Braves GM alludes to blockbuster free agent deal that fell through

The Braves didn’t make any moves to improve the pitching staff this offseason. Hell, the only notable acquisition Alex Anthopoulos made in general was a $42 million free agent deal with Jurickson Profar.

Coming into the offseason, the outfield was the single biggest hole, so Anthopoulos at least filled that, but he left the pitching staff untouched. It didn’t quite make sense to Braves fans.

Atlanta watched Joe Jimenez go under the knife, A.J. Minter sign with the Mets, and still didn’t bring in anything more than a minor-league reliever. It was a gross oversight, something that has already cost the Braves a few games.

The rotation caused similar angst. Max Fried and Charlie Morton walked in free agency, and Anthopoulos’ reason for allowing that was Spencer Strider‘s return and Grant Holmes‘ emergence. To begin the season, our worst fears were realized, and it looked like Anthopoulos had made a mistake.

Reynaldo Lopez hit the injured list with a potentially season-ending shoulder injury. Chris Sale struggled out of the gate. Ian Anderson was traded after an awful Spring Training. A.J. Smith-Shawver still hadn’t found his control, and even when a positive development came, Spencer Strider made his highly anticipated debut only to go right back on the IL with a hamstring strain. However, a month later, and the rotation is arguably the strongest facet of the team. 

Sale is pitching like the reigning Cy Young, putting together a 1.72 ERA over his past five starts. Smith-Shawver has ascended to the top of the Rookie of the Year conversation, boasting a 2.33 ERA across seven starts. Schwellenbach has stumbled at times but still owns a 3.57 ERA, and Spencer Strider has been re-activated from the IL.

When Ronald Acuna Jr. rejoins the club, the lineup will feature seven strong hitters along with Eli White and Alex Verdugo platooning in left field. Michael Harris II and Ozzie Albies have struggled, but their track record suggests patience is warranted. Everything is on the up and up in Atlanta, and Anthopoulos has once again fielded a damn good baseball team.

Even still, the Braves could’ve been even better… apparently. In an interview with 680 The Fan’s  Chernoff and Chuck, the club’s President of Baseball Operations, Alex Anthopoulos, said they discussed a blockbuster free agent deal this offseason that would have put them over the luxury tax.

“It was documented, but we did pursue some things in November around Thanksgiving that we couldn’t get across the line for various reasons,” Anthopoulos said.

“We explored a deal, I don’t want to say when cause the timing will make it very obvious who the player was, but we were right there and ultimately, we could’ve said yes and we would’ve blown way past the tax and it wouldn’t have been an issue…” Anthopoulos continued later. “And what stopped was ultimately the length of the deal. It had nothing to do with money.”

If we want to put on our tinfoil hats, Max Fried did sign a record-breaking contract with the Yankees in mid-December. It was an eight-year, $218 million contract, the most ever for a left-handed pitcher, but it’s only $27.25 million per season.

That kind of AAV could have seemingly been in the Braves’ price range. Perhaps Anthopoulos offered a higher AAV, like $30+ million over six years, but Fried preferred the longer-term deal. A similar scenario played out with Freddie Freeman as well.

I assume Anthopoulos isn’t alluding to the Jeff Hoffman deal that fell through because that’s pretty well documented at this point. Mark Bowman reported that the deal was for five years and nearly $50 million.

“A source said the Braves had a potential deal that was nixed when Jeff Hoffman failed his physical. Hoffman also reportedly failed a physical with the Orioles before signing a three-year, $33 million deal with the Blue Jays.

Another source said the Braves’ deal with Hoffman would have been a five-year deal worth $45-48 million. The right-hander could have been given a chance to start before spending his final years of the deal as a reliever,” Bowman wrote.

Some other notable free agents that fit that timeline: Blake Snell, Willy Adames, Nathan Eovaldi, and Corbin Burnes. A couple of these targets have worked out spectacularly for the clubs that signed them; others, not so much. Perhaps Alex Anthopoulos missed out on striking gold, or maybe he avoided an albatross that would have hamstrung the organization for years to come.

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Photographer: John Adams/Icon Sportswire

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