With the regular season winding down and Atlanta still eyeing a playoff push, the Braves are already staring at an offseason that could get complicated fast. The list of needs is long: left field, shortstop, starting pitching, bullpen help, and possibly designated hitter if the club decides to move on from its current catching platoon. That’s a lot to sort through, especially with a payroll that includes a few contracts the front office would probably rather not keep staring at.
Most of Atlanta’s roster is built the way Alex Anthopoulos likes it - short-term, low-risk, and generally pretty efficient. Plenty of those deals have worked out, and some are flat-out bargains.
But not every contract on the books fits that mold, which is why the idea of a bad-contract swap starts to make a little sense. Those deals are rare now, but they do happen.
The Marcus Semien-Brandon Nimmo trade proved that much, and the Braves could at least kick the tires on a few of their own.
One possibility is a Spencer Strider-for-Dansby Swanson swap with the Cubs. On the surface, it’s the kind of move that would immediately grab attention because of Swanson’s history in Atlanta and the way fans still connect with him.
But the baseball case is there, too: the Braves need a shortstop who can actually pull his weight, and Chicago could use rotation depth. Strider has already become a hot name again after trade deadline rumors resurfaced, while Swanson’s bat may not be exactly what the Cubs are looking for.
The money makes this messy. Swanson is owed $81 million over the next three seasons, while Strider is due $64 million over the next three years plus a $22 million club option for 2029.
That kind of accounting makes a clean one-for-one deal tough to pull off. Atlanta might also want more than a league-average hitter at shortstop, and the Cubs already have no shortage of injury-prone starters like Strider, which helps explain why they’re searching in that market in the first place.
Then there’s the wild Austin Riley-for-Mike Trout idea, which is about as far-fetched as it gets and still somehow worth mentioning. The Angels’ new owners probably aren’t rushing to move the face of the franchise for what the source calls the ghost of Austin Riley, and Trout’s no-trade clause is a major roadblock since he hasn’t shown any willingness to waive it. Anthopoulos would likely want no part of that contract on its own, either.
Still, as part of a bigger deal, it’s not impossible to imagine. Trout is owed $148.4 million through 2030, while Riley is set to make $22 million a year through 2032 for a total of $132 million.
That setup would give the Angels payroll relief over a longer stretch, and it would give the Braves a shot at getting a right-handed outfield bat who could maybe rediscover his old form. It’s a long shot, no question, but it fits the “worth thinking about” category.
The third possibility involves Sean Murphy and the Yankees. This one is trickier because Murphy still brings real value with his defense behind the plate, and he has worked well alongside Drake Baldwin.
But the downside is obvious, too: Murphy has spent most of his Braves tenure injured, and his bat has been wildly streaky. That’s a hard profile to love when he’s under contract through at least 2028 at $15 million per year.
New York, meanwhile, needs a real catcher and has already been connected to Murphy before. The Yankees have the money to make something happen, though they’d probably rather move Giancarlo Stanton and his broken body than deal with the catcher situation that way.
In a larger package, Atlanta could also be asked to take Ryan McMahon, who could be treated as a utility reclamation project. McMahon is owed $16 million next year, but if the Yankees added a couple of quality prospects, there’s a scenario where the deal starts to make some sense.
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Braves Left Field Mess Just Made One Offseason Decision Obvious
The Braves have spent much of the year trying to patch together left field, and the results have made the problem harder to ignore. Since Jurickson Profars arrival, the position has been anything but stable, with the club cycling through options and getting little traction from recent tries like Mike Yastrzemski and Lane Thomas, who is now injured.
All of that points to one offseason task that figures to sit near the top of the list: find a real answer in left field. Atlanta could look inward and give prospect Patrick Clohisy a chance to force his way into the picture, but the more obvious path may be to shop for a more established fit, with names like Randy Arozarena and Seiya Suzuki already looming as possible targets. [Read more 🡒]
Braves Shortstop Plan May Not Be The Splash Fans Expect
The Braves are headed into an offseason with real questions at shortstop, and the market may not lead them to the kind of headline move some fans are hoping for. Ha-Seong Kim and Mauricio Dubon are both set to become free agents after the season, leaving Atlanta with a spot that needs clarity, and analyst Joel Reuter has pointed to a steadier type of target rather than a splashy one.
One name that fits that mold is J.P. Crawford, the former Gold Glove shortstop whose contract with the Mariners expires after this season. His bat has been modest, but he would bring the kind of veteran presence and everyday reliability that can matter when a team is trying to settle one of the infield's most important positions without overextending for a bigger name. [Read more 🡒]
Braves Bullpen Success Is Hiding A Bigger Roster Problem
The Braves bullpen has been one of the few bright spots on the roster this season, with the numbers suggesting a relief group that has largely done its job. But the bigger story is how fragile that success has been behind the scenes, because Atlanta has leaned so hard on veteran bullpen pieces that it has left the front office with very little room to maneuver once injuries, fatigue or inconsistency show up.
Without much minor league help ready to plug in, every tweak to the relief corps turns into a bigger roster puzzle than it should be. The lack of interchangeable arms has forced the Braves into constant moves just to keep the group functioning, and it has made bullpen management feel like a weekly exercise in patching holes rather than building true depth. [Read more 🡒]