Atlanta Braves: They are Not Trying to Compete

The Atlanta Braves may have had a busy off-season but don’t let it fool you, they are not ready to contend just yet.

The Atlanta Braves have had a busy off-season that has left a lot of fans excited and believing that the Braves are trying to build a contending team for the 2017 season. In reality the Braves are only looking to add trade chips and names that will put butts in seats. They are not trying to truly compete only to create the illusion that they are building a contending team.

A rebuild is not over within two seasons, rebuilds are long painful processes. The Braves are in the middle of one and are still at least a season away from competing for a postseason spot. The Braves are not trying to compete and any fan that can turn the blinders off long enough to take a look at their off-season can see what the Braves are going to do.

They have added a lot of names that are expendable both this off-season and in the last two years Bartolo Colon, R.A. Dickey, Jim Johnson, Nick Markakis, Adonis Garcia, Kurt Suzuki, Jaime Garcia,  and Blaine Boyer are just a few of the names that the Braves have added recently that are still with the team.

All the other veteran names that the Braves have added in recent memory? They are now part of other teams and the Braves farm has grown because of it. The Braves are setting themselves up for one last cash in at the trade deadline. The narrative that they are trying to build a contending team headed into a new stadium is one that the fans are buying but in reality isn’t the plan that the front office is going to follow.

They are looking to add to their farm in one last push and move the place holders and allow the kids in the farm to learn on the job for the remainder of the season. The Braves are still at least a season away from truly trying to compete and because of that are focusing on adding trade chips.

While it may be tempting to buy in that the Braves off-season has been focused on trying to compete it would be falling for the posturing that the front office has been doing for the last three years now. The Braves are on the end of a very impressive and fast rebuild that isn’t over.

Next: Braves Off-season Targets

The Braves are taking the smart road and not trying to compete before their talent is ready. Instead they are buying more time with veterans and maybe adding some prospects along the way. There is no questioning that the Braves have gotten better but they are not contenders just yet.