From Winter Meetings to Atlanta: Braves’ Latest Moves Unpacked ft. ESPN MLB Insider Jesse Rogers

Hey everyone, welcome into a very special edition of Craw Mey, where I get to connect with a longtime friend and former colleague. And it didn’t used to be called Crawl Me Maybe. It was more like The Bald and the Beautiful, wasn’t it, Jess Rogers? For us, that was the idea of this show. We’ll decide who’s the bald and who’s the beautiful later. But um I’ve known you so long, Kelly. I I wasn’t wearing glasses when we worked together last, but uh age catches up with all of us. But good to be with you and good to see you. It It makes you look very serious and knowledgeable. So I That’s the point. That’s the point. ESPN baseball reporter. For those that don’t know, I don’t really think Jesse Rogers needs an introduction, but here today to wrap up a little bit more about the winter median meetings. You can kind of zoom out for people here in Atlanta and beyond the national perspective of what’s happened. And for the Braves, they didn’t make any announcements during those four days, if you will, of winter meetings, but the second y’all left, there we were. Micsty and then Robert Suarez. And I think fans were really pumped about Robert Suarez. I think Mike Strimsky is a name that maybe not everybody understands how exactly this is going to work, but what did you think and have thought about what the Braves are trying to do so far, Jesse? Yeah, I mean, I think I could sum it up. The fact that they’re paying Suarez 15 million a season to be the setup man, at least for 2026, that’s telling. That’s impressive. Alexopoulos is one of the few executives that actually will pay will pay bullpen guys. Not every executive believes in it because it is a volatile market. Guy can make the All-Star team one year and be DFA the next year. But guys with a resume deserve to be paid and more times than not, they will come through for you. You never know. There could be a down year for Suarez in there. But over the course of that contract, I think he’s going to prove pretty good. And if he’s setting up, that is a luxury. And that’s like, okay, we filled the ballpark, we filled the battery, let’s go spend it. That’s a luxury to spend on a setup, man. And and Glaciius is 35 sign back for one. So, we know there could be a transition there. But either way, neither guy you want to, you know, pitch into the ground. They shouldn’t be throwing three days in a row. One guy can close one day, another guy two days in a row, and and you figure it out. So to me it was telling they was willing to spell that spend that much on Suarez when they already had a closer in a glaciiusky is just kind of an add-on. He’s also 35 years old not going to be playing 160 games or whatever but you need to fill out a roster. I mean if anything about the Braves we we’ve learned over the last couple years they need depth. They need depth. They seemingly have one injury after another to overcome. you got to find some redundancy in positions um all over the diamond, all over the diamond. And so you sort of see it now in the outfield and even with Suarez, it’s redundancy with a second closer. Yeah, that’s a really good point. And uh Walt Weiss, who’s taking over obvious obviously at the manager uh helm this year, he even said like we may consider and it’s looking like this DH could be a rotating spot if you will. Now, I think Braves fans would have loved to have seen our guy from 2016 in Chicago, Kyle Schwarber, end up in a Braves uniform. It wasn’t meant to be at the 155 million that that he ended up getting. I know you’re a fan. So am I. He’s a great guy. Certainly. Congratulations to him. But it’s a little bit of like, okay, but now what? Pete Alonzo’s gone. Schworb’s off the board. So, if it’s not a DH, can the Braves find something? Is Bo Bashette even an option? I mean, help me narrow all of that down. Should be. I mean, uh, Alex has been pretty adamant that they don’t have a short starting shortstop. He’s in the market for it. I I I walked up to him at the winter meetings and before he could I’m sorry, before I could say anything, he goes, “Shorttop pitching outfield depth.” That’s what I I was just going to say hello, but he’s like this is his standard answer. And look, I like an executive that’s honest. Um he filled one role in the bullpen. I’m not sure that he’s filled the shortstop position just yet. Um and yeah, Bett’s going to cost a lot. I think the thing about Schwarber you mentioned is and this is a tested a testament to him. I don’t want to sound like this is a negative but he does one thing and he’s getting paid $30 million a year for the next five years. I mean doesn’t play the field doesn’t run the bases like you know stealing bases but that’s a testament that he’s getting paid that much. So if he’s getting 30 million what is Bo Bashette? What is Cody Bellinger? What is Kyle Tucker? What are those guys going to get? What is Alex Bregman going to get? So the number is going to be big for a middle infielder like Bette even if he doesn’t finish his career at shortstop second third it’s valuable no matter what and his hit tool is real. So, you asked me about Bett and the Braves. I really don’t have a lot of info about Bett that that market’s been kind of quiet, but it certainly makes sense to me, right? Alex was up in Toronto for a long time up there. He knows all about Bette and he needs a shortstop and doesn’t mean he has to be your guy for the next eight years, but he certainly can be in the short term. Yeah, it’s it’s a matter of they also could probably use like a lot of teams a backend guy on the rotation. I know they’d still like to add more depth to that bullpen and everything. You bring up the the shortstop position, the thought of moving guys around coming out of the Chicago market specifically. You dropped Kyle Tucker, but I’ll also ask you about Nicoer is a name that we’ve heard now linked a little bit to the Braves. How could that happen? Does it make sense? Um, where do you stand as well as, you know, the way Jed Hoyer likes to run things? What are they going to want for Nico? Could that even be a fit down here in Atlanta? Yeah, I think Yeah. Well, first of all, I think Nico could be a fit anywhere. I really do. I mean, he’s one of those winning ball players that a lot of contending teams would want. He’s entering the last year of his deal, which automatically means you’re going to listen. I’d be surprised if they moved him for everything I just said about him. I’d be less surprised if they extended his contract and and found a new deal for him. Um, but there’s always moving parts. you can move him for some pitching and move Matt Shaw, the Cubs third baseman, over to second and open up kind of more of a power bat at third because Shaw and even Nico are a little bit undized. Um Shaw hits home runs, Nico doesn’t necessarily, but man, Nicoer had a great year. I mean, you I think just like Schwarber, there’s a they call force multiplier like in the clubhouse and that he just impacts everything, defense, uh running the bases. Um without the shift, he’s been so valuable. go glove level play at second base, which three years ago, great second baseman were kind of overlooked because you could throw a short stop over there and play on the grass and everything. Now they’re important as ever. Um, the Cubs would want pitching back. You want to send Spencer Strider the Cubs way? Yeah, sure. Um, you know, uh, I I think they’d want major league pitching back for a guy like Nicoer. I think they’re testing the waters a little bit on on guys like him whose contract is up and doesn’t have a no trade clause, but I’m not sure that that a that a realistic deal for Nicoer is out there in my opinion at least. Really interesting. Okay, you mentioned pitching. Who are some of the big names you think that might fall next? Are we going to see that soon or are we going to see maybe the position player side of this a little bit more? What What do you think? I Well, we’ve already seen a run on relievers so that’s been interesting. I don’t think there was Dylan CE. I should have mentioned that, but yeah, but that’s about the only one. I wrote I wrote this coming out of the meetings that the starting pitching market has been very slow outside of cease. Um I talked to some agents at the winter meetings. They weren’t close to deals. They really weren’t. Um so I think that will develop with especially the Japanese uh pitcher coming over Tatsuya. Now he has a deadline of January 4th that he has to sign. So, I think in the next few weeks things will start to move on the starting pitching front, but like there’s been no noise with Fran Valdez, for example. I mean, nearly nothing. And I don’t get it. If you have a good defense, a good infield defense, especially, Fran Valdez is your guy. He gets the ball on the ground. Um, I’m not sure what the knock is against him. Uh, he will get you to the playoffs. He’s not necessarily a guy that will run through the playoffs with 98 miles an hour and but so what I mean again if you have an infield defense Valdez is a great addition no one’s talking about him so I do think it’s been slow with the starting pitchers you mentioned the position players I think that’s um going to be a bit as well there’s going to be a reset now after Alonzo and Schwarber they are making so much 30 million a year each to do this one thing I think agents are like well Cody Bellinger Kyle Tucker, we do a lot of things. Let let’s let’s get ours. So, I think teams are going to reset a little bit. Um I I still think, you know, in the in the next few weeks, we’ll see some signings, but I think everyone’s kind of um figuring out exactly what the market looks like for starting pitchers and position players. We kind of know what it looks like for relievers. So, I’m so glad you brought up Framber Valdez because that is a name I I mean, gosh, every name it feel like it feels like has been linked to said team, right? But he’s certainly one that has been linked to the Braves down here and that exact question of what you just been brought up has been asked around here is well what’s the knock or what’s the problem? But do you think this all stems from what we saw with his catcher last year being considered maybe not the best clubhouse guy? I and I’m that’s not my words. That’s the here’s what we’re hearing from people who are around him. Do you think that has any connection? So from what I heard is there was a single team that was more concerned about it than others and I will say it wasn’t the Braves. So it is a little bit out there. I do think you know there’s a lot of under the surface things that you you that you know about being in a locker room. And what I’m getting at is I think a strong Latin American base would be nice in the locker room for a guy like Framber Valdez. Um, I do think he’s fine. I don’t think there’s issues. He had a moment there, a competitive moment more than anything. He’s had one in his career. I mean, this guy’s pitched Houston to championships and into the playoffs. Houston did not have a great defense, and I think that probably frustrated him even though he didn’t say it. He he gives up contact, Kelly, but he’s 60% ground balls, so you need an infield. So, I’m not sure he fits until we know who’s shortstoping Atlanta, you know, because that’s key. I I I I think he’d fit in Chicago if we we talk about the Cubs, their infield is one of the best in baseball. Um, you know, Toronto was after him until they signed Cease. Uh, and then it kind of went quiet. So, his market is still developing. I don’t think that incident down there is a big deal, but maybe it’s a little bit of a deal. And that’s why I say he needs a strong um you know support system in there potentially especially if he’s going to give up contact that that’s a certain type of team as well when it comes to defense. So those are some of the things surrounding for Amber Valdez. That’s great insight. No and it makes sense. We both also uh covered a catcher in Contraras that had a few of those moments but we knew he was a gamer and and that and that happens and you really when it comes to the way that they play and they pitch and the passion behind it, everything you’re mentioning. Now, let me switch gears just really quick, have you answer a few more things when it comes to Braves country. Also very interested in what’s going on with the Mets right now. Like we watched Edwin Diaz, we watched um Pete Alonzo and Brandon NMO all say thanks but no thanks or off they went. And so this team right now in the Mets, do they have a direction? Does Cohen know where he’s headed? I’ I’d be shocked that he let all of those guys leave without some sort of plan in place. But right now, I think Braves fans are like, “Hey, this this matchup with the Mets looks a lot better right now.” I I I agree with you, except be careful kind of what you wish for. David, you mentioned Steve Conn. You didn’t mention David Sterns. David Sterns is not a dummy. He understands they lost fan favorites. They he understands they lost production, but he also understands what it takes to put together a team, a team of 26 with a budget. I I say that with a smile because with Steve Conn, but just I you know, David Sterns is going to get them there. He may it may not be in 26, but look, if he doesn’t want to give five years to a closer like Diaz, I get it. If he doesn’t want to give 150 million to a one-dimensional player like like uh Alonzo, I get it. Now, that that’s me pointing, you know, kind of making a negative side to those guys, but they’re they’re very good players, though. So, he’s weighing the the pros and the cons. He’s taking the small market mentality he did in Milwaukee, and he will apply it to New York along with a payroll, but he’s he’s just getting going. That’s the way I look at it. They had a year where he’s figuring it out. They had some high salaries. They signed Sodto. Obviously, they’re still going to spend when they sign a guy like that, but he’s not going to go max money on every player. And that’s what Diaz would have been, and that’s what Alonzo would have been. So, I’m not defending it. I’m just saying, let’s see. Let’s see whether it be 26 or maybe it’s beyond 26. David Sterns is no dummy. He knows exactly what he’s doing. And I give Steve Chrome Con. He hired a small market G from a small market GM and he’s letting him do his thing. And ultimately it’ll probably pay off in a good balance of highric players and other ones that aren’t on, you know, sort of max contracts. So I’m gonna be the one guy that says I think David Sterns knows what he’s doing. Yeah. And of course, of course, I find it hard to believe you’re not going to protect Juan Sto in that lineup too somehow. So we’ll see what happens. Um, last thing before I let you go, just because so now here we go into the winter of where you said it’s been sort of this slow evolving what’s going to happen with some of these bigname pitchers and position players. If you’re sitting here with what you’ve listened to Alex Anthopoulos say, where do you think they’re headed? What more one last present could be under the Christmas tree for Bra Braves country, you think this off? Yeah, I mean I I think I think if it was going to be anybody, it would be Bette, right? if they’re willing to pay that freight. And that’s why I thought, you know, Alex has been very careful with his money. You know, he’s done those extensions that seem to like team friendly, but but that’s why the Suarez deal was kind of telling. Oh, they do have some money to spend. And Atlanta’s been pretty open about how much they’ve made and profited because of the battery. So, that would be the one gift wrap present for Christmas, right? Put him next to Austin Riley on the on the on the on the left side of the infield there. you know, let him go go to battle. But I don’t know if that’s going to happen. I mean, if if there’s anyone that kind of works under the surface, quietly behind the scenes, it’s Alex and right. He hates when things leak out. Um, but you have an opening at shortstop. One of the best shorts stops in the game is available. You know, connect some dots. You know, you’ve got pretty pretty good position players elsewhere when they’re healthy. Riley should be back now. Obviously, Akuna made it through the end of the year. you know, Olsson’s Olsen. You’ve got you’ve got that good base and of course um a good base on your pitching staff as well if if Shrider gets back to being who he is. So, the makings are there for a rebound year. But even Alexopoulos says, “I need a short step.” Well, the best one, one of the best ones is on the market, who almost won the World Series for the Blue Jays on one foot, by the way. Well, I know Braves country is going to love what you just said and certainly be praying for it and that’ll be that’ll be something to keep an eye on. I’m not sure personally, Jesse. I don’t know that uh they’ll see that kind of contract and that kind of money to a guy who has had question marks around the defensive side and how long he’ll be able to be there. But to your point, Alex, and management with the Braves said they were going to spend, and if they’re going to spend, then they got they got something else up their sleeves. And I know that’s what Atlanta and certainly Braves fans are hoping for. But thank you so much for the wrap-up from the winter meetings and everything you’re expecting this this winter. It’s just really great to uh get to talk to you again and have you fill us in from a national perspective on what you’re hearing um around this organization. So, thank you so much. And that’ll do it for this edition of Craw Maybe. But I’ve got one more thing up my sleeve for Jesse in another edition of Cromy.

On a new episode of Crull Me Maybe, host Kelly Crull is joined by ESPN MLB Insider Jesse Rogers to discuss the latest developments following MLB’s winter meetings. The conversation highlights the Braves’ recent acquisitions of Mike Yastrzemski and Robert Suarez, examining how these moves fit into the team’s broader offseason strategy.

Crull and Rogers also analyze remaining positional needs for the Braves, who is still available on the market, and potential big-name free agents that could still be targeted — including star shortstop Bo Bichette, a name generating excitement among Atlanta fans.

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