SPEND BIG: The Atlanta Braves and Alex Anthopoulos Have the Ability

SPEND BIG: The Atlanta Braves and Alex Anthopoulos Have the Ability

The Atlanta Braves have said they want to be a top five payroll. Then they need to go out and prove it by finishing off the off season. You are locked on Braves, your daily Atlanta Braves podcast, part of the Locked On podcast network, your team every day. Hey, and welcome back to Locked On Braves, part of Locked On Sports Atlanta, where we cover your favorite Atlanta sports teams each and every day. Also part of the Locked On Podcast Network, now the number one sports podcast network. I am your host Jake Mastriani. I’ve been covering the Atlanta Braves in both a written and podcast form for over 10 years now. And this is Locked on Braves, your daily connection to all things Atlanta Braves. On today’s episode, we’re going to be recapping what’s happened in the offseason so far and how much have things really changed. Have they really upgraded so far this off seasonason? What’s left to be done? And if the Braves have the money to get it done, we know they do. I guess the question really is, will they do it? Today’s episode is brought to you by FanDuel. If you want to be right in the middle of the action this season, visit fanuel.com and place your NFL live ads all season long. So, to this point in the offseason, it’s been a it’s been a good offseason for the Atlanta Braves. Don’t get it wrong with what I’m about to say for the rest of this segment. It has been a a good off season for the Atlanta Braves, but I think you like me and I think most fans feel like there’s still something that’s missing that it’s not quite it’s not the over-the-top off season that maybe we were hoping for. Now look, compared to what happened last off season, it’s been great when they did absolutely nothing last off season. It’s been it’s been a really good off season to this point. But let’s reset it for a second and let’s look at what they lost and what they have replaced them with so far. And to begin with, they lost Marcelo Zuna, DH. They lost their closer in a glaciius. And by not picking up the options of Tyler Kinley and Pierce Johnson, they lost two pretty valuable bullpen pieces. So, how have they replaced them to this point? They replaced Marcel Ozuna with Mike Ystrrimsky. And you look at just the numbers from what each of those guys did last year. Ozuna still put up a 114 WRC plus and a 756 OPS last year which wasn’t great by his standards and what we saw the the previous two seasons but obviously not terrible and in comparison Yimsky put up a 106 WRC plus and a 735 OPS so those are downgrades offensively overall. Now many probably also don’t realize that Ystrimsky is a little bit older than Ozuna about like three months. It’s not much, but it’s not like you got a younger guy with maybe a little bit more upside to him. Yrimky didn’t debut till he was 28, so he was a late bloomer. Now, I do think this deal overall is still a net positive for the team when you consider how Ystrik’s going to be utilized mainly just facing right-handed pitching where he’s he’s much better. And the fact that allows you to have a more versatile lineup and helps you give some other guys rest. So, yes, it maybe is an overall production, a bit of a step back in comparison to what each of these guys did last year. I still believe overall this was a good move getting your strips because what you can now do with the lineup and just the depth that it provides you for a guy that can actually play in the field. I mean, Ozuna just cannot play in the field anymore. Now, they replace the Glacius with a Glacius and you’re hoping that you get second half a Glaciius for Tyler Kinley and Pierce Johnson. They replaced both of those guys essentially with Robert Suarez. And while I still don’t quite agree with the idea of not picking up at least one of those guys, maybe more more likely just Tyler Kinley that was a little bit cheaper in the way that he looked after coming over. Still don’t necessarily know that I agree with that. But what Alex essentially did was took their money and signed Robert Suarez, who I do really like. And it gives the Braves another dominant setup man in the seventh and eighth eighth and ninth inning or seventh and eighth inning and gives them a backup closer for Glaciius if he were to get hurt or if he just were to fall apart like we saw in the first half of last year. So I do really like that exchange. I would have loved to have done both though. I’d have loved to kept, you know, Kinley andor Johnson and steel signed Suarez, which I think you could have done. And then they also replaced Nick Allen with Mauricio Dubon. Now, this is an upgrade and it’s a clear upgrade, even if it still leaves you underwhelmed at the shortstop position. But last year, Nick Allen had a 53 WRC plus and a 535 OPS. This is probably exaggeration. I feel like I could put up similar offensive offensive numbers right now in the big leagues. A 53 WRC plus and a 535 OPS. Now, he also put up 17 outs above average at shortstop, but you replace that with a guy who had an 80 WRC plus last year. Again, 100 is league average. So 80 is still well below league average offensively, but it is a big upgrade from what you were getting. A 644 OPS. Again, still below league average, but over a 100 points better than what you got from Nick Allen, while being a guy that had 20 outs above average last year. Now, that’s combined at all positions. But even when he played shortstop last year and just a little over 200 innings, he had eight outs above average. So, you’re getting a guy that’s still just as good with the glove at shortstop and who’s 100 points better in OPS. again, while it’s still pretty underwhelming at the shortstop position and still well below league average defensively. Now, looking at these four moves in particular, you can say that two of them were lateral moves. When you talk about Ozuna and Ystrinsky, just based on their personal production, you can say that even it was a possibly a downgrade downgrade offensively for the points I made for Yrimsky and how you can now utilize the lineup and move guys around. I I think you can barely say that that’s a bit of a lateral move from Ozuna to Ystripsky. Iggy to Iggy is obviously a lateral move. You’re just being bringing in the same guy. The second two moves I think are clear upgrades. I do think Robert Suarez as a whole is better than the package of Tyler Kinley and Pierce Johnson because you’re getting a guy in Spores that has plenty of closer experience to be your backup closer there and is going to be a dominant setup guy who throws really hard. So, I do think that is an upgrade and shortstop is clearly an upgrade, too. Again, although it’s still not quite the shortstop production that you would want. So, taking a step back there and recapping what’s happened this off season so far. Not to be pessimistic because I do like these moves. I was very much on board with the Shrimsky move. I liked bringing Iggy back. obviously loved getting Suarez and I think getting a B guy like Dubon as insurance at shortstop to replace Nick Allen. I think those are all good moves and I like all those moves. But let’s not act like this team has dramatically improved from a 76- win team last year and I I understand that a lot of projecting going forward is that Azie and Michael are going to improve. Riley’s going to stay healthy and and look more like Riley, that the rotation’s not going to be completely ravaged by injuries again. And and you have to hope in that and you have to believe in that for the for this Braves team to have success. But after the season that you had and really after the last two seasons, I know they made the playoffs in 2024, but again, as users here who witnessed that, you know, it was a struggle of a season. a lot of it because of injuries. But after the last two seasons, after not doing much of anything last offseason and resetting the luxury tax, I came into this offseason expecting more, expecting them to make dramatic improvements to the team. And instead, it just feels like they’ve made slim to marginal improvements across the board. And look, there’s a lot of offseason left. That’s why I’m doing this podcast because I want to talk about what’s left and what can be spent like we’ll do in the next segment. But I first wanted to just kind of preface preface it by saying while I like the moves that have happened this off season, I don’t want anybody to be fooled like they’ve gone out and made these huge improvements to the team overall. There’s nothing here that’s really going to say this team can be so much better than it was last year. Your hope in that is still just that the core of this group is better than they were last year, which is understandable and perfectly possible of happening. I’m not saying that. I just want to be clear about what’s happened this off season. I like the moves, but it’s not like they’ve gone out and made the team substantially better overall. But I think there’s still room to do that, and there’s definitely time to do that. So, next, I want to look at what is left to be done. What moves do they need to make the rest of this off season? and how much money do they have left to spend? Do they have any money left to spend? We’ll get into those topics here next. NFL Sundays move fast, one big play, and suddenly everything feels different. That’s what makes live betting with FanDuel 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, the receiver gets hot, a defense tightens up, or the momentum flips after a turnover. FanDuel lets you jump into the moment with live spreads and money lines adjusting instantly. They also have the World Series odds out there. The Braves have fallen back down to plus 2,000. I don’t know what’s going up with going on with that, but they did move the Mets down a good bit with the uh kind of rough week and a half that they’ve had. Although they did make a move, which we’ll talk about later in the podcast. But you can also see NFL odds. I’m recording this on Sunday afternoon. So you’re seeing spreads changed instantly here. The Texans live up 33 to 20. They’re big favorites now over the Cardinals. You can see those things happening instantly here. Anytime touchdowns, you can see that all there at fandal.com. Also, please make sure you visit fandal.com/playsafe for tools and resource 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 fanuel.com and place your NFL live bets all season long. FanDuel, the game moves fast and so can you. Thank you for making Lockdown Braves your first listen of the day and thank you for making Locked On the number one sports podcast network. If you are a true diehard Braves fan, the Everydayer All Access tier is built for you. You’ll get one-on-one text access with me and my friend Lindseay Crosby. All access episodes with me and Lindsay, an exclusive newsletter, and a 15% discount to the locked merch store. Head to lockdonbraves.supcast.com to join the Everydayer program and unlock all access. You can also find the link in the show notes below. So, what’s left to do for the Atlanta Braves this off season? For me, the number one priority right now is shortstop. Alex and Dublin said it on a radio interview again Sunday morning. They’re perfectly fine with Dubon at shortstop. I I get that and I get that’s what they’re going to say. You don’t want to lose any type of leverage, but it can’t be Dubon. It just can’t be. Again, I talked about it in the first segment. It is a clear upgrade over what you had in Nick Allen, but I’m an upgrade over what you had in Nick Allen offensively. And I maybe still got it a little bit on the defensive side, but just saying it is it is not it’s still not enough. And and Dubon should not be an everyday player. I talked about that with the guys from Locked on Astros, Eric and and Htown over there when the move was made and they even admitted that Dubon should not be playing every day. He is a great utility guy. He’s a great clubhouse guy, but he’s not an everyday player. And it feels like you’re just you’ve made a slight improvement over what you had last year. You’ve got another glove first short stop who’s not going to give you much at the plate. And I feel like we need to be shooting higher than that. There’s one position where you could go out and make that big dramatic move to vastly improve and upgrade your team. It is at the shortstop position. Now, I understand pickings are slim this off seasonason. I get that, but you need to go find something and do something. Look, signing Hassan Kim would be fine. Although at this point it still wouldn’t be all that exciting of a move, but assuming that you’re getting pre-injjury Hassan Kim and a guy that can be around a league average hitter and still be an above average defensive player, which we don’t know because we did not see that last year coming back from the the shoulder issues and all the other injuries that occurred when he was coming back from that in that shoulder injury. We just we don’t really know what type of player Hassan Kim is going to be. But if you can get that pre-injjury Hassan Kim, then that is a clear upgrade at shortstop because you are getting a league average hitter that can give you, you know, 10 to 15 home runs and and 20 plus stolen bases, hit for a decent average and get on base and play really good defense, but you just again it’s that’s still a question mark. So, even with getting Kim, you know, getting him and and Ystrrimsky doesn’t necessarily move move the needle all that much like I was hoping for coming into the offseason looking for that big splash. You’re still very much dependent on Riley bouncing back, Akuna staying healthy, Matt Olson doing what he’s been doing, and then Michael and Azie and others, you know, really picking it up and hoping that Baldwin can build off a a rookie of the year season. There’s still a lot of hope in this lineup if you don’t go out and make a huge splash. Now, I do wonder how Boba’s market is shaping up. I feel like we’ve heard next to nothing on Bobaet so far. I pointed this out the other day on social media and on Friday’s podcast. When you look at the market of teams who are looking for a shortstop, it is very, very thin. I mean, you could make the case that it’s really just Atlanta and Toronto that has to have a shortstop for next season. Even Toronto who moved him as the shorts stop in the postseason, they could do that, but you’re talking about Atlanta, Toronto, Cleveland, and Detroit. Teams that are really in need of a short stop. And and Cleveland has a couple of guys that can play it defensively. They’re just not great at the bat. Toronto’s already spent a ton of money. We’ll talk more about that in the final segment, too. There’s a lot of moves happening over the weekend. Toronto in that. I don’t know how much they have left to sign Bobette. I mean, they have big payrolls, but their payroll is already really big. Already the second highest payroll. Cleveland and Detroit are not teams that usually spend big. You would imagine they’re not going to be in a Bobaette sweep stakes. Of course, you could see teams like the Red Sox, the Yankees jumping in if the market does crater a little bit. They have short stops, but they definitely could use an upgrade there. or and maybe the most likely scenario here is that you find a team that views him more as a second baseman, maybe even a third baseman and they can fill him in, they can fit him in there and are willing to pay the money. MLB trade rumors projected Boba to get eight years at 26 million per year. So the AAV on that is not terrible. We know the Braves kind of cap it at 22, but could he have to take a shorter deal if he’s not if just the teams aren’t there this off season that either one view him as a shortstop or maybe two just don’t don’t know how to view him and don’t want to lock up money beyond, you know, next year’s CBA negotiations without knowing kind of how they value him and what position they value him at, then maybe he takes a shorter term deal to try to reestablish himself. He’s still just 28, so he has the ability to do that. And I think for what Bob Bashette and his camp have to decide is do I market myself as a shortstop or a second baseman and how are teams valuing that? um you know obviously if he was league average and there’s a good article I forget where I read that I apologize um that talked about being an average short stop with a and a great offensive player is is marginally better than just being a good second baseman obviously with you know good offensive track record but being an above average defender at second base and bringing good offensive value while being a below average defender at shortstop with that good offensive value you market yourself just as you could be just as valuable if not more at second base than at shortstop. So that’s something that he and his camp have to figure out. But as the offseason kind of looms on and the market for shorts stops isn’t really that big, you do wonder, does Bobette come back around to the Braves? Does he fall into a range where they’re comfortable signing him? Are the Braves comfortable signing him knowing about his deficiencies at shortstop? Look, I haven’t I haven’t watched a ton of Bobette personally with my eyes at shortstop. What I have watched seems fine to me. And I know the metrics are what they are and you know my view on defensive metrics. I feel like they’re lacking, but when they’re when they’re that bad or whether they’re that good, that’s generally still an indication of how that player is. And Bobett’s been one of the worst defensive shorts stops for the last four or five years. So clearly some there’s something to that. But can he handle it for a year? And with Duvon H being able to back him up as a defensive replacement, could you make that work for his bat and the type of bat that he could bring to the lineup that’s going to be a difference maker type of bat? I think I could. I think I could get over that. Even as a guy who loves shorts stop and loves the short stop because of the defensive skill that it brings, I could get over that for his bat if he came into a price range where the Braves felt comfortable because you could also in a year or two when hopefully one of your shorts stop prospects is ready, you could move Bobette to second base. You only have one more guaranteed year of control over Aussie Albies and depending how things go this year, you might not even pick up that extra year of control. So you could you could convince yourself of that of signing a Bobaet, living with him for a year at shortstop with Dubon backing him up defensively knowing that you could potentially move Bobette to second base where very small sample size in the postseason. But what we did see there at second base looked pretty good. And the article that I read earlier made the case about Simeon who was you know below average defensively at shortstop moved to second base and became a gold glove defender over there. Not saying that could be, you know, the same thing for Boba Bashette, but it’s definitely the Braves are definitely in a position where they could be moving on from Aussie soon. And so it would justify signing somebody like Bobette that you could move over to the second base position in a year or two if things just aren’t working out defensively at shortstop. Not saying the Braves are going to go that route. I’m just saying if the market doesn’t materialize for Bobette, then he certainly could fall back to the Raids. The other one that I think is the dream scenario is Cory Seager. You’re getting a guy who, you know, is good defensively, although he doesn’t have a ton of speed, but is one of the better better hitters in all of baseball. Like, I mean, just top five, top 10 hitter in baseball. It seems highly unlikely. The fact the Braves checked in on him at least leads me to believe that they’re willing to spend the money or have the money to spend. So, still hold that one. Outside of that, it’s really really hard to find where a big move could come at the shortstop position. There just aren’t that that many available. I spent a lot of time on that. But the other two holes that I think need to be filled are relie pitcher. I know you just got Suarez, but you look at what the bullpen could potentially be right now. Iggy Suarez and Lee. I mean, not knowing the status of Joe Jimenez who hasn’t pitched in over a year or at least by the time the season starts, that’s really worrisome. And you’re looking at three guys in your bullpen right now that you you feel pretty confident in. And that’s Iggy Suarez and Lee. Yeah. Outside of that, you’re looking at at Bummer who again could be good maybe depending on who you talk to. You know, Pyamps, who knows? Then you’re looking at some long reliever guys like Suarez went and Dodd, you know, maybe young Carlos Lara, maybe Dwell, maybe Hayden Harris, you got Danny Young. You signed James Karen check. I mean, those are all may. We just don’t know what to make of Gimenez. If you thimenez in that group with Iggy Suarez and Lee, you feel so much better about it. If you throw Gimenez in there with Iggy Suarez, Lee, and you move either Holmes or Lopez to the bullpen, all of a sudden that’s five guys that I feel great in. And I feel much better about the bullpen, but we just don’t know about Gimenez. And we don’t know what’s going to happen with Lopez and Holmes. I got a feeling at least one of them is going to go to the bullpen. I would still feel a lot better if you got one more legitimate arm like Pierce Johnson, like Tyler Kinley to kind of wrap up the bullpen. And then the starting pitcher for me, as I’ve talked about the last couple of weeks, it is less and less of a a need for me. But I do think if the situation presents itself that you look for more depth. There’s a chance you could be fine. You have Cell, Sch Swell & Strider, you know, either Lopez or Holmes and then either Waldrip or Elder. You could do nothing and potentially be really okay in the rotation with the backup of either, like I said, either Holmes or Lopez or either Waldrip or Elder along with Fuentes, you know, Richie, Braun, Burk Halter. Like there’s a lot of depth there at starting pitching. Some of it is questionable whether for just inexperience or injuries. You know, Swellbach, Strider, and Waldrip all have options left. I doubt you’re really going to option either Schwelbach or Strider. Waldrip feels like he’s probably going to get option just because Elder doesn’t have options and other guys you’re not going to send down. So, it feels like Walrip most likely is going to be out in that scenario. It is very important that Elder does not have options. So, he’s either got to be in the rotation or be in the bullpin. And we just saw Mel Kelly sign for 20 million a year for two years. I’m not sure I’m willing to go that high. If that’s what veteran starters are going for, like Mel Kelly, like Chris Basset, I don’t know that I’m willing to go 20 million a year on those guys. I’m thinking more like 12, 15 million a year. That’s a pretty high price tag. And while again, not my money. If they wanted to go do it, it’s fine. But that is a pretty good chunk of change for a veteran starter like that. And while I would be fine if they wanted to go out and spend 8 million on a Joseé Canana if money isn’t an option, but at that point you’re probably blocking some of your your young guys who could give you similar value for a lot less. So starting pitcher is one for me. I still put it on here because I I do think because of the injuries and just needing to get through a season that it would make sense to add some depth, but it’s definitely not as a necessity for me. Like shortstop is a necessity that’s got to be taken care of. Getting another relief pitcher would be nice and I think probably needs to happen. Getting another starting pitcher isn’t isn’t a necessity for me, but would again be nice. But let me know your thoughts in the comments section below. What are what do you think the Braves have left to get done? What are your needs the rest of the way? Next, I want to get into how much is left to spin. We’ll also get into some of the moves that happened over the weekend. We’ll do that all here next. The World Cup is coming back to North America for the first time since 1994. 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 prize 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. Maybe you’re getting ready to go to a college football playoff game this upcoming winter. You can check the Game Time app for that. Or maybe you’re just waiting around for baseball season. They already have tickets on there as well, getting ready for the Braves home opener. You can check all that out in the Game Time app. 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, use code locked on MLB for $20 off your first purchase. Terms supply. Again, download the app, make an account, and use code locked on MLB for $20 off. Just swipe, tap, ticket, go. Game time. I want to finish things off here getting into what’s left to spend. Van Graphs has the estimated team payroll at 241 million. That’s currently the sixth highest team payroll behind the Mets, Dodgers, Blue Jays, Phillies, and Yankees, teams that you typically see near the top. It’s also already above their previous high in team payroll of 238 million back in 2024, which was the sixth highest at that at that point or in that year. Now, Fangrress, Fangrass has the estimate estimated luxury tax payroll at 236 million. The first threshold this year is 244. So, they’re already quickly approaching that. But the third level, which is what we saw them push up against in 2024, is 284 million. Now, in that 2022 24 season, like I mentioned, their luxury tax payroll was 276 million. Now, I mentioned the team payroll that year was 238 million. things are reversed now. The team payroll is higher than the luxury tax threshold. So, what’s left before if if they’re going to go to that third tax threshold again, what’s left to spend, leaving 10 million for inseason moves, they could potentially have anywhere from 35 to 40 million left to spend this off season. Just for comparison or for a thought process here, Seager is owed 31 a.5 million the next six years in each of the next six years. If it were only over six years, that’d be great. He’s owed 31.5 million each of the next six years. So, he would fit inside that budget. Um, but it’s just again, AA has said in the past that he works off the team payroll. He even throws in any tax penalties in that team payroll as well. And the highest we’ve ever seen the team payroll go is where it is right now. So how much more is he willing to go beyond that? Adding another 38 million in payroll would put the team payroll at around $280 million. Now last year, this all ties back into my cold open that you heard 25 minutes ago. Last year that would have ranked fifth best in baseball. What has this team been saying? We want to be top five in payroll. Well, you want to be top five in payroll, you got to spend $280 million or more. And again, we don’t know exactly what the limit AA has been given. But we know what they can do. We see their books. They’re open. 280 million, 290 million being spent on this team should be easy to do for this franchise. A franchise that owns the Southeast. a franchise that even in a down year last year reported in November that revenue was up 7% compared to the previous year. After what this fan base witnessed last year and really the last two years, this should not be an offseason where you’re penny pinching. Go out and spin big. As I’ve been saying all offseason, if not now, then win. The moves they made so far, they’re good. They’re good moves that improve the margins, but it’s nothing to really put the team over the top. And I’m still really hopeful that that move is going to come. But let me know what you think in the comments section down below. I do want to finish things up here because there were a lot of moves over the weekend. We talked about Mel Kelly going back to the Diamondbacks for 2 years, 40 million. Uh NBA trading rumors projected or predicted two years, 36 million. So that’s not that far off, but it still seems rather expensive for a guy who’s 37. Uh the Mets finally made a move. They signed Palanco to two-year $40 million move to play first base. DH might also play some second and third. I’m really curious to know if Steve Cohen is scared of the new CBA. It’s seeming like at least with Alonzo and Diaz this off season that he wasn’t willing to go beyond two years. And I just part of me wonders if that’s because he’s afraid after the new CBA there’s going to be some sort of spending limit and he’s not wanting to put himself in a bind if that potentially happens that maybe he thinks whether there’s going to be a cap or not there might be bigger restrictions on how much you actually can spend. We’ll see what they do the rest of the off season. But with the way that the Mets have operated kind of makes me wonder if that’s in the back of their minds. Uh, the Brewers traded Isaac Collins and Nick Mirs to the Royals for Onel Zerpa, which seemed like a bit of a surprising move. Collins was the rookie of the year candidate there at the end of the season. The Cardinals signed Dustin May to a one-year deal with somebody I talked about maybe the Braves taking a shot on. I haven’t seen the money value of this yet, but I do assume it’s a big league deal with a chance to start, which makes sense for him. Guy trying to reestablish himself. Uh, the Blue Jays signed Tyler Rogers to a three-year $37 million deal with a $12 million vesting option for 29 if he pitches 110 games combined from 27 to 28 or 60 games in 28. As I said earlier, the Blue Jays are spending big. They’re currently top three in payroll behind the Dodgers and Mets, and they’re not all that far from the Mets. Uh, so do they still have room for Bette? Again, be very interesting to see how that plays out. Old friend Kennley Jansen signs a one-year deal with the Tigers. It also has a club option. The Yankees signed Amed Rosario for one year, two and a half million. The Rangers signed catcher Danny Jansen for two years, 14.5 million. The Philly signed Bryce Wilson to some sort of deal. Don’t know if it’s a minor or major league deal. I’d assume it’s a minor league deal. The Royals locked up Mike Garcia to a 5year 57 million deal that could get up to 85 million with Escalators. That was kind of my my dark horse sneaky candidate for the Atlanta Braves to trade for to be a short stop. But, uh, good to see the Royals lock him up there. Would have been fun, too. Cousin of Ronald Dunia. So, I would have loved that move had it happened, but looks like he’s staying with the Royals. The Dodgers claimed Michael Ciani after the Braves dfaid him, that cheap franchise over there. Uh, taking our leftovers. The Marlins signed Christopher Morell. The Royals signed Lane Thomas to a one-year 5.25 million deal. and reported just before we jumped on here. I’m recording this Sunday afternoon that the Yankees, Orioles, and Red Sox are finalists for Michael King. So, he could be signing here pretty soon. And then there were talks that the Dodgers were looking to trade Tyler Glass now, but as just being reported here, that’s not expected to happen. So, that’s all your news over the weekend. A lot going on. Again, very busy couple of weeks leading up to uh Christmas. You see a lot of these moves and a lot of these players getting signed. So, uh, thanks so much for tuning in today to Lockdown Braves. We’ll be back on Wednesday with a special guest, uh, who’ll be discussing the Braves off seasonason so far. I might also have a bonus episode for the main channel in between then, looking at some prospects. I want to do that on today’s episode, but uh, as I was putting this show together, as you can see, it ran kind of kind of long here. Make sure you subscribe and follow Locked On Braves so you get all the latest episodes. You can find me on X at Shortstop Ball in the podcast at locked_braas. That’s where we mainly post, but we’re also on Instagram and Tik Tok at Lockdown Braves. Uh, you can also check us out on or subscribe on YouTube. Hit that thumbs up button, leave a comment down below, and on the audio side, please leave us a fivestar review wherever you listen. And do not forget that if locked on Braves made your Spotify rap this past year, prove it on social media to secure a free month of our brand new Everydayer Club. Just tag our national lockdown podcast network account on any social platform and we’ll drop you a code. Be one of the first to join the Everydayer Club to get your favorite show ad free and exclusive access to the membersonly Discord. Again, thanks for listening and making Lockdown Braves your first listen of the day. Go check out Lockdown MLB for your second listen of the day. Also, make sure again one more time you subscribe on YouTube if you’re new. Hit that thumbs up button. Make sure that you rate, review, and subscribe to the Lock Braves podcast wherever you get your podcast. And we will talk to you next time.

Atlanta Braves’ offseason leaves fans wanting more—will Alex Anthopoulos finally make the big splash at shortstop? Jake Mastroianni unpacks the team’s strategic moves, comparing the impact of additions like Mike Yastrzemski, Robert Suarez, and Mauricio Dubón to losses such as Marcell Ozuna and key bullpen arms. Despite positive upgrades, questions linger about whether these changes can propel the Braves past last season’s struggles, especially with shortstop remaining a glaring weak spot.

Payroll realities take center stage as Jake breaks down the Braves’ financial flexibility and their ability to compete with MLB’s top spenders. Could Bo Bichette or Corey Seager be in play, and is the front office willing to spend big to reach their stated top-5 payroll goal? Plus, hear analysis of the evolving bullpen, potential rotation depth, and the latest MLB transactions shaking up the offseason. Are the Braves content, or is a franchise-altering move just around the corner?

Follow & Subscribe on all Podcast platforms…
🎧 https://lockedonpodcasts.com/podcasts/locked-on-braves/

Locked On MLB League-Wide: Every Team, Prospects & More
🎧 https://lockedonpodcasts.com/leagues/mlb/

#Braves #AtlantaBraves #mlb

Everydayer Club
If you never miss an episode, it’s time to make it official. Join the Locked On Everydayer Club and get ad-free audio, access to our members-only Discord, and more — all built for our most loyal fans.

Click here to learn more and join your team’s community: https://lockedonpodcasts.com/everydayerclub

Support Us By Supporting Our Sponsors!
Gametime
Download the Gametime app, create an account, and use code LOCKEDONMLB for $20 off your first purchase. Terms apply. Download Gametime today. What time is it? Gametime.

FanDuel
Today’s episode is brought to you by FanDuel. The NBA and NFL seasons are here, visit the FanDuel App today and start planning your futures bets now.

0:00 – Braves Offseason Recap
11:16 – Remaining Needs & Shortstop Search
25:04 – Payroll Analysis & Weekend Moves
FANDUEL DISCLAIMER: 21+ in select states. First online real money wager only. Bonus issued as nonwithdrawable free bets that expires in 14 days. Restrictions apply. See terms at sportsbook.fanduel.com. Gambling Problem? Call 1-800-GAMBLER or visit FanDuel.com/RG (CO, IA, MD, MI, NJ, PA, IL, VA, WV), 1-800-NEXT-STEP or text NEXTSTEP to 53342 (AZ), 1-888-789-7777 or visit ccpg.org/chat (CT), 1-800-9-WITH-IT (IN), 1-800-522-4700 (WY, KS) or visit ksgamblinghelp.com (KS), 1-877-770-STOP (LA), 1-877-8-HOPENY or text HOPENY (467369) (NY), TN REDLINE 1-800-889-9789 (TN)