Alex Anthopoulos discusses luxury tax and a potential blockbuster trade

It’s hard not to look back at the Braves’ dismal 2025 campaign and wonder what might have been if the team hadn’t gone completely silent during the offseason, failing to address several obvious needs, especially in a year when just 83 wins were enough to reach the postseason.

Whether intentional or not, the Braves effectively reset the luxury tax after exceeding it two years in a row. Alex Anthopoulos has maintained that ownership never mandated staying under the threshold, but we’ll find out soon enough if that’s truly the case. There are too many holes to fill this winter if the Braves want to return to contention.

“We went past it two years in a row,” Anthopoulos said when asked about the possibility of exceeding the luxury tax this offseason. “We didn’t say, ‘Oh, we’re going to go past it,’ it just happened… There was a deal [last offseason] that we were barreling down, but the hang-up ended up being the length. The AAV wasn’t the issue. Tax is based on AAV. The AAV would have taken us over the tax.”

Anthopoulos has held firm on this point since the beginning of the 2025 campaign: the luxury tax did not actively prevent the Braves from making moves last offseason. Many fans remain skeptical, which doesn’t make much sense — if he were simply protecting ownership, he’d only be hurting his own reputation by admitting he didn’t do enough to get the team back to the playoffs.

“The tax becomes an issue when you get so far over, so many layers and tiers over, that now you’re going to move back ten spots in the draft, or things like that,” Anthopoulos continued. “But if it’s just money, it’s a payroll allocation. We went over it twice, two years in a row. The first time we went over the first tier, the second time we went over two tiers… If the right opportunity presents itself, we’ve always had the ability to do that kind of stuff [sign marquee free agents].”

This is where things get interesting. When pressed on why the Braves made only one major move last offseason despite glaring roster holes, Anthopoulos revealed that most of the significant trade discussions involved NL Rookie of the Year candidate Drake Baldwin.

“Other moves we attempted to make, Drake Baldwin would have been going in the deal, among others,” Anthopoulos said.

Anthopoulos deserves plenty of criticism for how this season unfolded, but sometimes the best moves are the ones you don’t make, and this is a perfect example.

Drake Baldwin was the best rookie in the National League this year, regardless of whether he wins the award. He’s an elite talent with the potential to become one of the best catchers in baseball. Trading him would have been a massive mistake, but that doesn’t absolve Anthopoulos of his lackluster offseason. He has to be better this winter, or we’ll be having the same conversation again next year.

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