Here we go again – the exciting 2018 season has unfortunately come to a close – I’ll leave it to you to decide how successfully for yourselves (a resounding one for most of us who chose to look at it as realistically being a learning exercise) – and with games still going on our thoughts have already turned to 2019. With a strong young nucleus to build around, important experience gained (as well as several questions answered positively), and tons of salary commitments coming off the books leading to flexibility for the first time in years, there’s little reason not to expect that Alex Anthopoulos and his front office team won’t deliver an even better 2019 and next several years to follow for Braves Country.

While there have been various conflicting reports about the exact amount of money AA will have available to him to pursue upgrades, let’s be somewhat sensible – wining and dining the biggest names potentially available (Bryce Harper, Manny Machado, Josh Donaldson, Clayton Kershaw, David Price) isn’t likely in the cards, even if they might be able to somehow shoehorn one of them in financially. Those guys just don’t make sense for the Braves as they’re beginning to see the rewards of stockpiling all this young talent. Could they use an “Ace” at the top of their rotation? Sure, anyone can, but Mike Foltynewicz took a huge step forward (that’s been a long time coming), and with a little tweaking they’ve already got one for a lot less than it would cost to convince Kershaw or Price to opt-out of their current deals. Harper and Machado are the types of players you build franchises around, but Atlanta already has two of those guys in Freddie Freeman and Ronald Acuna, and Machado and Harper will be looking for (and quite possibly get) MLB record deals – the types that can easily cripple a mid-market franchise like Atlanta. Donaldson has always been a huge difference-maker when healthy, but he’ll be 33 years old come Opening Day, and the Braves have Austin Riley very close on the horizon.

So where does AA upgrade and spend all that money? Here’s a first stab from the outside…

The most obvious needs are a corner OF to replace Nick Markakis (assuming he’s not brought back on a one-year deal) that will further upgrade the offense, a Catcher to pair with recently-extended Tyler Flowers, potentially a veteran SP, and significant bullpen help. If we assume that total payroll remains the same (or can uptick slightly as has been rumored is the eventual goal with the new revenue streams coming from SunTrust Park and The Battery Atlanta) let’s use $130 million as the “available” money AA has to spend (sportrac.com had the 2018 version of the Braves projected at $130,599,395). Current estimates have committed salaries in 2019 of ~ $80,250,000 including MLBTR’s projected arbitration raises for Kevin Gausman ($9,200,000), Folty ($5,500,000), Arodys Vizcaino ($4,800,000), Adam Duvall ($3,100,000), Dan Winkler ($1,600,000), Jonny Venters ($1,500,000), Sam Freeman ($1,500,000), Charlie Culberson ($1,400,000), Jose Ramirez ($700,000), and Jacob Lindgren ($600,000). For the sake of this column, we’re going to assume Duvall, Freeman, Ramirez, and Lindgren are non-tendered which would put the “spoken for” money at ~ $74,350,000 before renewals (or extensions that might get worked out). To be safe, we’ll use $600,000 as the renewal salary for Ozzie Albies, Dansby Swanson, Johan Camargo, Acuna, Sean Newcomb, Touki Toussaint, A. J. Minter, Jesse Biddle, and Chad Sobotka – adding another $5,400,000 to bring committed salaries to around $79,750,000 (those numbers shouldn’t be quite that high, but it’s always good to leave yourself a cushion). That would leave AA ~ $50 million to spend. Now we get to the fun part – how does he spend it?

1.) Let Markakis ride off into the sunset finally having made his first All-Star team.

Nick was a great story (and local draw) during the first half of 2018, having a career renaissance but he turns 35 next month, came crashing back to earth following the break, and was non-existent in the playoffs against the Dodgers. It’s time, probably even if he were willing to take a one-year deal to keep the gang together and get a “victory lap” with the fans. He doesn’t offer much power behind Freeman, and teams are increasingly going to pitch around Freddie to get to him (even if he doesn’t strike out a lot Chip Caray and Joe Simpson). His range is limited at best and his arm isn’t what it used to be, meaning teams are going to take advantage of that as well.

2.) Trade Sean Newcomb to Arizona for David Peralta to replace Markakis (moving Acuna to RF).

The “word on the street” is that the Diamondbacks are considering a reload (if not rebuild) and plan to “listen” on everyone. Patrick Corbin leaves them in free-agency this winter, and Newk could offer a controllable lefty with similar upside if he ever realizes his potential. Peralta ‘s projected by MLBTR to make $7,700,000 via arbitration in 2019, and is controllable through 2020 as well, providing a two-year bridge to the Braves’ young OF prospects (Cristian Pache, Drew Waters, Grayson Jenista). Peralta’s coming off of what’s likely a career-year (.293/.352/.516/.868 slash, 124 OPS+, with 30 HRs, 25 2Bs, 5 3Bs, and 87 RBIs). Peralta graded out as solid defender in LF in 2018 for the D-Backs (5 DRS), so he certainly wouldn’t downgrade the Braves’ OF defense compared to Markakis. (Expected Salary Cost – $7,100,000)

3.) Re-sign Anibal Sanchez to a one-year deal with a team option for 2020 to fill Newcomb’s rotation spot.

Yes, there’s still plenty of young pitching still in the pipeline (a good portion of it close to ready), but Sanchez offered the 2018 Braves far more than they ever expected when he was signed to a minor league deal during spring training, and the knowledge he was able to share with other members of the pitching staff may well have been almost as important as the stellar results he provided when he was on the mound. Anibal has said for some time that he’s interested in coaching when his playing days are over, and it certainly wouldn’t hurt to have him around as several of the arms expected to be long-term rotation pieces (Toussaint, Mike Soroka, and Kyle Wright) break in for good. He would combine with Folty and Gausman to give the 2019 club a strong top 3 they could feel comfortable counting on, allowing the youngsters to battle it out for the #5 slot behind the relatively consistent (if slightly disappointing) Julio Teheran who’s entering the final guaranteed season of the extension he signed several years back. There have been differing reports about his immediate plans and whether he’d be looking for multiple years but he’s been open about the fact that he loved his time in Atlanta, and offering him a team option year if he keeps pitching well and wants to go one more year wouldn’t likely put the organization in a terrible spot. (Expected Salary Cost – $9,000,000)

4.) Sign free-agent to be Yasmani Grandal to a four-year deal to be the lead half of the catching tandem.

Everyone loves Zook (Kurt Suzuki), but Grandal is younger (30 years old come Opening Day compared to 35), is much better defensively (9 DRS in 2018 compared to -7 for Kurt), is a better framer as well as switch-hitter which gives you a much better platoon opportunity without sacrificing any of Flowers’ defense, and hits for significantly more power than either Catcher the Braves employed in 2018 (24 HRs and a .225 ISO compared to Zook’s 12/.173 and Flow’s 8/.131). With Flowers controlled through 2020 as well, there’s no need to rush prospect William Contreras in the least. (Expected Salary Cost – $15,000,000)

5.) Sign free-agent to be Marwin Gonzalez to a three-year deal to bolster the bench.

Gonzalez is the epitome of the super-utility player, able to handle 8 defensive positions without really hurting you wherever you play him. He has pop (39 HRs over the last two seasons), and could combine with Flowers, Culberson, and eventually Johan Camargo (when Austin Riley arrives) to form an extremely flexible bench that can provide plenty of offense late in games. (Expected Salary Cost – $10,000,000)

6.) Replace Sam Freeman with Max Fried.

It’s time for the organization to stop bouncing Fried around and put him somewhere for good so he can get comfortable and just go pitch. Fried would be a pretty significant upgrade against left-handed hitters (Fried’s 2018 xFIP against them was 3.00 compared to Freeman’s 3.52), and he’d provide someone better equipped to fill the role of a LOOGY (along with Venters) having struck out 41% of the LHHs he faced in 2018 vs, Freeman’s 30.3%. (Expected Salary Cost – ~ $600,000)

7.) Re-sign Lane Adams as your 5th OF/speed threat.

Lane would likely be able to be signed for the league-minimum, can handle all three OF positions defensively in a pinch (although you’d prefer to keep him out of CF when possible), and the Braves have always loved the pop and speed he offers as a late-inning replacement, and you could “penny-pinch” a bit with a specialist as the 25th man on the roster given the flexibility and offense Gonzalez and Culberson provide. (Expected Salary Cost – ~ $600,000)

The total 2018 salary added with the above moves would be $42,300,000, and would bring the total projected Opening Day payroll to roughly $122,050,000 which should leave AA $8-$10 million to spend at the trade deadline if needed and gives you a 2019 Braves’ 25-Man Roster of…

RF- Ronald Acuna (R)

CF- Ender Inciarte (L)

1B- Freddie Freeman (L)

LF- David Peralta (L)

C- Yasmani Grandal (S)

3B- Johan Camargo (S)

2B- Ozzie Albies (S)

SS- Dansby Swanson (R)

Bench – Tyler Flowers, Marwin Gonzalez, Charlie Culberson, Lane Adams

Rotation – Mike Foltynewicz, Kevin Gausman, Anibal Sanchez, Julio Teheran, Touki Toussaint (with Luiz Gohara, Mike Soroka, Kyle Wright, and Bryse Wilson percolating in Gwinnett for depth and also available to be called on to help in the pen if/when needed)

Bullpen – Arodys Vizcaino (R), A. J. Minter (L), Darren O’Day (R), Jonny Venters (L), Chad Sobotka (R), Jesse Biddle (L), Dan Winkler (R), and Max Fried (L)