4 CHEAP Moves That Could Work for the Atlanta Braves

4 CHEAP Moves That Could Work for the Atlanta Braves

While the Atlanta Braves most certainly should not go cheap this off season, there is a way that they can make it work. You are Locked on Braves, your daily Atlanta Braves podcast, part of the Locked On podcast network. Your team every day. Hey, welcome back to Lockdown Braves, part of Lockdown Sports Atlanta, where we cover your favorite Atlanta sports teams each and every day. I’m your host Jake Mastriani. You can follow me on social media at shortstop. Check out the podcast there at Lockdown Braves on Xlockdown Braves on Instagram, Tik Tok, Facebook, wherever you get on social media. If you’re on YouTube and you’re watching this, please do me a huge favor. Hit that subscribe button, hit that thumbs up button, leave us a comment down below so others can find us there on YouTube. And on the audio side, you can help out as well. I’ll just leave a fivest star review on Apple, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcast. Thanks so much for your support here of Locked on Braves, which is also part of the Locked On podcast network, the number one sports podcast network. So, thank you so much for being part of that here at Locked On Braves. Today’s episode, I’m going to tell you four cheap moves the Atlanta Braves can make this off season that could work. Although, I want obviously want more for this team, and I think they could and should do more. This is the cheap one. We’re all looking for these bargains this time of year. Black Friday shopping, Cyber Monday, all happening. We’re looking for those bargain deals. I’m going to give you four of mine on today’s episode, which is brought to you by Game Time. Download the Game Time app. Create an account and use code locked on MLB for $20 off of your first purchase. Let’s say, for the sake of argument, the Atlanta Braves are somewhat balling on a budget this off season. I do not think that should be the case and I’m going to be very frustrated if that is the case. But we’re Rays fans and we have seen how this has played out before and I don’t want to sit here and say that this is, you know, just some completely cheap team that doesn’t spin. It’s, you know, that for the especially for the past several years, they’ve been one of the higher payroll teams in baseball. It’s not like the unfortunate Milwaukee Brewers who their fans show out, they they keep winning and yet now they’re trying to cut payroll. It’s not like that, you know. We we have to we have to stop treating ourselves like we’re a low market team or something. But I think the front office also needs to stop acting like they’re not a big market team and they shouldn’t be able to spend like a big market team. So I understand that side of it, especially because the Braves books are open and we can see their revenue and we see that they’re not spending enough money on the team. So I I get both sides of it, but it’s not like the Braves are a lowbudget payroll team. So again, not saying that I think they should be balling on a budget, not that I’m saying they should be looking for those Black Friday deals, but let’s just say for argument’s sake, that’s the direction they decide to go. And and one could also argue maybe rightly or wrongly that the Braves have already made their their big deal this off seasonason, spending 16 million to go get Riceell Glaciius. That’s not insignificant. There’ll probably be teams this offseason that won’t spend $16 million. So, you could already say the Braves made their big deal in getting a closer for $16 million. But let’s say going forward, there’s nothing else. They don’t sign anybody else for more than $10 million a year. That that was the biggest move the Braves make this off season. What else could they do to supplement this roster to put them in a position to compete and win a World Series? That’s what I’m going to try to answer today. But let’s start out talking about the payroll and what we have to work with in this scenario. Of course, we don’t know what the eventual team payroll is going to be, how much Alex is is allocated to spend this off season. Here’s what we do know at the moment. According to fan graphs, the Braves team payroll is around 220 million. And right now, the Braves currently have a top five payroll for 2026, ranking fourth overall. That’s obviously going to change. 11 teams, I believe, spent over $200 million last year on their team payroll. So that those numbers are going to go up, but they’re already at 220 million, which is more than they they had last year. So the highest payroll they’ve gone to is around 240 million in 2024. So we know they’re at least willing and capable. We know they’re capable of much more, but we know they’re at least willing to go to that to that number. Vang’s uh tax payroll is at 211 million. I don’t even really worry about the tax so much at this point because we know Alex just works off a team payroll and the team payroll is higher than the tax payroll right now. So, I don’t even really concern myself too much with the tax payroll anymore because that’s not the higher number. But the first tax threshold is $244 million. Let’s say that the Braves are willing to bump up their current high of $240 million for the team payroll to 250. So obviously AA likes to spend it or likes to save at least 10 million for inseason moves. That means we have roughly 20 million to spend. This is all obviously, you know, just projecting. We don’t know what the what the number is for Alex, what he’s able to go to, but just based on history and just even thinking optimistically that the payroll will go up and it can go up as far as 250 million, then you’re still just looking at the fact that there may only be around 20 million left to spend this off season. Again, leaving 10 million for inseason moves. Now, you could obviously move some money around. You could try to move as much as Aaron Bummer’s contract as you can. You could trade Shawn Murphy. Uh, you know, those guys both come with some pretty big salaries for 2026. But for this exercise, we are not doing that. For this exercise, we are assuming we have $20 million to play with the rest of this off season. And I’m really only focusing on free agents. You could make some of these moves in trades as well, maybe even cheaper type moves in trades, but we’re really just focusing on this is really just and I’m going to give you my four players. You could do this with number. I’m going to give you some honorable mentions, too. The the point of this exercise is just to show you how you could maneuver in a a cheap way and still build out some depth on this roster to set them up for 2026. So, 20 million to spend. The holes we’re trying to fill here are two bench spots, one rotation spot, one bullpin spot. Yes, one bullpin spot. I’ll get to that in the second segment. You could definitely switch this up. You know me this this off season. I’m the one that’s been preaching and I’ve had some others go against me on this in the comments section and others that there shouldn’t be so much of a focused on a bat. I’m sorry. I’ve watched the last two seasons. I need some more bats. I need some help offensively. Yeah, if everybody stays healthy and plays to their career norms, not even 2023, they were good before 2023, then this offense will be fine. But after what I’ve witnessed the past two seasons, I just I can’t go into another season just hoping on for that. So for me, I’ve been hyperfocused on building out the depth for the lineup. So that’s why I’m more focused on filling out the depth on the bench for the lineup and getting two more arms. But again, I’m going to talk about that more in the second segment why I’m only getting one rotation spot, one bullpen spot. So, let’s fill out the bench first though because like I said, that’s that’s where a lot of my focus has been this off season. And again, I do think they need to go after a a bigger type bat. But for this exercise, let’s get a left-handed bat. Let’s get a right-handed bat. Somebody we can platoon with into the age spot. somebody that could could spell somebody in the outfield or possibly in the infield. Although, just spoiler alert, I don’t really see anybody on the infield, at least free agent wise, that fits this bill that can be, you know, a lefty righty type of bat off the bench and, you know, substitute for for Dubon. In this exercise, I’m not getting Hassan Kim. Dubon is the shortstop. But, let’s fill out the bench. And the first bat that I’m going to go with is Mike Ystrinsky. two years, 16 million, so $8 million a year. And like obviously I’m guessing at what these guys might sign for just based on what similar players have signed for in the past. I’m already hearing Strmsky is getting a lot of interest this off season. So we’ll see, you know, if that even is a good enough deal for him. And you know, giving a 35 year old, he’s 35 left-handed hitter. Giving a 35-year-old two-year deal like that is somewhat risky. Maybe you do a one-year deal with a a team option and a buyout. Whatever the case may be, Mike Ystrimsky is the guy. And the more that I looked into him, the more I really started to come around on Ystrimsky. He’s been a very consistent consistent hitter in his career. Seven straight seasons have a 99 WRC plus or higher. So, he has been league average or better in every big league season. And the last three years against right-handed pitching, it’s a 12% walk rate, a 22.6% strikeout rate. That’s, you know, it’s not ex extremely high, but when you’re hoping that he’s crushing in one side that he’s crushing righties, you would like to see that strikeout rate down a little bit, but 12% walk rate is fantastic. 244 average, again, not great, but we’re we’re again, we’re these are not the top of the market, guys, for a reason. 244 337, that’s a good on base. 460 solid slug. That’s the slash line for you, Strisky, against right-handed pitchers over the last three years. Here was the key one, and this is what I filtered it by, is ISO. I want some I want a lefty bat that can crush righties. And he has a 216 ISO against right-handed pitchers over the last three years in a 120 WRC plus. And here was the kicker for me that really started having me lean towards Mike Ystrrimsky. Once he got traded last year from San Francisco to Kansas City, his ISO spiked tremendously. Now it was 125 in San Francisco last year, which is way down even from his career average, which is somewhere between 170 200, which is still above league average. And playing in that Giants ballpark there, whatever they’re calling it now, is is really good. But you saw him get a KC, which I don’t think many people really consider to be a huge hitters park. Anyway, his ISO jumped to 263. So then imagine putting him in truest park, which is a really good ballpark for left-handed hitters, and you could see the power numbers really get boosted for Mike Ystrrimsky. So again, the more I looked into him, the more I really kind of fell in love with him as this left-handed platoon bat option, can play corner outfield spots. I think he becomes a really solid option for the Atlanta Braves. that’s been very consistent production-wise, 99 99 WRC plus or better in seven straight years. So, that’s my first bat on the bench. Next, we’ll get to my second bat, my starting pitcher and my reliever, and we’ll look at what the lineup and rotation could look like with all of that here. Next, NFL Sundays move fast. One big play and suddenly everything feels different. That’s why making live betting with FanDuel is so exciting. You’re not just watching the game, you’re reacting to it in real time. With FanDuel, you can place bets as the action unfolds. Every drive, every momentum swing, every highlight moment. Live betting is best when the game starts to shift, a receiver gets hot, a defense tightens up, or the momentum flips after a turnover. VanDuel lets you jump into the moment. Live spreads and money lines adjust instantly. I can make a comment about the Iron Bowl and the momentum shifting on a Cam Coleman fumble, but I don’t want to do it because it’s still painful. But that’s the kind of stuff we’re talking about here. But they also have other stuff out there at FanDuel.com. They have World Series odds. The Braves still sticking at plus 2,000. We need to get some better movement there. But you can check out, they have National Championship odds out there. Ohio State a big favorite right now. Uh Georgia third best odds at plus 800. NHL, NBA, NFL, you can see all those odds, college basketball, so much going on right now. You can see all those odds there at fanduel.com. Also, make sure you visit fandle.com/playsafe for tools and resources to help you stay in control of the way you play. So, if you want to be right in the middle of the action this season, visit fanduel.com and place your NFL live bets all season long. FanDuel, the game that moves fast and so can you. Thank you so much for making Locked On Braves your first listen of each and every day. Go check out Locked on MLB for your second listen of the day. Slowly getting caught up on everything happening around the league. Make sure you subscribed right here to Locked on Braves as well. We’ll have a lot of content coming your way this week leading up into the winter meeting. So hopefully we’re going to have a lot of news. Hopefully I have a lot of Braves news, but I expect a lot of news just in general to talk about here over the next couple of weeks. These are the biggest weeks of the off seasonason for Major League Baseball. So, make sure you’re subscribed here to Locked On Braves. So, I’ve given you one move so far. Micah Strimsky, again, a guy that the more I look into it, the better I feel about that type of move. I just don’t know what the cost is going to be. I went with two years, 16 million, $8 million AAV. The second one for me is Rob Refder, and I’ve got him pencled in for a one-year $4 million option. Can’t imagine it’s going to be too high. kind of similar to Raone Lariano last off season. He signed for a similar amount. I mean, it’s a short-sighted platoon player, 34 year old, can’t really play in the outfield. I mean, he can stick in a corner, but it’s not great out there. You’re really getting him for one thing, and that’s to come in off the bench or maybe get a start against a left-handed pitcher every now and then. He has a 152 WRC plus against left-handed pitchers over the last three years. So, it’s a very dependable bat, very consistent bat, but it’s really a a one-trick pony. Again, you’re getting this guy for his veteran experience and leadership, but also to come in and just be that lefty killer. They bring in a lefty late in the game, you know, to face one of your tough uh one one of your lefties at the bottom of the order. Maybe you come in and bring in ref Snider to get a big hit for you. Maybe you give him some starts in the DH spot every now and then against a lefty or you know platoon him in the in the lineup. It’s tough because what I would love of either of these guys and and maybe Mike Shrimpy can if you have to. I would love to for one of these guys that I get to be able to play center field. So if you wanted to spell Michael Harrison center field against the tough lefty on a night like this, you could do that. Ref Snider obviously can’t. And again, maybe you stripsy game, but then he’s a lefty, so that doesn’t really work out for you. Um, so I would love to get a right-handed bath that crushes lefties that can also play center field. That would be ideal, but wasn’t really able to find that. But if you got somebody in mind, let me know. I forgot to give another option uh for the left-handed bat. Max Kepler been a very good left-handed bat for a while now. Somebody else you go after. Another right-handed bat option, Austin Hayes, 139 WRC plus against lefties the last three years. So, those are some of the guys. Again, it doesn’t have to be I just want to give you the archetype of the the moves that could be made to help deepen and strengthen this roster to prepare for injuries, to prepare for regression, to have major league hitters ready to step in and guys that, you know, have some specialties that they can they can do and so that you can mix and match your lineup. So, these are the two bench guys that I’m filling it out with. Mike Strimsky, Rob Snyder, left-handed bat, right-handed bat, can platoon, mix and match. Now, the tough part of this, as always, is how do you convince these guys to sign for you when you don’t necessar can’t necessarily guarantee them every day at bats? You know, that’s always a tough part of trying to fill out your bench and get depth is they’re going to sign here and they’re going to say, “Well, Proar is in left, Michael Harris is in center, Akuna’s in right. Where’s my playing time coming?” Um, and they want to play. They obviously, you know, want to play. They’d love to play play for a winner. And I get that. And hopefully the Braves are. Uh, but that’s going to be the struggle. You know, would you rather, if you’re Rob Reider, would you rather sign a one-year $4 million deal for the Braves where you might play might get one or two starts a week or go to a team, I don’t know, the Pirates, somebody else where, you know, you’re going to get a lot of playing time. You know, that’s that’s a decision a lot of these guys have to make and that’s why it’s tough to convince them to come in. But, you know, this is my fantasy world. I offered them the deal, they accept it. Those are the two bats that I’m going with. Let me know what you think about those guys. Now, moving over to the pitching side of things. My starting pitcher that I’m going after is Zack Efflin. And I know you’re rolling your eyes. You’re not too excited about it. Again, we’re bargain shopping here. I think you can do much better in a trade. Obviously, uh you can go trade and and probably get a better better deal obviously for a better pitcher and maybe not the same price, but maybe a similar price. But Zack Efflin’s the guy I’m going after here. One year, 5 million. I’m hoping you get him off a down year that you can get him pretty cheap. He has 31, so there’s a chance that a team, you know, one gives him a little bit more money than that on a one-year deal, and there’s also a chance a team gives him a multi-year deal. But I’m taking a shot on on Zack Efflin coming off a down year, but not too far removed from a couple of really good seasons in 2023 and 2024. One of his best seasons in 2023, which doesn’t make sense because it was a a juiced ball season. Um, but what I love about Zack Efflin is just he doesn’t walk anyone and he gets a good amount of chase. Now, he’s had issues with health in the past, but over the last three years, he’s thrown a lot of innings. again last year only threw 14 15 starts um in the in the big leagues because of injury but for the most part over the last three years he’s been healthy and he’s posted but I love the walk rate I love the chase rate it’s a guy who’s still young enough that he can prove himself to try to get a better deal there are a lot of names though that you could consider in this spot and again I know you’re not going to like any of these names and and the argument here which is a very valid argument is why waste your money signing one of these guys and potentially blocking Hen Waldrip, J.R. Richie. And I I get that and I understand that. And if you wanted to make that argument, I think it’d be a very good argument. Here’s my argument against that. It’s 162 games. you need as much pitching depth as possible and now is your opportunity to go out and and get that depth much easier than it is during the season. So, yeah, it might hurt to not have Hurston Waldrup in your your starting rotation day one because he has options. You know, it may hurt to see somebody that you know is not as good of a pitcher in your starting rotation because you’re playing the long game. And I I’ve been against that in the past, but like I said, with what I’ve seen the last two years, and maybe it is just recency bias playing into this decision-making here, but with just so many injuries and how many injuries the Braves have suffered, how many guys they have right now that are just such huge question marks. Spencer Strider, Spencer Schwenbach, Chris Sale, Ronaldo Lopez, Grant Holmes, fantastic pitchers. And if they all five stayed healthy all year long, this would be the best rotation in baseball. But all five carry pretty significant injury risk. And so you have to be prepared for that and you have to be able to do that now. And so I understand I’m about to tell you some names that you probably want no part of. But I’m telling you these names because I know at some point you’re going to need more arms. You’re going to need more veterans to come in and be able to give you quality innings. And now is the time to get that depth, not scramble for it when all of a sudden you’re an entire rotation goes down. So Zack Efflin’s my guy here that I’m hoping I can get on a one-year $5 million prove it type of deal. But there are others to consider here. Patrick Corbin, Andrew Adrien Hower, Andrew Heene, Tyler Anderson, Miles Michaels, Jose Gintana. Again, not guys I’m wanting to take into the postseason with me, but guys that can help me get through the regular season. Guys that I know that can go out there and they can eat five or six innings. They may get blown up, but they’ll they’ll they’ll pitch five or six innings. That’s what I’m looking for out of this starter, especially when we’re balling on a budget here. That’s what I’m looking for. And again, I can I understand the argument against this. You want to make it, please do in the comment section below. And I do not think that you would be wrong. But just what I’ve seen with pitcher injuries, what the Braves have gone through, especially last year with the pitcher injuries, but I want to be more prepared for that from the start. And if I said many times, if I have to go to a six-man rotation to at least begin the year, so be it because, you know, you’re going to need that depth eventually. So, Zack Efflin, one year, 5 million. And then my final move is a bit funny one. Uh, but Tyler Kinley, one year, $3 million doesn’t sound all that exciting because it’s not. You’re basically getting a guy back. you’re maybe saving a million dollars uh and otherwise just picking up his deal, which I think they should have done in the first place, but you’re bringing back Tyler Kinley on a one-year $3 million deal. He was amazing coming over after the trade deadline. Many of us thought it was a no-brainer that they were going to pick up his $5.5 million option. Instead, they elected to pay the $750 million buyout. AA said there’s a chance maybe they bring these guys back. And that’s what I’m predicting here. Tyler Kinley back on a one-year $3 million deal. See if what worked in the second half last year after coming over can continue to work. And if it does, and he’s I mean, he’s a setup guy. I mean, he barely gave up anything after coming over. There are plenty of options here that could be in this price range. Even your guy Michael Soka, I don’t know that Pierce Pierce Johnson’s in this price range, but maybe. I mean, you could even bring back Pierce Johnson in one year, five million or less, probably. Um, Koulom is another guy you could go after. Hobie Milner, Jacob Webb, even former Brave, Ryan Stannic, uh, Taylor Rogers, maybe you get Jordan Romano coming off a rough season, a guy that’s had really good stuff, showed some ups and downs last year coming back from injury. Maybe you take a shot on a guy like that. Another old couple of old friends, Shelby Miller, Kirby Yates, maybe take some shots on those guys as well. Maybe even get one of them on a minor league deal. There’s a lot of options for the bullpen of guys that you can get for less than $5 million and take a shot on them. Uh but I’m going with Tyler Kinley. Again, had a lot of success here. I thought they should have kept him anyway, but maybe you can bring him back on a little bit cheaper deal. So, those are my moves right there. Micah Striky, Rob Snyder, Zack Efflin, Tyler Kinley. Those are my four moves for $20 million. my my cheap signs to build out the depth of this roster for 2026. Let me know your thoughts in the comments section down below. Next, I’m going to give you the roster with these guys, the rotation, the bullpen to kind of put it all out there for you so you can decide what you think. But next, we’ll get into that and talk about some of the news of the day. The World Cup is coming back to North America for the first time since 1994. for rough year for baseball. And with 48 teams for the first time ever, it’s going to be massive. But let’s be honest, getting tickets is usually the hardest part. That’s why the Game Time app is clutch. Finally giving fans a real advantage when it comes to snagging seats. With Game Time, you can track price drops in real time, get alerts when great seats open, and buy tickets the moment they hit the app. It puts the power back in your hands, and makes going to the World Cup realistic instead of impossible. And you know, whether you’re this off seasonason, you’re looking, maybe you’re getting ready to go to a college playoff football game uh this upcoming winter, you can check out the Game Time app. They’ll have those deals on there. I use Game Time whenever I’m looking to go to an event, not just sporting events, but you know, concerts as well. You can see all that right there in the Game Time app. As we get ready for baseball season, I’m going to be looking in there constantly to try to get the best deal on a Braves game to take the family with me. Again, we had so much fun the last time we went. Even though the Braves got embarrassed, it was still a great time and we got great seats thanks to Game Time. Take the guesswork out of buying World Cup tickets and every match, concert, or event with Game Time. Download the Game Time app, create an account, and use code locked on MLB for $20 off your first purchase. Terms apply. Again, download the app, make an account, and use code locked on MLB for $20 off. Swipe, tap, ticket, go. Game time. So with those moves that I have made as your cheap GM, here’s what the roster could look like. Drake Ballwin and catcher, Matt Olsen, Azy, Austin Riley, Mauricio Dubon as your infield profar, Michael Harris, and Akunia in the outfield. In the DH spot, I’ve got Mike Striky. You could platoon him there with Shawn Murphy and obviously mix Baldwin in there whenever he’s not catching. Uh, and then the rest of your bench is, you know, Murphy, ref Snyder, Bruhan, and White I’m keeping on the bench as pinch runners. Bruhan is your just everywhere defensive replacement if you had to. I don’t love things that I don’t love about this. I said earlier, I’d rather have an outfielder that can, you know, either mash lefties or righties and play center field so that you could put them. I’d rather have a right fielder that can a right-handed bat that can crush lefties and play center field would be the ideal dream bench bat for me, but I didn’t really see one of those that existed out there for the price that I was looking for. But Bruhan gives you that ability. And Eli White, you know, they can cover all three outfield spots. Bruhan can cover everywhere on the the infield other than first base and and really Eli White, I mean, the little bit that I’ve seen of him on the infield, I was really impressed. So, I think he can cover those gaps, too. And then on the pitching side, it’s Chris Sales, Spencer Swelenbach, Spencer Strider, Grant Holmes. I’m putting in the rotation, Zack Epin, and Bryce Elder to start obviously with Waldrip and J.R. Richie waiting in the wings. That gives you a pretty deep rotation right there. I’m going with the six-man rotation to start the season. Like I said, you know, that won’t last. You know, injuries will come. That does shorten up your bullpen a little bit. And you can move Elyn. You can move Elder to the bullpen if you had to. But seven bullpen arms for now with the six-man rotation. I’m going with the Glaciius, Lee, Bummer, Jimenez, and Lopez. I moved Lopez to the bullpen, Holmes in the rotation. We talked about that a little bit last week as well. So, that’s that’s five pretty solid arms right there already. Iggy, Lee, Bummer, Jimenez, and I’m also assuming that Jimenez is healthy and ready to go. And Lopez, that’s a pretty decent bullpen. And then I’m finishing it off with Dodd is kind of my swing man, uh, you know, long man in the bullpen. And then Tyler Kinley, who we just signed back. So, that’s my lineup. That’s my roster. Let me know what you think. And again, I think the Braves could should do more than this. I think they should make these moves and make bigger moves on top of on top of this. But let me know what what you think if they did go cheap if they just wanted to spend $20 million to build out the depth on the roster. How would you do it? Do you approve of some of these names? Do you have some other names in mind? And some of you sent me those on social media. I asked you. I g said, “Give me two deals under $8 million.” Uh Jared Vicky says, “Don’t know if you’re including trades, but I’d say Jojo Romero and see if Cedric Mullins will take a hometown discount.” I looked into Mullen’s just the platoon splits weren’t quite there, but he is one guy. It’s obviously left-handed, so I was looking more for a right-handed guy that could play center field, but I did look into Mullen. Jojo Romero is obviously somebody that I’ve loved and talked about in the past. I just wasn’t getting into trades here. Uh Ali says, “Calebla Ferguson, one year, four million. Jose Canana one year, 7 million. I don’t know much much about Ferguson. Didn’t look into that. But I was all over Jose Canana last year. So much so that I’m really not wanting to go into him this off seasonason because I feel like I called it last year and the year after you call a guy is usually the year that they fall apart. Uh but obviously Canana would be solid. I’d hope to get him a little bit cheaper than that. I think he signed for four million last year. Calvin Penn says Tyler Kinley and Pierce Johnson. What a thought. Yeah, get those two guys. That would have been been good. You can get both of them for under 8 million. Uh Dustin Mount says Evan Phillips and Dustin May. I would I co-sign that. I love both of those guys. I’ve talked a lot about Dustin May. I just I don’t know how teams are going to view him, but I definitely would love to take a shot on him if I can. Ronald Akuna Jr. is King says Hunter Harvey and Gregory Sodto. I’ve talked about Sodto a lot. Harvey is one that I kind of looked into. So I wouldn’t mind those two guys for the bullpen. And then Owen Ray says Dustin May as a swingman. So yeah, I’ve talked a lot about Dustin May already this offseason. Somebody that I do like. I just don’t know what how teams are going to view him. He’s still young enough. I I imagine he’s probably going to get a good big league deal. I don’t know. He’s somebody I could see getting a solid like two-year $14 million deal, something like that. It’s also somebody I could see getting a minor league deal. I just don’t I don’t know how teams are going to view him, but I’d love to take a shot on him. Speaking of Ronald Akuna Jr., he is apparently going off in the Venezuelan League. Hit a home run the other day. He’s already stolen four bases, so we’re seeing some speed coming back. So, that’s a lot of fun. You’ve been keeping up with that. Some other news happening around Major League Baseball. We didn’t talk about it last week, I don’t think, but Dylan CE signed a seven-year, $210 million deal with the Jays. Ryan Helley signed a 2-year, $28 million deal with the Orioles. So, uh, those were both right about on the projections. They were actually a little over MLB trade rumors projections, but that kind of sets the market, especially for starters right there. That’s probably going to be top of the market money. So you’re looking at Framer probably getting around 175 Ami probably getting around 150 175 million which is what we kind of you know thought to begin with and then the Giant signed reliever Sam Hintage for one year 1.4 million. They’re getting one of those bargain deals in right there. Well that would do for this episode of Locked on Braves. Thanks so much for joining me today. Make sure you hit that subscribe button, that thumbs up button, leave me a comment down below. Make sure that you rate, review, and subscribe to the Lockdown Brands podcast wherever you get your podcast. and we will talk to you next.

Atlanta Braves weigh budget-friendly offseason moves as payroll questions loom. Could Mike Yastrzemski and Rob Refsnyder provide the lineup depth needed for a World Series run, or do Alex Anthopoulos’ spending habits hold the team back from maximizing its potential?

Jake Mastroianni breaks down four under-the-radar signings, including Zach Eflin for the rotation and Tyler Kinley for the bullpen, discussing their potential impact on Atlanta’s roster flexibility and bench strength. Key topics include the Braves’ top-five MLB payroll, battles for bench spots, the risk of relying on young pitchers, and trade possibilities for improving roster depth. Listener suggestions heat up the debate over which cheap free agents or trades could fuel Atlanta’s championship ambitions.

Which bargain signings will help push the Braves past October disappointment?

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00:00 Braves Payroll & Cheap Strategy
08:27 Bench Depth: Cheap Bats
11:36 FanDuel Live Betting
17:25 Cheap Pitching, Full Roster Review
24:26 Game Time Ticket App