The Winter Meetings are finally upon us and we could see Alex Anthopoulos and Atlanta\u2019s front office making some big moves over in Dallas<\/p>\n
This Sunday marks the beginning of the annual Winter Meetings for Major League Baseball. The four-day long gathering of front office members, agents and some players is a major event that takes place each offseason and it\u2019ll be taking place in Dallas in the Lone Star State this year. Sometimes the meetings come and go without much to talk about that\u2019s actually newsworthy but sometimes you hear about John Coppolella having lunch with Dave Stewart and the Atlanta Braves end up trading for Dansby Swanson and Ender Inciarte. When you get that many movers and shakers in MLB in the same area for that long, something\u2019s usually going to happen.<\/p>\n
As far as baseball\u2019s offseason goes, it\u2019s been another relatively slow start. The big domino of Juan Soto\u2019s free agency decision has yet to fall but word on the street is that it could happen at some point next week. If that\u2019s the case, then the Winter Meetings could be the backdrop for pushing any potential Soto deal towards the finish line. I\u2019d imagine that once Soto signs his mega-deal that we\u2019ll start to see the rest of the market get active \u2014 or at least make sure the Dodgers aren\u2019t the ones snapping up everybody else out there.<\/p>\n
With that being said, the Braves have been a bit busy since the season ended. While the Dodgers were still nursing hangovers from their World Series celebrations, the Braves made the first trade of the offseason by sending Jorge Soler (and the $26 million that they still owed him over the next two seasons) to the Angels in exchange for Griffin Canning. I made sure to mention the money because Griffin Canning is no longer with the Braves after the (non-)tender deadline came and went. Ram\u00f3n Laureano and Huascar Ynoa are also free agents as well.<\/p>\n
Speaking of free agents, Max Fried is on the market after declining the Qualifying Offer of one year and $21.05 million from the Braves and while a reunion would make sense for both parties, it really wouldn\u2019t be particularly shocking if Max Fried found a new uniform to pitch in for 2025 and beyond. Reunions with A.J. Minter and Charlie Morton would also make sense as well but time will tell if that\u2019ll happen in the future.<\/p>\n
Those reunions make sense because those are the biggest positions of \u201cneed\u201d for the Braves right now. I added the scare quotes because the Braves are in a pretty good place as far as their roster goes. For the sake of a refresher, here\u2019s what ZiPS had them looking like back in late-November:<\/p>\n
\nA sneak peek at the ZiPS Projections x @FanGraphs<\/a> Depth Chart for the next team to go in ZiPS, the Atlanta #Braves<\/a>.#ZiPS25<\/a> pic.twitter.com\/hEb3iVBsBT<\/a><\/p>\n
— Dan Szymborski (@DSzymborski) November 20, 2024<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n