Braves news and notes: Payroll increase, Grissom potentially to left field, losing Ron Washington

Catching up on news from around Braves Country as we get into the offseason

MLB's offseason has officially kicked off, with the first event after free agency begins being the General Manager meetings in Scottsdale, AZ. Despite the meetings ending early for medical reasons - there's a "stomach ailment" going around - we were able to get some news and idea of Atlanta's offseason plans when GM Alex Anthopoulos addressed the media before the event's conclusion. 

Expect the Braves payroll to increase this season

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Per Spotrac, the Braves ran a payroll of $208M in 2023, and that's expected to go up in 2024, President of baseball operations Alex Anthopoulos confirmed to reporters at the GM Meetings. 

He didn't say how much that increase would be, and was as equally guarded on specific offseason plans, saying merely "We have a list of guys that are fit for us and so on. Those are the guys we’ll have conversations with, whether that’s trade or free agency.” 

These comments were echoed by Braves chairman Terry McGuirk, who spoke via phone to Braves beat writer Justin Toscano of the AJC, saying "that ‘glideslope’ that we’re on, we will stay on," referring to payroll having risen every offseason for the last three years.  

It's good to know that the money is there to spend in 2024, although don't expect Atlanta to work in the top of the free agent market as those players usually require large dollar amounts AND significantly lengthy commitments, and that hasn't been Atlanta's M.O. under Anthopoulos. 

Complicating issues is the unknown comfort of the organization with paying into the Competitive Balance Tax. Despite a payroll of only $208M last season, the CBT figure for Atlanta was closer to $250M owing to how luxury tax figures are calculated and the additional spending that is grouped in with major league salaries. 

But a big signing or a trade isn't out of the question - of the "splash" that he's made every offseason for the last three, only one was a free agent signing (Charlie Morton, who signed a short deal and has extended it multiple times) while two were significant trades (Matt Olson and Sean Murphy) that saw those players sign lengthy extensions soon after arriving in Atlanta.  

Vaughn Grissom moving to left field is a possibility

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Anthopoulos was non-committal on who would fill the shoes of now-departed Eddie Rosario, who didn't see his $9M club option picked up for 2024. 

"I don’t know yet. We’re just going to take the winter to let that play out,” Anthopoulos said. “It could come in so many forms. We’re just getting started. So, I don’t have an answer for you. We’ll just see how the offseason keeps going."

But he did acknowledge that internal discussions about moving Vaughn Grissom to left field have happened. Grissom is playing in winter ball for the first time in his career, for Cangrejeros de Santurce in Puerto Rico, and it'll be an opportunity to get not only additional at-bats but much needed defensive time in the outfield if he is to be in the mix next season. 

MVP candidate Ronald Acuña Jr, as we've previously reported, is playing for Tiburones de la Guaira of the Venezuelan Winter League for the 2nd straight offseason. 

Universal praise for departed 3rd base coach Ron Washington

Tributes came pouring in about now-departed third base coach Ron Washington, who was announced as new manager of the Los Angeles Angels on Wednesday afternoon. 

I’m going to look back on this in my career, that I’m honored I got a chance to work with him,” Anthopoulos said. “He’s everything you could want. He deserves the opportunity. He’s excited. Obviously, I’m excited for him. It’s a huge loss for us. And I emphasize that in caps, bold, italicized, all of it. A huge, huge void. I had six years with him, and I can’t imagine I’ll be around another guy like that in my entire career.”

Players with the Oakland A's, Texas Rangers, and Atlanta Braves have all won Gold Gloves under Washington's tutelage, with many of them presenting him with their first award as a tribute and thanks for his work with them. 

"I can guarantee you, as word is spreading today, Angels players are incredibly excited and Braves players are incredibly sad.” said Anthopoulos. He added that he's spoken to manager Brian Snitker about the opening for an assistant coach, and the team understands that they could lose another assistant. Walt Weiss, bench coach, has managerial experience with the Colorado Rockies and Eric Young Sr. has been rumored to be joining Washington's staff in Los Angeles. 

Atlanta's not going to ignore the postseason results, but it won't drive the entire process

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Anthopoulos discussed the need to balance the realization that the Braves faltered twice in the Divisional Series with the understanding that it's not emblematic of the season as a whole. 

"I’d love to chalk it up to randomness,” Anthopoulos said to reporters. “The problem is, the feeling is so awful and it stays with you for such a long time that you don't make yourself feel any better by just saying it's random. So you're always going to look for reasons.”

He added that the 3-1 NLDS loss will impact what Atlanta does, but it's not the only consideration. 

"You have to be careful you don’t overweigh a four-game sample size,” Anthopoulos said. “But I don’t think you can ignore it either. I know that’s two answers in one. But, we have general ideas and thoughts. It likely will influence what we do this offseason, which is why I'm probably not going to get into it because I don't want people to know what we're trying to do, other than we want to make the team better.”

(Editor's note: Scheduling issues prevented Braves Today from attending the general manager's meetings - and for our health it may have been for the better - but we'll be in attendance at the winter meetings. Thanks to the Braves beat for the quotes from Anthopoulos.)

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