Alex Anthopoulos has yet to sign a free agent to a guaranteed major league contract, but there was hope that Tanner Scott would change that. The Braves were linked to the blockbuster free agent, and a report from Jon Morosi  last week suggested a decision could come over the weekend. It did.
Unfortunately, Atlanta was outbid by their rivals in Los Angeles, with the Dodgers handing Scott $72 million over four years. The 30-year-old was coming off a season with 1.75 ERA, 2.33 FIP, and 4.5 fWAR; Scott cashed in for the biggest payday this offseason amongst relievers.
The southpaw was by far the best remaining relief arm, and it felt like the Braves needed to sign him with the losses of A.J. Minter and Joe Jimenez. Of course, there are still options left on the free agent market — David Robertson, Carlos Estevez, Dylan Floro, and Kirby Yates, to name a few.
But let’s not kid ourselves, none of them can sniff Scott’s level of productivity. It’s yet another instance of the Dodgers being the Evil Empire. They now have well over a billion dollars in deferred salaries while inking the top international free agent in Roki Sasaki for pennies.
It’s quite easy to just blame Alex Anthopoulos and the Braves, but at a certain point, you have to call a spade a spade and recognize what the Dodgers are doing is hard to compete with.
They’re the new-age Yankees; in fact, they’re doing things at a level that nobody has ever seen in this sport. This is Kevin Durant joining a Warriors club that set an NBA regular-season record with 73 wins and led the league in scoring.
If you’re the Braves, you just have to get that much more creative to beat the Dodgers.
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Photographer: Brian Rothmuller/Icon Sportswire
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