Atlanta Braves news and notes from Wednesday
Another year under Alex Anthopoulos and another set of glowing projections for this Braves squad, and rightfully so. While there are major questions regarding how well Spencer Strider and Ronald Acuna return from their respective major injuries, the squad has stars up and down the roster that make for a reliably good team barring catastrophe (like they experienced in 2024 and still made the playoffs). The upside for this team is absolutely here if those two megastars can return to their old form and they get a few other breaks along with, most crucially, health. I suspect there will be another move or two of note this offseason, even if they are for mid-level relievers, but Alex Anthopoulos deserves his flowers for building and maintaining such a solid and sustainable core for this franchise.
Braves News
Our fantastic prospect team has been releasing their preseason top 30 prospect list and #18-13 came out Wednesday, featuring a recent splashy international free agent.
The Braves signed Tyler LaPorte to a minor league deal, as a reliever with an interesting background to get a look in spring.
Fangraphs’ PECOTA projection system has the Braves as their second highest odds to win the World Series, just behind the Dodgers.
Baseball Prospectus released their top 10 Braves prospects and to nobody’s surprise, Drake Baldwin took the top spot.
The Braves were ranked as the 28th best farm system in baseball by Baseball America, with so much of their talent concentrated in the lower levels.
MLB News
The Astros signed outfielder Ben Gamel to a $1.2 million major league deal with a $200k signing bonus and the rest of the contract non-guaranteed.
The Yankeed DFA’d former Brave Alan Winans, as his stint was quite short as a Yankee.
The Twins signed Harrison Bader to a decent sized one year deal with a mutual option that will almost assuredly not be picked up, as those tend to go.