Perhaps the canary in the coal mine for Atlanta was the early spring injury to Sean Murphy. It was an eerie feeling to start Atlanta's season understanding how impactful injuries were in the 2024 season. Atlanta's quiet offseason didn't help fans feel less apprehensive. Still, Opening Day and the start of every season is defined by a hopeful fanbase, no matter how realistic those hopes might be. For Atlanta, they were wildly misplaced, with the team having the worst record in baseball for the first week of the season.
Making matters worse, starter Reynaldo Lopez was only able to make one start before being lost for much if not all of the 2025 season. This is to say nothing of Jurickson Profar's selfish decision that will cost the outfielder 80 games this season and any postseason eligibility. All pointing to one unavoidable fact, the Braves didn't do enough this offseason.
Braves' Penny-Pinching 2025 Offseason Has Come Back to Haunt Them
Alex Anthopoulos shouldn't be blamed for Atlanta's lack of impactful additions. It appears clear the Braves made a noted effort to scale back their spending, including letting Charlie Morton, A.J. Minter, and Max Fried all walk away. Any casual Atlanta fan could tell the roster needed depth in the outfield, rotation, and most importantly, the bullpen. Minor league reunions with Craig Kimbrel and Jessie Chavez weren't going to cut it if this team was serious about being a threat to the behemoth that is the Dodgers.
What was impossible to see coming is these decisions haunting the Braves instantly this season. Losing Jurickson Profar only three games into the season shone a spotlight on just how little the team did aside from signing the now-suspended outfielder.
Manager Brian Snitker, going with now-former Brave Hector Neris with the game on the line in the season's first series, made it clear Atlanta's leader had zero idea who he could rely on. This team could be in an entirely different conversation if they hadn't simply bet on the returns of Strider and Acuna fixing all of the depth and roster concerns.
Atlanta signing Profar and completely ignoring the rest of the team isn't removing the team from contention completely, but been undeniably costly to start the season. With that said, the Braves will have the aforementioned injured players returning and have the trade and free-agent markets to attempt to find answers. As dark as things might look, the season is far from lost, and Atlanta's leadership still has a chance to do the right thing.