Should Braves fans be discouraged about lack of offseason action?

The MLB Hot Stove has taken off over the last several days, with many of the most prominent players available signing massive contracts, some with the Braves’ National League rivals.

The list of free agents is thinning quickly, and Alex Anthopoulos has yet to do anything to address some of the glaring issues the Braves face. It’s undoubtedly disheartening to watch a club with championship aspirations sit on the sidelines while the rest of the league continues to better themselves, but how discouraged should Braves fans be after this early round of signings?

There are two different ways to look at this, so I’ll start from a negative aspect.

This early round of free agent signings tells us one thing: Major League Baseball is an extremely lucrative business. Every team can afford to spend, and the Braves, especially, have no excuse not to be one of the top payrolls in baseball year after year. Truist Park is packed out from April to October, and the surrounding Battery area brings in even more revenue for the club. The Braves are making plenty of money, and they’ll make even more by continuing to invest in the team. It is a bit peculiar that they haven’t once strayed from the path and taken a risk on a marquee star in free agency.

On the other hand, the Braves are not cheap. This is a club that’s been inside the top-10 in payroll for the last several years, and they have way that they operate that has worked incredibly well for them.

Many of these contracts being handed out are absurd, truly atrocious deals that don’t make much sense now and will look even worse in a few years. The Braves don’t mind spending, but they are always trying to mitigate risk. Long-term outlooks are much more difficult to predict in a game with so much variance, which is why Atlanta prefers short-term gambles.

That’s simply the way Alex Anthopoulos and this franchise operates, and while it might be frustrating, there’s no questioning its effectiveness. There are still plenty of names available — both in free agency and for trade — and the regular season doesn’t start for several months. If Opening Day were tomorrow, the panic meter might be a little higher. But for now, take a deep breath. The Braves are in good hands.

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