DALLAS – At the outset of the Winter Meetings, the Braves learned they would once again be dealing with Juan Soto, a generational talent, in their division. He is joining the rival Mets, who are armed with an owner that has proved he cares more about winning than the price tag.
Mets owner Steve Cohen’s financial muscles and how he used them – reportedly a seven-year, $765 million deal for Soto – are a sobering reality for Braves fans. The Mets, their division foes, probably will not stop spending now or in the near future.
For the Braves themselves?
It’s business as usual. It doesn’t impact much.
“Not at all with us, I don’t think,” Braves manager Brian Snitker said. “Our goal is still going to be the same thing: It’s going to be to win the division. I’ve just kind of been numb to things like that. I don’t really care who signs who, what teams put together, things like that because we still have to play for six months.
“Yeah, it doesn’t do anything for us.”
The Braves have made the postseason for seven consecutive years. Before 2024, they had won the National League East in six straight seasons, with a World Series in 2021. They have one of baseball’s best rosters. If they can supplement it by addressing their needs, they’ll once again be among the favorites to hoist the trophy at the end of it all.
Snitker is entering his 49th professional season. He joined the Braves in 1977 as a minor leaguer. Since then, baseball has changed. And in at least one way, the game is different from when he became Atlanta’s interim manager in 2016: The free-agent deals have gotten bigger and bigger and bigger.
Last season, the Dodgers gave Shohei Ohtani $700 million. Now, Soto owns the largest professional contract in professional sports history.
What has it been like for Snitker to see the prices rise so high these days?
“I’m kind of numb to it,” he said. “I’ve seen the teams do all that. You know what, we still have to play all those games. I’m happy for the individuals that are rewarded for what they’ve done. It’s great. We’re in a great business. Big game for these guys. But it doesn’t bother me. I just, like I say, once that season starts and so many things can happen, good, bad, indifferent, whatever – we still all have to play the games.”
Snitker is correct there. The Braves have never been keen on winning the winter. They try to build the strongest, deepest, most well-rounded team to handle the upcoming 162-game grind. They factor in not only talent, but how the pieces will mesh together. In doing so, they’ve created a terrific environment for players and employees.
This is why the Braves have sustained winning since president of baseball operations and general manager Alex Anthopoulos joined the organization prior to the 2018 season. Anthopoulos has locked up a terrific core and built around it.
How much will the Braves spend this winter? Remains to be seen.
But this much seems clear, at least generally: They’re going to pay a lot for quality in the free-agent market.
At the start of these Winter Meetings, Anthopoulos was asked about some of the hefty prices for starters to that point and whether it’s because there are more teams searching for starters than there are frontline guys.
“I don’t characterize it that way,” Anthopoulos said Sunday. “I guess I feel like it’s gone as expected. That’s not to say we’re right or wrong. I guess everything’s gone as expected, whether that’s trades or signings. I think the guys that have signed have been really good. I think every offseason there’s a trade or a signing that’s a surprise. That hasn’t happened yet. And look, maybe part of it is, there’s so much media coverage of sports now, so much discussion and analysis before things happen – ‘Who should trade for who? Who should sign for what?’ – that maybe you’re not surprised by a whole lot of things. But I think it’s gone as expected, I think all 30 clubs have their own needs and their own fits. But there hasn’t been any surprises as far as I’m concerned.”
Since that comment, Max Fried agreed to an eight-year, $218 million contract with the Yankees – the most lucrative for a left-hander in baseball history. And right after that, Nathan Eovaldi, who would’ve made sense for Atlanta and others, reportedly agreed to a three-year, $75 million deal to return to the Rangers.
Fried’s contract registers as a surprise because it is much higher than almost anyone could’ve imagined at the beginning of the offseason. Eovaldi went for a $25 million average annual value, which is a nice chunk of change.
Maybe nothing is too surprising to Anthopoulos or anyone else who works in the game. But the point is this: The free-agent prices aren’t friendly to teams looking to address needs, especially on the pitching side.
The Braves need an outfielder, a starter and bullpen help. Their internal options are stronger for the rotation and bullpen than for the outfield, which might mean that, if nothing else, Anthopoulos will bring in an outfielder. But nothing can be discounted. He always has something surprising up his sleeve.
“I don’t view any of these things – rotation, bats, any of these – as musts,” Anthopoulos said. “You’d like to do it. But you don’t just want to force a player that you don’t believe in, and then you’re trying to dig out of that hole, whether you traded for someone long-term, signed someone long-term. If it’s a short-term deal, sure. I don’t know that it’s easier one way or the other.”
And for the Braves, losing Fried probably doesn’t do much. They likely knew he would fall out of their comfort zone for an extension. He’s the latest star to walk in free agency, joining Freddie Freeman and Dansby Swanson before him.
When Snitker sat at the table answering questions on Monday, one out-of-town reporter asked him if the Braves’ trajectory changed when they didn’t re-sign Freddie Freeman.
“No. No, I think that’s part of the game,” Snitker said. “I think that’s part of the game. We didn’t sign him. We didn’t sign Dansby. That’s just – that’s just what we deal with.”
Baseball is a business. The Braves will keep pushing forward.
They must once again deal with a generational player on a division rival – this time Soto is on the Mets – but their aim is to win the division. It has not changed.
Snitker knows the NL East will be tough – again.
“Yeah, absolutely,” he said. “I mean, because you look at all those teams in our division. They just continue to keep getting better, as we do. We’re all working to get better. It’s a very strong division, which I don’t have any doubt that it’s going to be again.”
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