How latest moves, injury news will affect Braves' offseason

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 -- Twenty four hours after declining catcher Travis d’Arnaud’s option and announcing that reliever Joe Jiménez could miss all of 2025, the Braves confirmed that outfielder Ronald Acuña Jr. and starter Spencer Strider will begin next season on the injured list.

Other than that, not much has happened this week.

Two days after the Braves were eliminated from the National League Wild Card Series, president of baseball operations Alex Anthopoulos said Acuña and Strider would likely return at some point within the first two months of the season. There was still some hope that one or both could be ready by Opening Day.

As for Jiménez, he battled knee discomfort down the stretch, but thoughts of him missing significant time next year didn’t exist until it was learned how much cartilage damage there was in his left knee.

But recent medical updates were as promising as the many others that depleted the Braves throughout this past season.

As Anthopoulos talked to reporters at the General Managers Meetings this week, he ruled out the possibility of Acuña and Strider being ready at the start of next season. This revelation came as Braves fans were digesting the fact that Jiménez will need 8-12 months of recovery after undergoing left knee surgery.

Whether Acuña misses the season’s first two months or just one month while recovering from his second major knee surgery in three years, there is now a greater need to find an outfielder. Michael Harris II, Jarred Kelenic, Ramón Laureano and Eli White currently stand as the top internal outfield candidates. Even if Acuña would have been ready for the start of the season, there would have been reason to question whether Laureano and Kelenic were the best options in left field.

If Strider misses one or two months, the Braves will need to account for his absence from a rotation that is already losing the 59 combined starts free agents Max Fried and Charlie Morton gave the club last year.

And the Jiménez gut punch created the need to add another high-leverage reliever. The addition of these unexpected offseason needs has enhanced how much the Braves will need to spend this winter. Unfortunately for d’Arnaud, this altered the team’s plan for him.

The Braves erased an $8 million cost by declining d’Arnaud’s option. They saved $6.75 million last weekend, when Reynaldo López and Aaron Bummer agreed to new deals that provide them a lower salary in 2025, but a larger guarantee over the life of their respective contracts.

Saving $15 million at the start of the offseason enhances Anthopoulos’ options as he evaluates the possibility of adding to his rotation, bullpen and outfield mix.

“That's why it was so important for us to have flexibility at the outset of the offseason, because there's a lot of different things we need to work through,” Anthopoulos said. “So, as we gather in information, work through trade options and work through different options in free agency, we'll start to piece things together and have a better sense of what we'll do to address our team needs.”