Alex Anthopoulos Establishes Braves Priority Positions to Upgrade

The Atlanta Braves have a goal in mind for bolstering their team for the 2026 season. General manager Alex Anthopoulos, via FanSided's Robert Murray, has established clear priorities for positions of need.

Positions that are expected to be a focus shouldn't be too surprising. It's shortstop, starting pitching and the bullpen. What did stand out is that Anthopoulos reportedly said the team needs “a lot of relievers."

Last season, the Braves certainly churned through a lot of pitchers. In total, they used 46 different pitchers, 31 of which were exclusively or primarily used out of the bullpen. There were a handful that started at least one game, but were typically relievers, such as Austin Cox and Aaron Bummer.

On top of that, they have to replace three relievers who are now free agents. Closer Raisel Iglesias's contract expired, and they surprisingly declined their club options for Pierce Johnson and Tyler Kinley.

The latter two pitchers were set to be paid a combined $12 million next season if they were retained. All three pitchers could still be brought back to help address needs in the bullpen that they've previously addressed. However, the Braves set themselves up to have the flexibility to go in a different direction.

The need for starting pitching is pretty clear. They lacked the depth to absorb injuries last season. Nineteen different pitchers made at least one start, and they had to bullpen a few games. At one point, all five Opening Day starters were on the 60-day injured list at the same time. No pitcher made at least 30 starts. Going out and getting starting pitching is a necessity.

In Murray's report, it's indicated that they want to get multiple. "Starting pitchers" is plural. Going out and getting one arm who can give 30 or more starts might not be enough, and that's understandable. They'll have some options in the prospect pool to choose from, but the results were mixed. Hurston Waldrep was stellar, while Didier Fuentes wasn't ready.

There are a couple of veteran arms that were never properly replaced in the Braves' rotation: Max Fried and Charlie Morton. Only one of those two consistently made 30 starts, but both provided a needed number of innings that were there in 2025. Fried pitched 174 1/3 innings while Morton pitched 165 1/3. Bringing in multiple veteran starters would be wise, if only to have the depth.

Shortstop is another obvious addition. They tried to bank on Ha-Seong Kim sticking around on his player option, and that didn't pan out. Shortstop was the team's worst position offensively last season, and Kim immediately changed that.

Bringing him back is an option, especially when there aren't a lot of free agent options to begin with. If they choose to make a trade, their options, naturally, expand further.

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