There’s a massive Braves offseason date in seven days

In typical fashion, the Major League Baseball offseason is moving at a snail’s pace, but there are a couple of events within the next week that Braves fans should be paying close attention to.

On December 7th, the MLB Winter Meetings begin — usually the point when major dominos, both in free agency and on the trade market, finally start to fall. Those meetings run through December 10th, and tucked right in the middle is the MLB Draft Lottery.

Set to take place on December 9th, the Braves have a 4.5% chance — the sixth-best odds of any team — to land the No. 1 overall pick after missing the playoffs for the first time since 2017. The last time the Braves owned the top pick was all the way back in 1990, when they selected Hall of Famer Chipper Jones.

Atlanta also added another first-round pick for 2026 when Drake Baldwin was named National League Rookie of the Year. That selection, paired with a potential top-five pick in next year’s draft, will give Alex Anthopoulos and his front office plenty of money to work with, presenting a real opportunity to significantly replenish a farm system that’s become barren at the lower levels.