For those interested, Hammer Territory had Robert Murray on the show yesterday and he had a lot to say about the team.
Essentially:
- AA is going to be very aggressive on the free-agent and trade markets for starting pitching, likely above anything else. He also said AA is known for being relentless — among the top guys in terms of calling other teams.
- He thinks the Braves have the money to legitimately be in the mix for every available pitcher; he just isn’t sure AA will give up the draft-pick compensation for some of them.
- If anyone is going to land Buxton, he thinks the Braves make the most sense of any team. He said Buxton is very open to waiving his NTC for Atlanta, but the Twins’ direction is still unclear. The industry is skeptical Buxton gets moved until the Twins trade Ryan or López, who he thinks come first.
- For trades, the Braves may actually be in a good spot for once because so many teams need pitching and our farm is loaded with pitching talent.
- There truly is radio silence around AA’s work — no one knows what he’s going to do.
- The Braves and Kim like each other a lot. But in his opinion, Kim isn’t very likely because he thinks Kim’s camp will wait out a deal and AA will move on to other options beforehand. Still, he thinks there’s a chance because both sides speak very highly of each other.
- The league expects Spencer Strider to be back to form in 2026, or at least back to an All-Star level.
- He doesn’t expect the Braves to trade anyone from their current roster. If anyone were to be moved, it would be Sean Murphy, but he specifically asked AA about it, and AA said he much prefers having two good catchers, so it’s not likely right now.
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