How much blame does Alex Anthopoulos deserve for Braves slow start?

The Braves are off to a miserable start, losing eight of their first nine games, and things don’t get any easier with the Phillies coming to town, who are already six games ahead of Atlanta in the division.

The silver lining? There are still 153 games left on the schedule, and reinforcements are on the way. But the harsh reality is that this roster has major flaws, and the responsibility falls squarely on the shoulders of Alex Anthopoulos. Since the Braves’ World Series run in 2021, his roster construction has left a lot to be desired.

For whatever reason, rumors have spread like wildfire surrounding the Braves’ payroll. It dropped by nearly $30 million from 2024 to 2025, causing many to assume Liberty Media prevented Alex Anthopoulos from adding this past offseason, despite there being zero proof that is the case. In fact, Ken Rosenthal pushed back against those claims, stating the Braves have plenty of money to spend to make mid-season acquisitions if they so choose. 

“… the team is now almost $14 million under the luxury-tax threshold, according to Fangraphs. The actual amount of cash available is even higher, according to a source briefed on the club’s situation,” Ken Rosnethal wrote. “And the only cost for exceeding the threshold would be financial; the Braves, by going over a third straight year, would pay a 50 percent tax on every dollar they spent above $241 million. Hardly an oppressive penalty, if the Braves even get there.”

That’s a pretty plugged in MLB insider directly refuting fan rumors that Liberty Media slashed payroll preventing Alex Anthopoulos from maneuvering. Hell, even Anthopoulos refuted this claim during the offseason when he told reporters payroll would continue to rise as it has year after year since he took over as general manager.

The reality of what happened this offseason is actually much more easily explained by Alex Anthopoulos’ past actions. The market for starting pitchers was absurd, hotter than it’s ever been before. Anthopoulos has never handed out a multi-year deal to a free agent starting pitcher as GM of the Braves… NEVER. Even guys like Frankie Montas were getting multi-year deals this offseason.

The days of getting a #2 starter on a one-year, $15 million contract are well in the rearview mirror. On top of that, Alex Anthopoulos thought some internal candidates could potentially take the next step. That bet hasn’t aged well. Ian Anderson has already been traded, AJ Smith-Shawver still looks a year away, and Reynaldo López may already be out for the season. This rotation clearly needed more depth, and Anthopoulos simply wasn’t willing to pay for it.

The Braves not adding a starting pitcher in today’s market was at least somewhat explainable. Most of the deals signed this offseason will turn sour, and Spencer Strider being on track to return in April gave the club even more confidence in the group they already had on the roster. What deserves to be ridiculed the most is Alex Anthopoulos’ handling of the bullpen.

The Braves watched A.J. Minter walk out the door in free agency, and Joe Jimenez underwent offseason surgery that will likely keep him out the entire season. Those were the club’s top two set-up men from a year ago, and they did absolutely nothing to replace them, outside of signing a few veterans to minor-league deals.

Relievers are a dime a dozen. Paying top market for one might be risky because of their volatility, but there are a slew of avenues Anthopoulos could have taken this offseason to improve the bullpen that wouldn’t have cost an arm and a leg. Just look at how the Braves acquired Joe Jimenez in the first place a couple of years ago, sending away a top 20 prospect for a high quality set-up man that was making less than $3 million. The only person that deserves blame if the bullpen continues to struggle this season is Alex Anthopoulos.

Lastly, the Jurickson Profar signing — the Braves only significant addition of the offseason — already looks ugly. On the one hand, fans that like to carry the water for Anthopoulos will say, “How could he have possibly known Jurickson Profar was on PEDs?!?!”

That’s fair, but it should be pointed out that 29 other teams weren’t willing to hand Jurickson Profar a three-year, $42 million contract because his track record prior to 2024 — over 10 years in the league — was dreadful. He was a below average baseball player that magically turned in a career year. These are exactly the type of deals Alex Anthopoulos has avoided in the past, and this is why. Paying guys following career years rarely works out in the team’s favor.

But why stop at just this offseason? Since the Braves won the World Series in 2021, Alex Anthopoulos has more swings-and-misses than a slumping Joey Gallo.

The Freddie Freeman debacle was a mistake, in hindsight. Matt Olson has been damn good for the Braves, but nobody was going to be able to fill the shoes of a first ballot Hall of Famer, both on the field and in the clubhouse. Anthopoulos’ refusal to negotiate with Dansby Swanson is also looking worse by the day, another guy that was a leader in the clubhouse. $177 million over seven years might have been an overpay, but there’s little doubt Swanson would have taken less to stay in Atlanta, and more than anything, the Braves haven’t even tried to find a long-term serviceable replacement at shortstop.

Things only got worse when Anthopoulos swung another blockbuster trade, sending William Contreras and prospects away for Sean Murphy. Contreras is already a far better player than Murphy on a cheaper deal, and those prospects could have been put to better use, helping the Braves acquire — I don’t know — more pitching?

But we’re not done just yet! For the icing on the cake, Alex Anthopoulos spent nearly $20 million to bring Jarred Kelenic to Atlanta last offseason, who has brought next to no value to the club over a season-plus. It didn’t look like much at the time, but if Alex Anthopoulos is really cash strapped, that $20 million could have gone a long way this past offseason.

Of course, Anthopoulos did hit a home run with the acquisition of Chris Sale last year, and the Reynaldo Lopez signing looked fantastic as well until he went down with injury. However, the notion that he is free of blame if the Braves struggle this season is a level of insanity I can’t even comprehend. There have been a slew of missteps, and the Braves roster is feeling the effects of them. Thankfully, Alex Anthopoulos still has several months to make things right, and we’ve seen what he can do before midseason.

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Photo: David J. Griffin/Icon Sportswire

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