2025-2026 offseason thread

Woodruff and Gallen received QO. Those two seemed like reasonable options for the Braves to pursue, but maybe not anymore. And both may be tempted to accept.

www.mlbtraderumors.com

13 Players Receive Qualifying Offers

Thirteen free agents received one-year qualifying offers from their teams. Read more at MLB Trade Rumors.
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Like everyone else I was surprised about Pierce and Johnson. I was also wondering how we play in this favorable reliever market when I projected Elder, Reynaldo, and Daysbel in the pen. Elder is out of options and makes sense as a long reliever/spot starter option. Reynaldo makes sense as a late inning reliever no matter what he says. We need 1 pen slot to go to a reliever with options and Daysbel could be that guy. In that scenario we’d have 2 spots open. Hopefully they’re focused on upgrades over Pierce/Kinley
 
50PoundHead said:
I didn't understand a bunch of the late-season moves in/out. Seems like they were auditioning a bunch of guys. Roster was going to be at 41 when all the 60-day DL guys are reinstated, so there will be shedding of guys and there are candidates more likely than Kinley to be shown the door, but those guys aren't set to make $5.5 MM.
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I think they were looking for people to pitch conletent innings n last season's team while also taking a few flyers.
 
CJ9 said:
I'm still scarred because we spent the beginning of last year's offseason convincing ourselves that declining d'Arnaud's option and restructuring Lopez and Bummer was because we were preparing to spend a ton of money. But it turned out those moves were made because we just didn't have much of it.

I think it's perfectly reasonable for people to be hesitant with their optimism because today's events feel eerily similar to the way last offseason started.
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I think that they had money but got consistently outbid on the ones they liked and were unwilling to forgo the cap reset to overpay and over commit to players they did not have confidence in.

I think if they could have gotten players at their number they would not have reset the cap.

To some degree my theory is with first plan lost, they decided to place a bet on guys getting healthy and adding at deadline and that crapped out also.

It seems to me that the Braves intentionality to this point has not to play through a short window and rebuild. The intention seems to be to not hit a protracted trough if they can avoid it.
 
this offseason: I don't think the Braves will be the high bidder on premium contracts because nothing suggests that they will ever be the high bid on those contracts whether they have money or not.

It also seems like a fairly lousy setup for the positions they need to fill. Starting pitching depth shouldn't be hard. Quality is going to be tough.

The OF class is uninspiring as is SS.

Alex may end up spending money on premium relievers gain as that seems to be a luxury he doesn't mind paying for.

They don't have a wealth of assets to trade so fixing their broken positions will be interesting.

Personally I don't see any reason why they shouldn't spend a second round pick on a QO if that is a player that fills a need at a contract that fits their general world view of short term commitments at fair FMV.
 
I think Lara and Sinnard are gonna play big roles in the BP this year along with a few other guys but they can't be counted on right away. We need one elite type of bullpen arm and one other really reliable arm. AA doesn't mind spending big on the BP so I think he'll get that fixed but the Lopez talk scares me bc he no doubt needs to be a BP arm going forward.
 
Southcack77 said:
this offseason: I don't think the Braves will be the high bidder on premium contracts because nothing suggests that they will ever be the high bid on those contracts whether they have money or not.

It also seems like a fairly lousy setup for the positions they need to fill. Starting pitching depth shouldn't be hard. Quality is going to be tough.

The OF class is uninspiring as is SS.

Alex may end up spending money on premium relievers gain as that seems to be a luxury he doesn't mind paying for.

They don't have a wealth of assets to trade so fixing their broken positions will be interesting.

Personally I don't see any reason why they shouldn't spend a second round pick on a QO if that is a player that fills a need at a contract that fits their general world view of short term commitments at fair FMV.
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The only problem with that is are there enough additions available to make any kind of meaningful impact if it’s not a Tucker or that sort.

I’m just not sure I see it unless it’s Kim, and another real legit bat like Bellinger.
 
Chico said:
Like everyone else I was surprised about Pierce and Johnson. I was also wondering how we play in this favorable reliever market when I projected Elder, Reynaldo, and Daysbel in the pen. Elder is out of options and makes sense as a long reliever/spot starter option. Reynaldo makes sense as a late inning reliever no matter what he says. We need 1 pen slot to go to a reliever with options and Daysbel could be that guy. In that scenario we’d have 2 spots open. Hopefully they’re focused on upgrades over Pierce/Kinley
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I've been wondering too myself lately if Lopez might not be part of a larger trade to offset some incoming salary.

I just think his public stance that he wants to start may create some friction that the Braves FO doesn't want to deal with.
 
MLBTR posted their FA predictions: https://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2025/11/2025-26-top-50-mlb-free-agents-with-predictions.html

They have the Braves signing Bassitt, Kim, and Iggy or Keller. That’s a total outlay of about $46M for 2026, and seems reasonable.

I consider that the bare minimum to be an acceptable offseason for AA. I don’t think he’s going to get a legit bat for OF/DH, and we will be stuck watching another terrible bench that isn’t used until someone is hurt…at which point we get to watch a AAAA player getting plenty of PAs.
 
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Enscheff said:
MLBTR posted their FA predictions: https://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2025/11/2025-26-top-50-mlb-free-agents-with-predictions.html

They have the Braves signing Bassitt or Keller, Kim, and Iggy.

I consider that the bare minimum to be an acceptable offseason for AA. I don’t think he’s going to get a legit bat for OF/DH, and we will be stuck watching another terrible bench that isn’t used until someone is hurt…at which point we get to watch a AAAA player getting plenty of PAs.
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That wouldn’t get them in the top ten of payroll. That is a D for the offseason.
 
I think AA trades for a SS at a lesser cost. AA isn't gonna wait around on Boras to play games all offseason. I think we match up well with the Cards.
 
Carp said:
I've been wondering too myself lately if Lopez might not be part of a larger trade to offset some incoming salary.

I just think his public stance that he wants to start may create some friction that the Braves FO doesn't want to deal with.
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I haven't even thought about trading Lopez. It would help offset 14 million of somebody's salary coming back. Cardinals and Twins come to mind. Both of those teams can help us fill big holes. Cards have Gray, Winn, and Donovan and the Twins have Buxton and Ryan.
 
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