Looking ahead to Braves' 2024 season

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.

As teams were preparing to go to Spring Training this year, my colleague Anthony Castrovince put together this top 10 list of teams that had won the offseason.

The top two teams on the list were the Mets and the Padres, a pair of teams that paid a lot of money only to miss the 2023 postseason. The World Series champion Rangers, though, ranked third. So, you can’t totally discount making big offseason moves. But the Braves ended up winning a Major League-best 104 games despite not vying for that mythical offseason championship.

It’s great to see fans get excited about what is happening during the offseason. Dodgers fans should be thrilled. That’s good for the game. It was also fun to see D-backs owner Ken Kendrick react to the Shohei Ohtani signing by reminding reporters the superstar is just one of nine players for a team his club beat in this year’s postseason.

The offseason is fun, but it’s different for every team. Some teams need significant upgrades. Other teams just need some patchwork. At the end of the day, October is really the only month you want to win. You can help yourself from November to January, but nothing is guaranteed during these winter months.

My mother has always preached that it’s not how much money you have -- it’s how you spend your money. Spending lavishly is fun. Spending effectively is rewarding.

Here are three topics to ponder as we look forward to the upcoming season:

One player poised to have a breakout season: Jarred Kelenic

In Seattle, Kelenic was always going to deal with the pressure of being the top prospect who the Mariners gained when they dealt All-Star closer Edwin Díaz to the Mets. Yeah, the Braves have made a significant financial investment (nearly $17 million) in Kelenic’s future. But in Atlanta, he should be free from the pressure he felt while playing with the Mariners.

He’ll have the potential to hit 20-plus homers while sitting near the bottom of a lineup that features Ronald Acuña Jr., Austin Riley and Matt Olson. Having the chance to work with Chipper Jones and the Braves’ many other hitting instructors should also help this left-handed slugger begin to realize his great potential.

Prospect to watch in 2024: Hurston Waldrep

All eyes will be on Hurston Waldrep, the heralded right-hander the Braves took out of the University of Florida with the 24th overall pick in the 2023 MLB Draft. Waldrep guided the Gators to the brink of a College World Series title with the assistance of an impressive splitter. He watched a lot of video clips of John Smoltz while developing the swing-and-miss pitch. Across four different Minor League levels in ‘23, Waldrep posted a 1.53 ERA and struck out 41 batters over 29 1/3 innings. He’s still getting acquainted with the professional scene, but it won’t be surprising if he arrives in Atlanta at some point during the ‘24 season.

One prediction for the new year: Fried takes home hardware

We’ll save the predictions of a seventh straight division title and third straight 100-win season for later. The Braves won 104 games with Fried making 13 healthy starts. We don’t know if Fried will be in Atlanta beyond next season. But we certainly know what kind of competitor he is. As he distances himself from this year’s injury-blemished season and prepares for his final season before hitting the free agent market, he seems primed to win the NL Cy Young Award, which he strongly vied for in 2020 and 2022.