After much back and forth, it’s time for the Braves to add something

· Michael Harris, and thank heavens for him.

· Jarred Kelenic, who was relegated to the bench at the end of last season.

· Eli White, who is 30 years old and whose career batting average is .191.

· Luke Williams, who is 28 years old and whose career batting average is .228.

And that’s it. Yes, it’s still early – the MLB Winter Meetings are in Dallas this weekend. Yes, the Braves will address this deficit. Currently the 40-man squad only includes 36 names. So far this offseason, however, Alex Anthopoulos has experienced deductions rather than gains. (The Braves signed Connor Gillispie, a 27-year-old reliever who has logged eight big league innings.)

Laureano is gone. Soler is gone. The pitcher acquired in the Soler trade is gone. (Griffin Canning, we barely knew you.) Travis d’Arnaud is gone, the Braves declining their option to keep him. They renewed the contracts of Reynaldo Lopez and Aaron Bummer. According to Spotrac, the Braves’ payroll fell to $183 million from $236 million last season.

Those who live to denigrate Liberty Media will view this as a corporate mandate to cut costs. The assumption here is that Anthopoulos plans to put these savings into action rather than by buying government bonds.

I doubt the Braves will re-sign Max Fried, although they will try. I doubt they will land Willy Adames, although they may escape. The Braves have long believed rushing into free agency is the most inefficient way to build a roster, and they’re not wrong.

The Dodgers can buy whoever they want and delay payment from here on out forever – The Associated Press reports that LA received more than $1 billion in deferred payments with the signings of Blake Snell and Tommy Edman – but the Braves are not the Dodgers. The Braves are stuck with Diamond Sports Group, at least for now. The Dodgers co-own the local network that broadcasts their games. Big difference. Huge difference.

The assumption is that the Braves will try to move up through a trade, which will come at the expense of a pitching prospect – Hurston Waldrep or AJ Smith-Shawver – and perhaps Ozzie Albies. (Although I would NEVER trade Ozzie Albies.) But the Braves can’t sit still this winter and hope to rule the summer of ’25. What happened last summer is an illustrative example.

The 2024 season was the first under Anthopoulos to mark a step backwards. The fact that the Braves still have a ton of good players on long-term contracts means they won’t be bad any time soon. Still, going 89-73 to make the postseason and win Game No. 162 wasn’t quite up to par by Braves standards.

Shortstop is a problem. Catcher is a problem, especially without d’Arnaud as a security blanket. Left field remains a turnstile. Assuming Spencer Strider returns to Eminence, the 1-4 rotation looks good, but rotations are never ironclad – and Chris Sale will be 36 in March.

Every front office has the same mission statement: Try to get better every day. If you don’t get better, you’ll get worse. I would be surprised if December ended without a big move from Anthopoulos.