The Atlanta Braves faced a disappointing exit from the playoffs, and it’s motivating the team to make some big moves in the offseason.
The Atlanta Braves faced a disappointing exit from the playoffs. After taking the NL East top spot from the New York Mets in the last week of the season, they were beat out of the NLDS in four games by the Philadelphia Phillies. The Phillies shouldn’t have been a difficult matchup for the defending World Series champions, so clearly there are issues that need to be addressed.
Team chairman Terry McGuirk shared a new goal as discussed with the Atlanta Journal-Constitution (subscription required but CBS Sports shared an excerpt) that he wants to “increase the team’s payroll further so that it ranks in the top five in the majors.”
The Braves had the eighth-highest payroll of 2022, so they definitely have improved. However, they want to continue making improvements by signing new players and extending those entering free agency.
Several talented players are entering free agency that will be worth a lot of money, including Aaron Judge, Carlos Correa, Xander Bogaerts and Trea Turner. They also have Dansby Swanson entering free agency, and he’ll likely be worth a good chunk of money to extend.
The Braves were on their way to becoming the first repeat World Series champions in over two decades, and they were capable of it. Changes need to be made.
The Braves could be unstoppable yet again with some upgrades
Atlanta already appeared to be unstoppable as they cruised up the NL East standings to secure the NLDS spot over the Mets, but they got knocked out by the third-place team to end their World Series fight pretty much immediately.
The Braves, however, have done great with development over the past few years. Prior to 2020, They hadn’t won a single round of any playoff game since 2001. They missed the playoffs roughly half the time, so their World Series win in 2021 was a surprise. They’re capable of doing it again, but this season just wasn’t in the cards for them.
