How Braves could address roster needs ahead of '25

This story was excerpted from Mark Bowman's Braves Beat newsletter. To read the full newsletter, click here. And subscribe to get it regularly in your inbox.

ATLANTA -- If you’re itching for the Braves to make a significant acquisition, you might be comforted to be reminded that president of baseball operations Alex Anthopoulos has made some of his most significant acquisitions during the month of November.

Notable November acquisitions
2018: C Brian McCann and 3B Josh Donaldson both sign one-year deals
2019: C Travis d’Arnaud signs a two-year deal; LHP Will Smith signs a three-year deal
2020: RHP Charlie Morton signs a one-year contract
2023: RHP Reynaldo López signs a three-year contract

Annual offseason roster reconstruction can be likened to building a puzzle. You can’t take care of some of your pieces (roster needs) until you have placed other pieces (other needs). So, with the need to add a starting pitcher, two relievers, an outfielder and possibly a utility infielder, I wouldn’t be surprised to see Anthopoulos add to his list of key November additions.

The Braves will likely use both the trade market and free-agent market to fill their needs. I was told Nathan Eovaldi is a potential free-agent target, and ESPN’s Jeff Passan recently reported Nick Pivetta could be on the Braves’ radar.

Instead of getting into a bidding war for a free agent, the Braves could go the trade route like they did when they landed Chris Sale last winter. The Braves got Sale and $17 million in exchange for Vaughn Grissom. Pretty sure that kind of larceny would get you 15-20 years in most states.

Which starting pitchers might be available via trade this winter? How about a Sale clone?

As a hard-throwing, lanky southpaw who has come up with the White Sox, Garrett Crochet has drawn comparisons to Sale. The 25-year-old hurler with two arbitration-eligible seasons remaining will be the most desired pitcher on the trade market this year.

MLB.com’s Mark Feinsand constructed a story that highlighted the most likely player from every position to be traded this offseason. Check it out to see what he had to say about Crochet.

Feinsand also listed the Angels’ Taylor Ward as one of the outfielders who could be moved. Ward would certainly fit the Braves. And no, I’m not saying that just because he’s with the Angels, who have become what the Royals were to the Braves after Dayton Moore went to Kansas City nearly 20 years ago.

The story included this paragraph about Ward:

Ward isn’t the type of player who will change a franchise’s fortunes, but he can make a legitimate impact on an already solid lineup. The Angels could capitalize on the club contractual control to import more young talent into the organization.

This is essentially what the Braves need as they prepare to likely spend the season’s first six to eight weeks without Ronald Acuña Jr. If the season started today, Atlanta’s outfield would consist of Michael Harris II, Ramón Laureano and Jarred Kelenic. Eli White would be the backup outfielder.

Ward could stabilize the outfield mix for a couple of months and then team with Acuña and Harris to form a solid outfield trio over the remainder of the season.

The Braves also must decide whether they want to pay Laureano the approximate $6 million he could receive via arbitration. A decision will be made by the Nov. 22 non-tender deadline.