Atlanta Braves news and notes from Saturday
Spencer Strider is a huge swing point of the 2025 season for Atlanta. There is a world in which he returns just as he left and immediately slots in early in the season as an ace level starter again and coasts at that level into the playoffs. There is another world in which he is never the same after his injury and settles at a level worse than his pre-injury level, as a more average starter or worse. He could also take some time to regain his former level and start of a bit shaky before hitting his stride(r). His status will play a huge role in the Braves’ regular season win total and playoff success, as the upside is as high as anyone in baseball, as we’ve seen. You have to hope that Chris Sale can be great again and that Spencer Schwellenbach can stabilize at his higher end level he flashed last season. We probably should expect some regression from Reynaldo Lopez, but he can still be plenty effective. A fully-operational Strider can make that top three of the rotation as good as, and perhaps better than any in baseball, but without that there is a lot more to question.
Braves News
Things continue to be painfully quiet on the Braves’ front, even as I still expect moves of note to be made this offseason.
MLB News
The Blue Jays have reportedly made an offer for Anthony Santander, who is reportedly seeking 5 years and upwards of $100 million. Toronto has continually come up short for major free agents in recent years.
Justin Verlander reportedly has interest from multiple teams and he could fit the profile that Atlanta likes as a veteran former star on a short term deal.
The Giants were reportedly in on trades for Garrett Crochet and Kyle Tucker, but did not want to include Bryce Eldridge in a package, so were not ultimately the winners of those sweepstakes. Of course, there are other ways to find value, so presumably Eldridge alone was not a take-it-or-leave-it dealbreaker for those teams, but I suppose we can’t know.