This year, the Atlanta Braves enter the offseason as World Series champions for the first time since the 1995 season ended. Now how can the Braves get back to the Fall Classic in 2022? That’s always the question as soon as the confetti stops falling, right?
So what will it take for the Atlanta Braves to find their way back to the World Series? Here are three ideas that we think could make a big impact.
First, the Atlanta Braves need to resign Freddie Freeman
This is perhaps the biggest no-brainer of them all, but a Braves team without Freddie Freeman at first base would not only not be as strong, but also just feel … weird.
After 12 seasons in a Braves uniform, Freeman is testing the free agent market and there is certainly plenty of competition to sign him for the 2022 season. However, Atlanta general manager Alex Anthopoulos has stated that Atlanta’s payroll will go up in 2022 and that, regarding Freeman, “Our goal is to sign him and to keep him a Brave.”
MLBTradeRumors.com has estimated that Freeman will ink a six-year, $180 million contract this offseason. Now 32, a contract like that would take the five-time All-Star and three-time Silver Slugger likely to the end of his playing career. Atlanta just needs to make sure that kind of contract has Freeman finishing his career in a Braves uniform rather than anywhere else.