Braves 'happy' with squad of position players

NASHVILLE -- Braves president of baseball operations Alex Anthopoulos ended a call with his inquisitive 11-year-old son as he prepared to talk to media members at the Winter Meetings on Tuesday afternoon.

“He has some strong opinions on stuff,” Anthopoulos said. “He’s calling me every day to get updates.”

Everybody wants to know Anthopoulos’ next move. He fortified his bullpen with multiple early offseason signings and then found his left fielder when he acquired Jarred Kelenic from the Mariners as the Meetings opened Sunday night.

“[Kelenic] is the only position player we’ve worked on and we’ve also worked on getting a [starting pitcher],” Anthopoulos said. “Anyone speculating anything beyond that is someone who decided to make stuff up. But that’s it. We worked on [left-handed reliever Aaron Bummer] specifically and we worked on Kelenic specifically and we worked on a variety of starters, both trade and free agency. That’s been the offseason. Any speculation, rumors or anything indicating we worked on anything outside that is completely made up.”

A reporter later asked specifically about the possibility of Shohei Ohtani.

“What I can tell you is we are very happy with our position-player group,” Anthopoulos said. “We had a very good offense last year. We’ve only pursued one position player this offseason and that was Jarred Kelenic and we were able to get a deal done. We haven’t explored any other position players in any other capacity at any time.”

Some fans might want to hold on to the fact that Ohtani is a designated hitter/pitcher. ‘Tis the season to dream, after all.

But Anthopoulos essentially confirmed the obvious, which is that the Braves aren’t in the mix to tender the American League MVP his record-setting contract. This might be deflating to those fans who were hoping there was actually a chance Ohtani could land in Atlanta.

“I get creating fan excitement and all of that,” Anthopoulos said. “I can’t worry about that kind of stuff. That’s for [Braves president and CEO Derek Schiller] and [president and CEO of Braves Development Company Mike Plant]. They’re worried about that kind of stuff. I’m judged on building the roster and putting a good team out there.”

There’s no doubt the Braves have already strengthened their bid to win a seventh straight division title and more importantly, win the World Series. Here’s a look at what they’ve done, or could do, to the pitching staff.

Bullpen: Re-signed Pierce Johnson and Joe Jiménez. Signed Reynaldo López. Acquired southpaw Aaron Bummer via the Nov. 16 trade that sent Nicky Lopez and Michael Soroka to the White Sox. Bummer posted a 6.79 ERA this year, but he has incredible stuff and should benefit from the Braves’ strong catching duo.

Rotation: López could begin the season in the rotation with Max Fried, Spencer Strider, Charlie Morton and Bryce Elder. But there’s still a sense the Braves will add another experienced starter via trade or free agency.

“In terms of the core of the team, our outfield is set and our infield is set,” Anthopoulos said. “Our rotation has room. Our bullpen set, but we still have a spot we could do something with. That’s kind of how we’ve gone about it.”