Atlanta needs some rotation help after losing Max Fried, and target after target keeps passing Anthopoulos by.
The summer has been a disappointingly quiet one so far for the Atlanta Braves. A second straight early postseason exit cranked up the urgency on Alex Anthopoulos and Co., but for the most part the team has been content to fiddle around the margins — a bullpen flyer here, a potential platoon partner for Jarred Kelenic there — and wait for the market to come to them as big names fly off the board.
There were reasonable explanations in almost every one of those circumstances. Despite the NL Wild Card defeat to the San Diego Padres, this is still a rock-solid squad with few obvious needs, and the team made it clear before the season began that it did not intend to push its salary significantly above the luxury tax limit. The New York Yankees outbid everyone else for lefty Max Fried, and the San Francisco Giants did the same for ideal shortstop target Willy Adames; Atlanta was never going to be interested in those players at those costs, and supporters should not have been surprised that they went elsewhere.
As we approach the second tier of free agency, Braves Nation is becoming increasingly impatient. It’s one thing not to overpay to keep Fried, but the one-year contract the Boston Red Sox inked Walker Buehler to on Monday morning was perfectly within Atlanta’s budget.
Buehler appears to have been on Anthopoulos’ radar, the type of power righty the organization excels with who looked like his old self during the Dodgers’ World Series run but whose injury history made him more affordable than he probably should have been. However, the Braves never appeared to be in contention, leaving fans to question what the goal is.
Braves fans aren’t happy Atlanta passed on reasonable price for Walker Buehler
Chris Sale, Spencer Schwellenbach, and Reynaldo Lopez make for an excellent starting rotation. But with Spencer Strider still making his way back from injury, the Braves need to add at least one arm this winter, and the options are beginning to dry up.
Nobody anticipated Anthopoulos to spend like a drunken sailor this winter. He does need to do something, though, especially with the Dodgers, Mets, and Phillies stacked around him in the National League. There is still time, and the crew is always looking forward to reuniting with Charlie Morton. Short of adding Jack Flaherty, there aren’t many solid arms remaining, and it’s hard to blame Braves fans for being impatient.
