While David O’Brien of The Athletic speculates the Braves are trying to reset their luxury tax penalties this year, another Atlanta beat reporter is suggesting otherwise.
“Some ask my take on Braves’ inactivity. I still expect a move or two, probably via trade and hopefully not signing Scherzer when they could’ve just kept Morton at that kind of price. It seems obvious they’re determined to stay below luxury tax and reset penalties for 2026 (more),” O’Brien tweeted.
O’Brien speculates that Alex Anthopoulos could view the 2025 campaign as a year to see certain players bounce back from injuries and other shortcomings. Then in 2026, the Braves could make their “all-in” moves. Mark Bowman is reporting something else entirely.
“One source recently suggested the Braves have approximately $33 million to spend this offseason. This would put them slightly over the luxury tax’s first threshold, a hurdle president of baseball operations Alex Anthopoulos said he’s willing to clear,” Bowman writes.
That’s good to hear, and it matches what Anthopoulos said earlier in the offseason in an appearance on 680 The Fan. Atlanta’s GM noted that finances aren’t restricting the Braves from making moves, and even if DOB speculates they are, Bowman and the man himself, Alex Anthopoulos, are saying something else.
Now, that doesn’t mean the club is going to spend money because they’ve got it in their pockets. Anthopoulos has never done that. It’s about spending dollars and cents wisely. Nobody is more efficient in allocating payroll than the Atlanta Braves, but it doesn’t mean they’re cash-poor. That’s not the case.