The Braves Are Still Loaded — But the Margin for Error Is Shrinking

For most of the last half-decade, the Atlanta Braves have lived in baseball’s penthouse. Division titles, deep lineups, elite pitching — they’ve been the model of sustainable contention, capped off with a title in 2021. But 2025 felt different. Not bad. Not broken. Just…tighter.

They were middle-of-the-pack across the board offensively, pitching struggled in every category beside quality starts (6th), and injuries hit them hard. The core is still there, but despite a playoff appearance in 2024, the offense has looked off for the last two years. From that standpoint, I think Atlanta will benefit from a change of pace with new(ish) manager Walt Weiss.

As stated, pitching, carried more volatility. The rotation battled inconsistency beyond the frontline arms, and bullpen leverage innings became more stressful than Braves fans are accustomed to. Almost every meaningful starter that occupied a rotation spot at the beginning of the season missed significant time due to injury this season.

Atlanta didn’t make headline-grabbing moves this winter — and that may be the biggest story of all. They were attached to Bo Bichette to upgrade the shortstop position for almost all of last season. Not only did they not sign Bichette, but they let him go to the division rival New York Mets…and didn’t really make a corresponding move. They resigned Ha-Seong Kim, but he just had finger surgery and is expected to miss 4-5 months. That leaves Mauricio Dubon, Jorge Mateo and Nacho Alvarez as the options at shortstop. Not great…

Biggest Need Entering 2026:
Rotation depth, bullpen reinforcement, and obviously…shortstop. I do think that if Schwellenbach, Lopez, Sale, and others can come back healthy, starting pitcher depth isn’t urgent, especially with Hurston Waldrep waiting in the wings.

However, bullpen and shortstop are major points of concern, especially with the departure of Pierce Johnson. They did bring in Robert Suarez, Tyler Kinley and others, but that’s just a start. They re-signed Raisel Iglesias, but he wasn’t quite the same in the closer role in 2025.

Have They Addressed It?
Not meaningfully. Again, they expect to get the bulk of last year’s rotation back in 2026, and if healthy, they have reason to be confident. But Robert Suarez is the only super meaningful bullpen addition.

I think the most meaningful way the Braves can address either of these needs (except for Framber Valdez. who’s still out there), is to try to make a deal at the deadline for a midseason rental. As far as the starter market goes, Tarik Skubal, Kevin Gausman, Michael King, Sandy Alcantara, Corbin Burnes, Brandon Woodruff, Clay Holmes, Jesús Luzardo, Shota Imanaga and José Berríos are all either on expiring contracts, have an opt-out or an option, and could be moved at the deadline. Andrés Muñoz, David Bednar, Aroldis Chapman and Ryan Helsley highlight the relievers.

The shortstop free agent market is less promising, but Bo Bichette‘s 3-year contract with the Mets DOES include opt-outs after the first and second years. Just saying.

Our Take:
The Braves remain a playoff lock on talent alone…if it all comes together. But the question marks remain: Can the returning Jurickson Profar and new addition Mike Yastrzemski make up for the production they lose if they don’t bring back Marcell Ozuna? Will the inevitably large free agent price tag for Ronald Acuna Jr. mean that the Braves will be saying goodbye? Can Spencer Strider return to Cy Young form? Standing pat on marquee moves while division rivals reload, isn’t promising. The Braves like their core of Olson, Riley, Acuna, Albies and Harris II (who went from being statistically the worst hitter to one of the best hitters in 2025), but in order to win a second ring this decade, championships require aggression, not comfort.