#Atlanta Braves

#Atlanta Braves

Sigh, this is a depressing one of these to do. Everything about Spencer Strider was, in theory, so awesome, that it didn't seem like a little thing like a year-long layoff due to elbow troubles was going to derail his career. Surely someone so diligent in being in tune with his body and mechanics could hit the ground running, right? Well, not exactly. After an uneven 2025, Strider's outlook is uncertain, and pretty fraught.

Last week, nine MLB teams terminated their contracts with Fanduel Sports Network's owners after a roughly four-year saga including non-payments, threats of non-payment, threats of bankruptcy in an attempt to lower payments, general non-good faith dealings, and nearly a year of bankruptcy hearings. Now Main Street Sports Group is back, offering those teams three-year contracts to own their broadcast rights if they can manage to find a new owner for FanDuel Sports Network.

Well the big news of the day was the Braves being linked in multiple spots to Tatsuya Imai. I have been pushing Imai a bit for the past few weeks for the Braves, as he makes a ton of sense. He wouldn't cost the 26th overall pick to sign him, which is a huge advantage over the other top starters on the market like Framber Valdez.

Azocar had a brief stint on Atlanta's MLB roster this year. He signed a big league deal on May 30 and spent a little over two weeks on Brian Snitker's bench. He was limited to two appearances, both as a late-game substitute, and flew out in his only at-bat. The Venezuela native also got into 12 games with the Mets earlier in the year. He made five starts and went 5-18 (all singles) with a pair of walks and a stolen base.

As an initial stab, you might have guessed that since adopting the power-oriented offensive approach in 2019, the Braves have not been much for accumulating stolen bases. That's fairly intuitive, but unfortunately, it gets somewhat upended by reality. The Braves finished just inside the top ten in team stolen bases in 2018, and then again in 2019. 2020 and 2021 were low-steal years,

With Christmas in the rear view mirror and start of a new week here, it could make sense for some more free agents to find new homes in the coming days. While still in the midst of the holiday season, recent years have shown activity can still be fast and furious. Perhaps the Braves can end 2025 and enter 2026 with their off-season basically complete if they can find a move for a starting pitcher they like this week.

The Braves likely remain involved in many of the conversations focusing on adding a starting pitcher. And with the added bonus of not having traded away any prospects to feel their offseason needs, they could always pivot to the trade market as well. The good thing is that many avenues remain available for the Braves to strengthen their already strong rotation, even if it could into the new year when the move finally occurs.

Besides Kyle Tucker, whom the Toronto Blue Jays also have a vested interest in, Bo Bichette remains the premier free agent on the market. The shortstop's latest update involved a revelation that he'd be willing to change positions for the right team, which is probably the right call after he "earned" -13 Outs Above Average at short in 2025. While that will surely appeal to teams interested in the two-time All-Star, Bichette's market is more or less defined already. He'll be too expensive for small-market teams to sign, and his various warts (injury history, defensive issues, etc.) will surely keep on-the-fence suitors at bay.

Joey Wentz might be the most interesting man on the roster going into 2026 Spring Training. Well, that's not really true. It's probably the new free agent acquisitions. But, with a Braves rotation returning from injury, and a potential cure for his location worries accounted for, he could put himself right in the mix as a swingman. As one of the prospects that the mid-2010s Braves fans pinned their hopes upon, it's good to see him back and performing well for once.