Braves announce new real estate deal amid penny-pinching skepticism

Amid an 0-6 start, Braves Country is looking for anyone to blame — Brian Snitker, Alex Anthopoulos, and every other facet of the organization. Perhaps nobody deserves it more than the powers that be. The franchise’s lack of spending this offseason has already cost them.

“Despite Alex Anthopoulos stating on several occasions that payroll would continue to rise, it didn’t. According to Spotrac, Atlanta’s payroll ranks barely in the top half of the league at just over $212 million. Compared to last season when the Braves ranked 7th at nearly $240 million. That’s $30 million Atlanta chose not to spend to improve their roster this offseason,” Chase Irle wrote for SportsTalkATL yesterday. 

To make matters worse, the Braves just announced a new real estate deal, which is a total slap in the face to the fans that are skeptical of the company withholding funds from Alex Anthopoulos this offseason.

“ATLANTA–(BUSINESS WIRE)– Atlanta Braves Holdings, Inc. (Nasdaq: BATRA, BATRK) today announced the Braves Development Company’s acquisition of Pennant Park, a six-building office complex located at the intersection of I-75 and I-285 adjacent to The Battery Atlanta. Owned by Rubenstein Partners since 2017, Pennant Park features 763,465 square feet of office space situated on approximately 34 acres and includes over 2,700 parking spaces.”

There are multiple arms to Atlanta Braves Holdings, Inc., so this venture is (hopefully) not directly tied to the company’s decision to pull back payroll. However, the timing of this announcement could not be worse. Maybe read the room a little.