The calendar has turned to February, meaning Spring Training is right around the corner. Nearly all of the prominent free agents are off the market and nearly all of the trades that will happen before Opening Day have already come to fruition. So, by and large, how teams look right now is how they will look in less than two months on Opening Day (March 30). For the Atlanta Braves, they have had a bit of a mixed bag.
For the Braves, they didn’t have a ton of free agents but the highest-profile ones left the team. They include shortstop Dansby Swanson (Cubs), reliever Kenley Jansen, and outfielder Adam Duvall (both to the Red Sox). With those losses and their additions, what would be their grade for the offseason?
Grading the Atlanta Braves offseason
With those aforementioned losses, the Atlanta Braves did make a big acquisition as they traded for catcher Sean Murphy. In 2022, Murphy was one of the best catchers in baseball with his 5.1 fWAR and 120 OPS+ (both of which were second-best in the American League among catchers)
He had three years remaining before free agency but, on top of getting him from Oakland, the Braves were able to sign him for an extension. That extension will last for three seasons after Murphy would have been a free agent and a potential fourth year as well (for a total of a six-year contract with an option for a seventh).
They also signed some depth pieces in outfielder Sam Hilliard (formerly of the Rockies), outfielder/first baseman Jordan Luplow (formerly of the Diamondbacks), outfielder Kevin Pillar (as a minor league invitee), and relievers Joe Jimenez, Lucas Luetge, and Dennis Santana, among others.
While Hilliard, Luplow, and/or Pillar could help them in the outfield, left field and DH are a bit of a weak spot for the team. Eddie Rosario and Marcell Ozuna both really struggled at the plate last year.
On top of those two problematic areas in the lineup, the Braves could have a few other weak spots. Vaughn Grissom was great in his first 42 games in the majors, but can he duplicate it in replacing Swanson at shortstop? Especially after only playing 22 games at Double-A before being promoted to the majors, Grissom could see a sophomore slump in the majors. In addition to losing Swanson at shortstop, they are losing his leadership. Who will replace him in that role?
At second base, Ozzie Albies has missed more than half of two of the last three seasons (2020 and 2022) due to injuries. If he has an injury come up again, the Braves don’t have a ton of depth in the middle infield.
Overall, the Braves are still one of the best teams in the National League and one of the best teams in baseball. If they hadn’t traded for Sean Murphy and extended him, they would not have had a great offseason. However, with the Murphy trade/extension, it has bumped them up a lot. Now, we just have to see if it’s enough for them to stay on top of the Mets and Phillies in the NL East, after both teams have had great offseasons.