What Atlanta Braves could have done differently this offseason

Now that the offseason is coming to an end, we take a look at what the Atlanta Braves could have done differently to build a contender for 2020.

Going into the offseason the Atlanta Braves had a need at catcher, third base, starting pitching, and left field.

Notice I didn’t mention the bullpen, and that’s where we saw Alex Anthopoulos be most aggressive early on.

His first move of the offseason was re-signing Darren O’Day to a one-year deal worth $2.25 million with a team option for 2021.

And then they shocked us all by signing Will Smith to three years and $39 million with a team option for 2023. Atlanta also gave up their second-round draft pick to sign Smith.

Then he went out and brought back Chris Martin on a two-year deal worth $14 million.

That’s $55.25 million guaranteed spent on relievers this offseason, and $22.25 of that going towards the 2020 payroll.

To fill the catcher vacancy, they signed Travis d’Arnaud to a two-year $16 million deal.

Now we’re up to $30.25 million added towards the 2020 payroll.

Next they signed Cole Hamels to a one-year deal worth $18 million to fill the need for another starting pitcher, adding a total of $48.25 million to the 2020 payroll.

For the next month-plus they tried to sign Josh Donaldson to bring him back at third base but were unsuccessful. Instead, they pivoted to fill the left field spot by signing Marcell Ozuna to a one-year, $18 million deal.

That means in total they spent $66.25 million towards the 2020 payroll this offseason. In this exercise we’ll assume that we have that much money to work with in building a team for the 2020 season.