Though it’s not the Atlanta Braves, the first major domino of the MLB offseason has fallen in the form of Blake Snell signing a massive five-year, $182 million deal to join the Los Angeles Dodgers.
The rich get richer. A year removed from spending a billion dollars on Shohei Ohtani and Yoshinobu Yamamoto en route to a World Series title, the new Evil Empire goes out and inks Snell to a contract far exceeding most expectations.
Shortly following the news breaking, Michael Harris II took to Twitter/X to say what all Braves fans are thinking about the deal:
https://twitter.com/MoneyyyMikeee/status/1861624291021746203
Michael Harris II’s reaction is perfect, encapsulating exactly how all of Braves Country is feeling today. No matter how efficiently Alex Anthopoulos spends his dollars, it’s discouraging to see clubs like Dodgers and Mets go out and pay sticker price for whatever they could possibly want.
The Braves are far from the poorest team; in fact, they’ve been among the biggest spenders in the sport for the past few years, but the gap between the top 10 and top 3 spenders is astronomical.
Blake Snell signing a deal for over $36 million per year for five years is also a good indicator that the starting pitching market is going to be bananas, which doesn’t spell good news for the Atlanta Braves.
The rotation needs to be bolstered, but the early returns on the free agent market aren’t great. As Anthopoulos does every offseason, he’s going to have to get creative. The trade market and high-upside free agents will be what the Braves president of baseball operations is looking for this offseason.
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David J. Griffin/Icon Sportswire
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