The Atlanta Braves and general manager Alex Anthopoulos are now in the midst of what seems to be a crucial offseason for the team’s future. Following yet another NL East championship in 2023, the Braves saw their season end in a disappointing first-round loss to the Philadelphia Phillies in the postseason. This has many questioning whether Anthopoulos and this current team will ever be able to return to the championship heights they reached in 2021.
However, Anthopoulos and the Atlanta brass have made a number of trades and other moves that have slightly weakened the Braves farm system in recent years. As a result, MLB insider Keith Law is not particularly impressed, putting the Braves’ farm system 26th in the MLB.
Law wrote, “Atlanta has traded everyone, almost.” “There is still some pitching here, possibly more if J.R. Ritchie recovers fully from his Tommy John surgery, but most of those guys—even their best pitchers, like Hurston Waldrep (No. 80)—carry a high reliever risk, and Nacho Alvarez may be the only regular position player in this group.”
As noted earlier, the Braves are attempting to determine precisely why their superior regular season play is not translating into the postseason, particularly when they play the Phillies. Spring training is scheduled to start later this month. In fact, the team has made a number of high-profile trades and acquisitions in an attempt to stay up with a talented NL playoff race.
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