Anthopoulos' creativity paves way for bigger moves

NASHVILLE, Tenn. -- Though the Braves didn’t make a significant splash during this year’s Winter Meetings, they erased their need for a left fielder with a deal that could add to president of baseball operations Alex Anthopoulos’ great success on the trade market.

Anthopoulos’ creative approach led him to take on two bad contracts to acquire Jarred Kelenic from the Mariners on Sunday night. Kelenic hasn’t lived up to expectations since being taken with the sixth overall pick in the 2018 MLB Draft, but he was ranked as MLB Pipeline’s No. 4 prospect as recently as 2021 and he created some optimism before he broke foot when he kicked a water cooler in July.

• Braves get Kelenic, Gonzales, White for 2 RHPs

Kelenic produced a .759 OPS and hit 11 homers over the 90 games he played before sustaining the injury, so he’s certainly capable of hitting the 20-plus homers the Braves received from Eddie Rosario last year.

Anthopoulos has said that Vaughn Grissom and Kelenic could share the left-field position, but there’s certainly reason to believe only a horrible Spring Training would keep Kelenic from becoming Atlanta’s left fielder on Opening Day.

Why did the Braves take on the bad contracts to get Kelenic?

It was the only way they could take a chance on the left-handed slugger’s potential. But at the same time, they knew they wouldn’t need to assume all of the $29 million owed to left-handed pitcher Marco Gonzales and first baseman Evan White, the other two players acquired from the Mariners.

The Mariners took care of some of the cost by including $4.5 million in the deal. Then the Braves flipped Gonzales to the Pirates, who will assume an undisclosed portion of the southpaw’s $12 million salary.

White has had multiple hip surgeries and is owed $15 million over the next two years. It won’t be easy to move him. But Kelenic will make approximately $800,000, as he is not yet arbitration-eligible, and White is owed $7 million in 2024. The $7.8 million cost is cheaper than it would have been to keep Rosario or to sign one of the better free-agent outfielders.

REMAINING NEEDS

Now that the Braves have addressed their need for a left fielder, Anthopoulos can focus on his attempt to land a starter via trade or free agency. There was a lot of buzz over the past week about the possibility of landing White Sox ace Dylan Cease, but the Braves’ interest was overblown.

• Braves 'happy' with squad of position players

There’s a chance the Braves could pursue Corbin Burnes, Tyler Glasnow or another available frontline starter, or Anthopoulos could continue his tradition of landing a player who had never previously been linked to his team. The Braves could also choose to begin the season with Reynaldo López as a starter.

BOTTOM LINE

“We have him under contract for [2024]. ... Obviously, anything beyond that, we’re going to keep private. I can go into all the comments about how great he is. But I've done that many times in the past. So look, we're worried about 2024 right now. We always have an eye on [2025]. But the focus for us is 2024.” -- Anthopoulos, on the possibility of giving Max Fried an extension