The Braves’ offseason chatter is already picking up, and Alex Anthopoulos gave fans plenty to chew on during his end-of-year media availability. Between Jurickson Profar’s future, the first free-agency window, and a fresh reminder of the William Contreras trade, there was no shortage of material.
Profar remains one of the biggest question marks on the table, and the Braves still have not settled on whether he’ll be back. Anthopoulos said the team will have internal conversations about how to handle Profar very soon. That decision figures to carry a lot of weight, but it still feels difficult to imagine the organization bringing him back.
The reaction around Profar is obvious. His name still triggers plenty of frustration from Braves fans, and for good reason. A second PED suspension has left a stain that is hard to ignore, and even beyond that, there’s no guarantee he would return as a difference-maker after missing most of the last two seasons.
Atlanta also appears ready to work quickly once the World Series ends. The Braves will have an exclusive five-day negotiating window with Mauricio Dubon and Tyler Mahle, and Anthopoulos made it clear the team plans to use that period. He stopped short of saying either return is a lock, but the interest is there.
Dubon may not be the flashiest name, but he gave Atlanta some useful moments and stepped in defensively at shortstop during Ha-Seong Kim’s lost season. Mahle is the more obvious priority. The Braves need rotation depth, and he pitched well after arriving in Atlanta, making him a logical target for the team’s early push.
And then there’s the reminder that probably stings the most: William Contreras keeps doing what he does best for the Brewers. The three-team deal that sent Sean Murphy to Atlanta has always felt unusual, but Contreras’ rise has turned it into one of the more painful calls of Anthopoulos’ tenure.
The Braves believed Contreras’ defense and game-calling would not hold up, and that judgment has aged poorly. Instead, he has established himself as one of the better catchers in baseball, and now Atlanta is watching him tear through October. That included his big night against the Dodgers on Monday in Game 2 of the NLCS, another sharp reminder of what the Braves moved on from.
In Other News...
Ronald Acuna Jr. Is Suddenly At Center Of A Braves Debate
Ronald Acua Jr.s recent postseason was a frustrating one, with his offense falling quiet in both the NLDS and the Wild Card rounds. For a player who has long sat at the center of Atlantas identity, that kind of October stretch naturally gets magnified, especially when the Braves are already navigating the kind of winter questions that come with another early exit.
Even so, any discussion around Acua is bigger than one rough postseason, because his contract situation gives Atlanta a layer of control that teams rarely enjoy with a star of his caliber. The debate now is less about what he has meant to the Braves than what his long-term place should look like as the organization weighs its options heading into the offseason. [Read more 🡒]
Braves Offseason Reality Just Got Tougher For Alex Anthopoulos
The Braves are headed toward the 2027 offseason with some breathing room on paper, but not nearly as much as the raw expiring money suggests. About $59.4 million in player salaries is set to come off the books, yet roughly $25 million in salary increases for players already on the roster trims that cushion quickly, leaving Atlanta with only so much room to maneuver if payroll stays steady.
Alex Anthopoulos is still staring at a tricky balancing act, especially with money tied up in uncomfortable places. Jurickson Profar is due $15 million despite his suspension, and Spencer Striders $22 million salary remains on the books while he is injured, all of which adds to the pressure as the front office tries to plan for a market that may or may not be changing under a potential MLB salary cap. [Read more 🡒]
Braves Prospects Got A Brief AFL Chance To Show Something Monday
Only one of the three scheduled Arizona Fall League games got on the field Monday, and even that one was trimmed to seven innings, but it still gave a couple of Braves prospects a quick stage in a 6-2 Scottsdale Scorpions win over the Glendale Desert Dogs. For Atlanta, any Fall League action matters, especially when so much of the schedule can get squeezed by weather or other delays, because those extra innings and extra at-bats are part of why these assignments exist in the first place.
Isaiah Drake got the start in left field for Glendale before being pinch-hit for in the sixth inning, and Owen Carey took over in left to finish the game. In a day with limited chances around the league, both got a brief look in the outfield, the kind of small but useful exposure the Braves can still track as the Fall League moves along. [Read more 🡒]