The Braves have arguably been the best organization in baseball at acquiring talent, developing it, and retaining it. From Alex Anthopoulos to the training staff, Atlanta is a first-class franchise. So, it’s no surprise Bleacher Report’s Zachary D. Rymer ranked the Braves front office the best group in baseball entering the 2023 season.
President of Baseball Operations: Alex Anthopoulos since Nov. 2017
After having constructed some very good (and fun to watch, to boot) teams in Toronto, Anthopoulos already had a good reputation by the time he arrived in Atlanta. Yet five straight NL East titles and a World Series championship in 2021 have only made it better.
It doesn’t take much to argue that Atlanta would not have won it all if Anthopoulos hadn’t gone out and gotten Eddie Rosario, Jorge Soler and Adam Duvall at the trade deadline. And while one might fault him for losing Freddie Freeman and Dansby Swanson, let’s remember that A) his financial resources aren’t limitless and B) what players he has locked up:
Players the Braves have signed to 7-plus year extensions since 2019…
- Albies: 7 years, $35 million
- Acuña: 8 years, $100 million
- Olson: 8 years, $168 million
- Riley: 10 years, $212 million
- Harris: 8 years, $72 million
- Strider: 7 years, $92 million
- Murphy: 7 years, $88 million
That’s seven team-friendly extensions that Atlanta has done under Anthopoulos, five of which went to players developed from within. That’s taking team-building well beyond mere roster-filling, so it seems a safe bet that the five-year run of success that Atlanta has had under Anthopoulos will continue for at least another five years.
So if we could, we’d gladly hire him to run our team.
I’m not the biggest fan of Bleacher Report, but I agree the Braves have arguably the best front office in baseball. Behind Atlanta was the Dodgers, Guardians, Rays, Cardinals, Yankees, Phillies, Padres, Mets, and Blue Jays to round out the top ten. I’m not going to go into detail with each one, but this is about how I’d rank them outside of a few differences.
Just because the Yankees have deep pockets doesn’t automatically qualify them as having a good front office; they should be lower. The Rays will always be one of my favorite teams because of their ability to compete while spending significantly less than other clubs consistently. Despite the Dodgers having as much money as any team in the league, they’re exceptional at acquiring and developing talent, rivaling the Braves.
However, what makes this ranking ridiculous is the Astros being dead last because of the personnel turnover in the front office. Jim Crane running things with no general manager apparently disqualifies Houston in these rankings despite winning two World Series in five years and developing talent as well as any club in baseball.
Still, you’ll get no argument from me on the top front office in the league.
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Photo: Rich von Biberstein/Icon Sportswire
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