3 Things To Improve All 30 Teams — The Atlanta Braves
Yesterday, we spent a little time with one of the cellar dwellar twins, the Arizona Diomandbacks. Today, we’ll jump from the worst team in baseball, to the 2021 World Series champion Atlanta Braves. Finishing the regular season as NL East champions with a record of 88–73, one might think that there can’t be much better than winning it all. If you ask a Braves fan, there’s one thing they could say to refute that, “Let’s run it back!” In this piece, we will try to pinpoint 3 weaknesses the Braves can improve upon and strengthen their chances of doing just that. Let’s dive in.
1. Re-sign Key Members of the 2021 Roster
The Braves made a ton of moves at the deadline last year. With Acuna going down for the year on July 11th, the Braves needed more offensive fire power. Starting just 4 days later, the Braves traded for Joc Pederson. The day after that, they traded for Stephen Vogt. Two weeks after that, they really went all in. July 30th they traded with division rival Miami Marlins to bring in Adam Duvall, traded with the Cleveland Guardians for Eddie Rosario, traded with the Pirates for bullpen arm Richard Rodriguez, and finally traded with the Kansas City Royals for Jorge Soler. They were all in.
Here’s the bad news: all 4 of those guys, plus 2020 NL MVP Freddie Freeman, are currently residing in free agency limbo awaiting this lockout to end. First and foremost, Freddie Freeman needs to be signed by the Braves within an hour of the lockout ending. He is a Brave’s hero, homegrown talent, and he should finish his career as a Brave. Having spent the first 12 years of his career there, he has amassed a career slash of .295/.384/.509 (batting average/on-base percentage/slugging percentage) and a career OPS+ of 138 (has been 38 percent better than league average over the length of his career). He is far and away the heir apparent to Chipper and should be treated as such. He’s 32 now, so a 6 year deal at $22.5-$25 million a year should do the trick.
After bringing Freddie back, there’s still the question of the other 4 guys that played a huge role in the Braves success down the stretch. With the DH going universal this year, the Braves should bring back 2 of those 4 guys; Eddie Rosario and Jorge Soler. Eddie Rosario is the best fielder of the 4 and the most consistent bat. Having him in the 6 or 7 hole of their already deep lineup would be a luxury. At age 30 and as more of a role player, a 2 year deal with a club option for year 3 at $8-$10 million a year should be more than enough. Soler, on the other hand, is the worst fielder of those 4. DH would be the spot for him, and he has more than enough power for that role. With 25+ homerun power, slotting him in the middle of the lineup is more than a must. Also 30, 2 years and $12.5 million a year for him would be doable.
2. Keep Ronald Acuna Jr On the Field for 150+
Baseball is fun. Watching Ronald Acuna Jr play baseball is fun. Ronald Acuna Jr has fun playing baseball. Watching a Braves game without Ronald Acuna Jr on the field? Not so much fun. He is one of the bright young stars of our great game and could be a perennial MVP candidate, if he could stay healthy.
Debuting on April 25th, 2018, Acuna has had a chance to play in 444 games. He has only played in 395 of his potential games to this point in his career. He, so far, hasn’t missed as much time as other guys (Byron Buxton etc.), but has still only played in 88.96% of potential games or, 144.1/yr. That’s a lot, but it’s not enough for one of the game’s biggest stars. With the DH coming, giving him some games there during long stretches between off days or on double-header days would do wonders for his legs and his longevity. The Braves need to do whatever they can to get him the ellusive 40–40 (40 homeruns, 40 steals) season.
3. The Pitch Came Back
How does the old adage go? “Offense wins games, pitching and defense wins championships”? Well, the Braves have pitching in spades. That is, at the top of their rotation at least. With a 1–2–3 punch of Charlie Morton, Ian Anderson, and Max Fried, the top 60% of their rotation combined for an ERA of 3.30 (ERA is Earned Run Average. To simplify, it is the amount of earned runs a pitcher gives up per 9 innings pitched). The other 2 guys that got a majority of the starts from the 4 and 5 holes (Huascar Ynoa and Drew Smyly) combined for an ERA of 4.30. An entire extra run per 9 innings pitched.
In the coming season, 4 of those 5 guys are returning. Drew Smyly is a free agent, and that leaves a spot open for the Braves to either promote Kyle Wright to the rotation after his stellar World Series start (4.2 innings, only 1 run allowed in game 4 which the Braves won 3–2), or to bring in one of the many heralded free agent starters still available. Kyle did get 2 starts last year for the Braves in the regular season, however, and didn’t fare too well giving up 7 runs over 6.1 innings combined. Bringing in some outside help would be the best case scenario.
As discussed in the Diamondback’s piece (here) Zack Greinke, Clayton Kershaw, and Carlos Rodon are 3 of the best starting pitchers available on the market. With Zack Greinke potentially being the cheapest of the 3, the Braves could count on him for 30–32 starts at only $10–$12 million a year. And if they did sign him to a multi year deal, not only would he be a good mentor for all of the young pitchers in their organization, but they would also sell a lot of tickets on his chase for 3,000 career strikeouts (currently sits at 2,809).
The Braves also have not-so-secret secret weapon Mike Soroka due back from his injury mid summer. Assuming they do sign Greinke, that would give them a rotation of Charlie Morton, Ian Anderson, Mike Soroka, Max Fried, and Zack Greinke down the stretch with Huascar Ynoa playing swing man. That’s not a rotation to trifle with. Figuring out the 4 and 5 holes in their rotation would go a long way towards helping them repeat come October.
That about does it for our nit picking of the Braves. Keep an eye out for the next part of our series where we cover the Baltimore Orioles.
