The Braves operating budget is whatever revenue the team brings in and is set by Terry McGuirk. This has been explained so many times over the years.
Alex Anthopoulos is a smart man that learned his lesson in Toronto. Throwing all his chips on the table to “Go for it” one year doesn’t work. It means years of a rebuild waiting for the bad contracts to expire.
I agree with almost all of the posts above.
The Braves will field a contending team in 2023. Doubt that Jacob deGrom is even being considered, and – as others have pointed out – if the Braves and Dansby could have gotten together, they would have by now. He still remains a possibility if he goes into the FA market and finds that teams are not going to gave him the contract his agents think he “deserves” – the marketplace doesn’t pay anyone what they decide they deserve….individual entities pay what they have the money for and what they calculate is fair value…..else they go to plan B, find a stop gap and improve in other areas.
The reason that MLB teams have to be built for sustainable contention over a period of years can be found in what happened to both the Braves and Mets this year. Only 2 of 30 teams go to the WS. Can’t forecast what will what will happen on the way there. Have to make some adjustments and try again the next year.
AA is smart and imo the best GM in sports but why make that Charlie Morton extension for 20 mil a season. He did not pitch like a guy who should be paid 20 mil.
It’s just one year. AA is very decisive and seems to have his roster turned in before other teams get started.
Anderson taking a step back upped Morton’s value
The comments on this post are insane, even for here. I hope a bunch of you were drinking hard while working those keyboards.
No to degrom. too risky a move and would probably be outbid.
Higher payroll but the braves have to fill seats and sell jerseys to pay off the ballpark.
There are a few on the bubble pitchers who’ve gone between AAA and the majors so either the braves play them or pull off a trade.
Seems like they have enough pieces in place with the baby braves they don’t have to do much.
If the Braves release Ozuna, it’s clear they’ll still need to pay out his contract (less league minimum if he signs with another team). But would Ozuna’s AAV still count toward their luxury tax payroll?
Yes, Ozuna would still count for the luxury tax, the only option is to hope he plays better in 2023!
Gotta figure Odorizzi is traded and possibly even Rosario (one year 9mil). That’s about 20mil in salary commitments opened up if they can move those two.
One major point is the luxury tax number versus their actual payroll number. So they really can’t sign Dansby without going over the luxury tax threshold. If they clear the two salaries above then they have about 32 mil to play with
I really just think they’re going to push to a 230ish mil payroll but the luxury tax hit will be about 250. Alex has said they’re even considering bringing Kenley back which would be quite over the threshold
I think deGrom stays with the Mets on a reworked extension. They already have him on the books for 2/$63M. It would be less painful for them to increase by $10M per year and to add a year than it would for any other team to clear $120M for the next three years.
@bhambrave, your logic has some merit, but the Mets just gave deGrom 96M over the past 3 years to make just 38 starts. He was a poor investment 3 years ago, why would Steve Cohen, who has made his fortune investing, invest another 3 years in an entity that has not planned out in the past 3 years?
The last three years are irrelevant.; it’s a sunk cost. Any extension offered to DeGrom will be evaluated in the context of what value he may or may not bring over the next 2-3 years to the Mets. Cohen has already stated on the record that he will spend lots of money in the short-term to bridge the gap to building a perpetual contender. While not as important, at heart he is also a fan. While I don’t see that being the driving factor, I’m guessing that he will do what it takes to ensure that one of the best pitchers to ever wear a Mets uniform stays put.
As a Mets fan, I take the view that they should let DeGrom walk. I suspect I’m in the minority. I’d rather they resign Diaz and go after Rodon who is sure to opt out.
“It should be noted, too, that while the Braves’ bottom-line payroll for the 2023 season should check in around $193MM (as things currently stand), the luxury bill is quite a bit higher.”
Not quite.
“It also should be noted that while the Braves’ bottom-line payroll for the 2023 season should check in around $193MM (as things currently stand), the luxury bill is quite a bit higher.”
FIFY
The projected luxury bill for 2023 is about $219M, according to Cot’s.
Jon Coppolella deserves a lot of credit for reshaping this franchise, between drafts and trades. AA picked up the torch and is creating a perennial winner.
You’re kidding, right?
Acuña, Albies, Fried, Dansby, Kyle Wright and everyone else acquired prior to October 2nd 2017.
Albies signed w/the Braves in 2013. Acuna signed in 2014. Both of those signings occurred when Frank Wren was still the GM—not Coppy. To be fair, Coppy was the assistant GM under Wren, so he was a member of the FO at the time both players were signed as IFAs.
And he also prevented them from getting more, potentially better players than they already have with the sanctions he got them. He did much more harm than good.
Want to shed paypal? Trade Acuna w/ Ozuna sprinkled in with their entire contracts attached as the cherry on top.
Build a team of winners like in 2021. They won without them before and will win without them again.
I guess the reason you see so many articles about Braves being the place DeGrom lands is because he grew up a Braves fan. He may live down in Florida in the off season as well not sure about that. His age and injury history would make me nervous. He is turning 35 years old I don’t think a team will give him more than 3 years now those 3 years maybe worth 110-120 million. I don’t think the Braves will invest that much into him. The Braves need a SS, left field is also an issue now they could resign Duvall for right price and pair with Eddie lefty/righty match ups. After 24 season Fried is a free agent got to pay him. Now having DeGrom would make for a very good rotation all that being said. Angels will maybe make a run at him they need to make playoffs in 23 or Ohtani no way he resigns.