Braves Briefing: The Free Agent Market to ‘thaw’ following Yamamoto’s Signing

With Yamamoto and Ohtani completing their contracts, the MLB Free Agency market may become more active.

The MLB offseason has taken some time to heat up.

Shohei Ohtani signed with the Los Angeles Dodgers after a quiet MLB Winter Meetings. The second-largest free agent arrived in Los Angeles on Thursday night.

Mark Feinsand of MLB.com believes that now that the two biggest names this offseason are off the market, the offseason may begin to thaw.

“Yoshinobu Yamamoto will sign with the Dodgers for more than $300 million, per source,” he said on X. With the Yamamoto sweepstakes coming to a close, the rest of the free-agent market may finally start to thaw.”

Atlanta is not expected to be too active but it’s hard to imagine them not adding another arm at some point in the offseason.

How long until pitchers and catchers report?

53 days. Atlanta’s expected to ask pitchers and catchers to report on Monday, February 12th, in advance of their first spring training game on February 24th against the Tampa Bay Rays. An official announcement of the reporting date will come in January.

Here’s the odds for the top 10 teams to win the 2024 World Series according to FanDuel

Los Angeles Dodgers – +400
Atlanta Braves – +650
New York Yankees – +850
Houston Astros – +900
Texas Rangers – +1000
Philadelphia Phillies – +1000
Baltimore Orioles – +1500
Toronto Blue Jays – +1600
Seattle Mariners – +1800
Minnesota Twins – +2200

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Alex Anthopoulos confirms Braves pursued Aaron Nola

The Braves have been in the market for a starting pitcher, regardless of nothing coming to fruition.

Atlanta has been linked to Dylan Cease, who seems bound to be traded by the White Sox after the dominos start to fall in the free agent market. Corbin Burnes is another option, but he is in the final year of arbitration.

A trade seems more likely at this point in the offseason because the Braves don’t seem keen on bidding on the top free agents. Alex Anthopoulos never pays sticker price.

However, it’s not a money problem because the Braves were in on Aaron Nola, and Anthopoulos confirmed as much in a recent interview with Jeff Schultz of The Athletic.

The Phillies competed with a slew of other clubs for Nola’s services, including their NL East rivals in Atlanta. It was reported that the Braves “were a real threat” to sign the veteran starter.