After all, the Atlanta Braves may be more willing to spend money up to a certain point. Multiple sources say general manager Alex Anthopoulos is willing to go beyond the luxury tax to acquire the right pieces to make the team better.
They still pay attention, but it doesn’t dictate their decisions.
Alex Anthopoulos said if it makes the team better — they’re in win mode right now — the Braves could go over the $241 million luxury tax cap. , said he has no intention of stopping his actions. He said it’s not a big deterrent and he is aware of it, but it won’t influence his decision.
— David O’Brien (@DOBrienATL) December 8, 2024
For much of the offseason thus far, there has been talk that the Braves were strategic in trying to stay under $241 million to avoid and reset the luxury tax.
While it may not ultimately be surpassed yet, and AA didn’t guarantee it, these comments change the perception of the offseason. Initially, it appeared that the luxury tax might have changed priorities regarding which positions to upgrade and why to restructure the contracts of players already on the team.
But it makes more sense now that the Braves were one of the last teams actively pursuing Willie Adames, who signed a seven-year, $182 million contract with the San Francisco Giants on Saturday. are.
Now, even if this deal stopped them right away, we know that the luxury tax didn’t necessarily stop them. If you want to go stop-short in the market, you must be willing to spend money.
At some point, I needed to know when to back out. Even if you exceed the luxury tax, there are still some positions to fill. Signing him to a $26 million per year contract may not be the best choice. Knowing how to spend money is just as important as your willingness to spend it.
For the record, this is just a guess. But when updates like this happen, we have to consider what they mean and put our heads together.
This new update could lead to the reasonable conclusion that the Braves will still make some serious moves this offseason. This was published before the update, but Bob Nightengale of USA Today said it best.
“Now, as you know, we spent the first month creatively cutting payroll costs by about $38 million by trading Jorge Soler, leaving catcher Travis d’Arnaud, and restructuring two contracts. After that, Alex Anso We know GM Pros has some tricks up his sleeve…stay tuned. Anthopoulos pulled off a coup last winter by acquiring Chris Sale from the Red Sox and signing Reynaldo López. I let it happen.”
The Braves have a game plan. We’ve seen this in action, so we’ll probably see how they do it in due course.
