One mistake the Braves must learn from this season

It’s been a longtime since the Braves experienced real turmoil, and much of that is because of the brilliant work of Alex Anthopoulos. Even with star players walking out the door for nothing, Atlanta’s general manager was able to reduce the impact by finding value where a lot of people were not looking.

Anthopoulos saw the untapped ceilings in players like Chris Sale, Marcell Ozuna, Travis d’Arnaud, Orlando Arcia, Reynaldo López, Joc Pederson, Jorge Soler, Eddie Rosario, and more — often acquiring them for pennies on the dollar. However, when you go to the bargain bin one too many times, eventually, the damn is going to collapse. That is exactly what’s happened to these 2025 Atlanta Braves.

This year’s roster felt like it was constructed with rose-colored glasses. The Braves entered the season relying on the potential of Jarred Kelenic and Bryan De La Cruz. They thought they could get by with an offensive zero at shortstop again. Their rotation depth was reliant on nearly perfect health, the return of Spencer Strider, and the resurgence of Ian Anderson. The bullpen featured more journeyman veterans than high leverage relievers. Even the bench was horrifically put together.

If everything broke right, maybe this was a playoff-caliber roster. But in hindsight, there were far too many points of failure from day one. The Braves can’t enter 2026 hoping this was just a one-off nightmare where bad luck snowballed. This was a flawed roster from the ground up, and it’s set to look even shakier going into next year.

Chris Sale and Spencer Schwellenbach are the only quality starters on the roster, and neither of them have proven they can stay healthy for 162 games. The bullpen is in even worse shape, and the lineup could use several considerable upgrades. Not to mention, injuries happen to every single team every single season. Hoping for perfection is not a plan, especially with so many of Atlanta’s “star” players also showing signs of severe regression.

The bargain bin isn’t the answer anymore. These are problems that require real investment. If ownership won’t spend and Anthopoulos won’t leave his comfort zone, the Braves will be right back here next August, staring at another wasted season.