{"id":16431,"date":"2024-12-09T09:23:18","date_gmt":"2024-12-09T09:23:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/?p=16431"},"modified":"2024-12-09T09:23:18","modified_gmt":"2024-12-09T09:23:18","slug":"nothing-holding-back-braves-from-adding-to-roster","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/?p=16431","title":{"rendered":"Nothing holding back Braves from adding to roster"},"content":{"rendered":"
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12:26 AM UTC<\/p>\n<\/header>\n
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DALLAS — Braves president of baseball operations Alex Anthopoulos said his offseason pursuits won\u2019t be limited by the realization that stiffer financial penalties are levied against teams that exceed the luxury tax threshold for three consecutive seasons.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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\u201cI think the big thing for that is if you\u2019re losing Draft picks,\u201d Anthopoulos said. \u201cDollars still matter of course. But, it\u2019s just a tax. It\u2019s just a percentage you\u2019re going up. It\u2019s for every dollar over. You\u2019re aware of it, but it doesn\u2019t stop you from doing anything. If the right opportunity presents itself, we\u2019ll do it.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Anthopoulos will be evaluating what opportunities might develop as chatter increases during this week\u2019s Winter Meetings in Dallas. Offseason injury updates regarding Ronald Acu\u00f1a Jr., Spencer Strider and Joe Jim\u00e9nez add a few more offseason needs, and consequently some more potential cost.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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According to FanGraphs’ RosterResource, the Braves’ estimated luxury tax payroll stands just north of $217 million, approximately $24 million shy of the MLB\u2019s first luxury tax threshold for the 2025 season.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Teams that carry a payroll figure that exceeds a threshold are taxed on each dollar above the threshold, with the tax rate increasing based on the number of consecutive years a club has exceeded the threshold. The Braves would be taxed at a 50 percent rate as this would be their third straight year exceeding the threshold.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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The potential cost for the Braves likely wouldn\u2019t be significant because they\u2019re likely not going to have an exorbitant overage.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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\u201cThe tax and things like that, it\u2019s just a math equation, it\u2019s just dollars spent,\u201d Anthopoulos said. \u201cYou have X amount of dollars to spend. You\u2019ll bake it in and that\u2019s part of our total spend. You just account for it. But it hasn\u2019t prevented us from doing things in the past.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Clubs that are $40 million or more above the threshold shall have their highest selection in the next Rule 4 Draft moved back 10 places, unless the pick falls in the top six. In that case, the team will have its second-highest selection moved back 10 places instead.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Anthopoulos made it clear the current priority is to do whatever benefits the present big league roster.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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\u201cIt all comes back to the Major League team and if you can make your big league team better, especially when we\u2019re in a position where we are, where we\u2019re in a position to win at this moment in time with this core, that\u2019s always going to be the priority.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Flexibility is always the key. The Braves went into the offseason hoping Acu\u00f1a (torn right ACL) and Strider (UCL surgery) might both be available around Opening Day. They didn\u2019t even know Jim\u00e9nez (left knee surgery) was going to miss time. The team hasn\u2019t provided timetables, but Strider will likely miss April and Acu\u00f1a could be out until at least late May. Jim\u00e9nez will miss most or all of 2025.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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\u201cThose are three monster pieces,\u201d Anthopoulos said. \u201cIt\u2019s one thing if you\u2019re losing a bench player or a backup player or even a last guy in your bullpen, but this is a Cy Young candidate starter, an MVP-caliber position player and an eighth-inning guy who\u2019s as good as it gets. It had an impact.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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So, should the priority be an outfielder, a starting pitcher and a reliever?<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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\u201cThere\u2019s just so many places we can get better, especially when you look at all of the injuries we\u2019ve had,\u201d Anthopoulos said. \u201cDepth is always important as well. We\u2019re open to everything. Bullpen, offense, rotation. We\u2019ve had conversations about all three areas. I don\u2019t know what we\u2019ll come up with by the time the winter is over, but we\u2019re open to adding all three.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Some industry insiders think Anthopoulos will place the focus on getting an outfielder. His current outfield could consist of Jarred Kelenic, Michael Harris II and Eli White. There\u2019s a need to account for Acu\u00f1a\u2019s absence with a player who could also become the everyday left fielder if June arrives and there are still concerns about Kelenic being an everyday player.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Strider could miss four or five starts and then join a rotation that should include Chris Sale, Reynaldo L\u00f3pez and Spencer Schwellenbach. Anthopoulos indicated Grant Holmes could be used as a starter next year, though that doesn’t erase the possibility of adding a starter via trade or free agency. But whether used as a starter or reliever, Holmes will need to stay in the big leagues as he is out of options.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/section>\n<\/article>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

DALLAS — Braves president of baseball operations Alex Anthopoulos said his offseason pursuits won\u2019t be limited by the realization that stiffer financial penalties are levied against teams that exceed the luxury tax threshold for three consecutive seasons. \u201cI think the big thing for that is if you\u2019re losing Draft picks,\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":16432,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[69,424,44],"class_list":["post-16431","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-mlb","tag-baseball","tag-major-league-baseball","tag-mlb"],"yoast_head":"\nNothing holding back Braves from adding to roster - NEWS USA<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/?p=16431\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Nothing holding back Braves from adding to roster - 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