Atlanta Braves: Top 5 outfield targets left to consider
We take a look at the top five outfield targets that are left this offseason for the Atlanta Braves to consider.
As the Atlanta Braves continue to look for ways to strengthen the lineup, there is a case to be made for making that improvement in the outfield.
If the season were to start today, Atlanta would feature an outfield that consists of Ender Inciarte in center field, Ronald Acuna Jr. in right field, and a platoon of Nick Markakis and Adam Duvall in left field.
The Braves ranked 16th in outfield WAR last season according to FanGraphs with a WAR of 9.3.
When you consider that 5.6 of that WAR came from Acuna Jr., you can see how it might behoove Atlanta to make some upgrades in the outfield this offseason.
The second-highest WAR from a Braves outfielder in 2019 came from Matt Joyce who actually had a solid WAR of 1.2.
If healthy, Inciarte can easily give you 3 WAR in center almost on his defense alone.
Even if you conservatively say Acuna will produce 5 WAR in 2020, that puts the projected WAR for the Braves outfield from those two positions at 8 for the upcoming season.
Duvall and Markakis combined to play in 157 games last year and put up a combined WAR of 1.1.
We have no reason to believe they won’t put up similar numbers as a platoon in 2020, which is why I’ve been screaming for them to upgrade left field all offseason.
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Atlanta really needs to find another outfielder that is going to give them a 3 WAR season. That could potentially give them an 11 WAR outfield, which would rank them in the top 10 in baseball.
Below we will look at a few options the Braves could consider to find that 3 WAR left fielder this offseason.
And I’m not necessarily considering all of these players as fall-back options if the Braves miss out on Josh Donaldson. For some of these players, I think Atlanta should be considering them along with Donaldson.