Will Atlanta Braves stay aggressive at MLB Winter Meetings

With the MLB Winter Meeting set to begin this Sunday in San Diego, we look at whether or not the Atlanta Braves will be very active.

The Atlanta Braves have been the most active team so far this offseason, but will that trend continue into the MLB Winter Meetings, or does that mean their work is nearly complete?

We’ll be doing a bigger preview of the Winter Meetings on Saturday, but I wanted to give my quick thoughts on just how active Alex Anthopoulos might be next week.

You could say that Atlanta really has just one big move left to make — either re-signing Josh Donaldson or finding a big bat to replace him.

If you’re being optimistic like me, you might also be hoping for a big bat in the outfield and a top of the rotation pitcher.

But unless players like Ender Inciarte, Shane Greene, and Adam Duvall are moved to free up significant money, having all of those wishes filled seems unlikely.

That means this could be another very quiet Winter Meetings for Anthopoulos and the Braves.

Last year the Braves didn’t make a single move during the Winter Meetings.

The only news we got at last year’s Winter Meetings was that the Braves had some interest in trading for an outfielder with names such as Nicholas Castellanos and Nomar Mazara being mentioned.

There was also news of teams being interested in Ender Inciarte and Mike Foltynewicz. I wouldn’t be surprised if those rumors pick back up next week.

Nothing major was done during the 2017 Winter Meetings either other than taking Tyler Smith in the Rule 5 Draft. However, not long after Anthopoulos completed the Charlie Culberson trade (yes, I’m calling it that) with the Los Angeles Dodgers.

Atlanta was also rumored to be interested in trading for Christian Yelich and Chris Archer that year.

The vibe we’ve gotten from AA in his first two Winter Meetings with the Braves is that he’s not interested in being pressured into a deal at the event.

Instead, he uses the Winter Meetings to gather information about what other teams are doing (not in a collusion sort of way, obviously) and sets himself up for the rest of the offsesaon.

I wouldn’t be surprised to see the Braves rumored on a couple of trade candidates again, but I doubt there will be much activity in San Diego.

The offseason has been going at a much quicker pace this offseason though, and I do think we see a couple of top free agents come off the board at this year’s Winter Meetings.

Right now the biggest name that we’ll be watching at the Winter Meetings is Josh Donaldson — and in relation to that, Anthony Rendon.

Maybe things will be different this year and AA will make a splash or two at the annual event, but history shows us that’s not likely. Let us know in the comments below if you think this will be another quiet Winter Meetings for the Braves or not.