Things have been quiet on the Braves’ personnel front after the initial flurry of moves that included the signing of veteran starters Charlie Morton and Drew Smyly and the non-tendering of arbitration-eligible outfielder Adam Duvall, making him a free agent. But while teams await a resolution of the designated hitter issue — specifically, will the DH be used again by the NL? — and fans wonder whether the Braves will try to re-sign slugger Marcell Ozuna and who they might replace him with if they don’t, there are other questions to be answered, even as the hot stove struggles to stay lit.
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Here are several from the dozens you submitted this week:
Note: Submitted questions have been edited for clarity.
What are (Freddie) Freeman’s current contract parameters, and do you think he would take a hometown discount in order for the Braves to pony up the money to either sign Ozuna or make a move to bring in (Nolan) Arenado via a trade? Freeman has said money is not his priority. — Adam S.
Freeman is set to make $22 million in 2021 in the final season of an eight-year, $135 million contract he signed in February 2014, which was, and still is, the largest contract in team history. It was a relative bargain in hindsight based on his performance in recent years. He made $12 million in 2016 when he had 34 homers and a .968 OPS and finished sixth in MVP balloting; $20.5 million in 2017 when he missed seven weeks with a broken wrist and still hit .307 with 28 homers and a .989 OPS; $21 million in 2018 when he led the NL in hits and doubles and had 98 RBIs, made his third All-Star team, finished fourth in MVP balloting and won a Gold Glove; $21 million again in 2019 when he had 38 homers and 121 RBIs and finished eighth in MVP balloting and won a Silver Slugger Award; and a prorated $8.148 million last season when he was a near-unanimous NL MVP choice after hitting .341 with a 1.042 OPS and 53 RBIs in 60 games and leading the majors in runs and extra-base hits and won the Hank Aaron Award.
That’s all a long way of getting to this: Freeman should not be asked or expected to take a “hometown discount” after being a consummate team player during the Braves’ rough rebuild and now leading them to three consecutive division titles and within two runs of the NL pennant in October. He never complained when the team stunk and had a low payroll, and he has put himself out there by saying repeatedly he would like to play in Atlanta his entire career, even when he or his agent could’ve used the Southern California teams for leverage since Freeman is from Orange County and has an oceanfront home there and family members who live nearby. He never so much as insinuated that would be a good place to land if things don’t work out with the Braves. He won’t ask Atlanta for maximum dollars commensurate for a player of his ilk. He just wants something fair, and the Braves surely realize how rare it is to have a player so loyal through thick and thin, one so admired and respected by fans and teammates who has never tried to use any of that to his advantage to get a bigger contract or renegotiate his deal before it expired.
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Money isn’t his top priority. But to expect him to take a significant “hometown discount” as part of what will likely be his last huge contract is just wrong. He might do it, but he certainly shouldn’t be expected to, and the Braves would be best suited now and later by not trying to get him to take less than he could get elsewhere. As folks say so often on social media, pay the man. He’s one of the best five position players in the majors and should be treated as such by the only team he has played for and the one with which he wants to finish his career.
Why isn’t Andruw Jones a Hall of Famer? I’m assuming his vote total won’t take a significant jump this year. He’s possibly the best center fielder ever. Ten consecutive Gold Gloves. Did he upset too many West Coast writers when he went to L.A.? — Stephen B.
It appears Jones is going to have a hard time getting the 75 percent of votes needed to be voted into the Hall of Fame the traditional route. What do you think his chances are for eventual enshrinement? And when will he become eligible for the Era Committee to vote on his case? — Alan M.
Stephen, it has nothing to do with upsetting West Coast writers. Trust me, we don’t get upset at players who underperform, get hurt or get old. It’s part of the game. We just write about it. Sure, you develop relationships with certain players. You like some more than others because they’re good dudes, or they’re funny or they work hard and you appreciate what they do to play the game, or all of the above. But we don’t get upset if a player goes the other way for one of those reasons or if he declines for whatever other reason.
Why Jones hasn’t come close to getting in the Hall of Fame yet (this is his fourth year on the ballot) are twofold: Some writers don’t think he was an elite player long enough, that his final five injury-plagued and out-of-shape years were so bad that they tarnished his previous 11. And some writers, mostly older ones who look at traditional statistics more than advanced metrics, point to his .254 career batting average, which would be one of the lowest in the Hall of Fame, and his 1,748 strikeouts, which nearly doubled his number of walks in 8,664 career plate appearances. Why I think those who don’t vote for him are wrong: If Jones had been forced to retire early because of injury after his 12 seasons with Atlanta, I bet he would be in the Hall already, or at least would be close to getting in. And if he had retired after having those same seasons in a 12-year span with the New York Yankees, there’s no doubt in my mind he’d be in.
Instead, four of his five bad end-of-career seasons were spent in the country’s three largest markets: Los Angeles (Dodgers in 2008), Chicago (White Sox in 2010) and New York (Yankees in 2011 and 2012, his final seasons). He made a bad last impression in the biggest media markets. But that shouldn’t matter when it comes to voting, especially in an analytics-heavy era when defense gets its due and WAR carries the day with many writers. Jones retired with 434 homers and an .823 OPS in 17 seasons, and that, coupled with his remarkable defense, which produced Gold Gloves in the final 10 of his 11 full seasons with Atlanta, should be more than enough for the Hall of Fame. Some Hall of Famers were less elite than Jones — and for three or four years less than the 11-year stretch with the Braves through 2007, during which he posted a .343 OBP and .498 slugging percentage while averaging 33 home runs and 100 RBIs in 157 games played per year.
Read those numbers again. Eleven seasons with averages of 33 homers and 100 RBIs and Gold Gloves in each of the final 10 of those 11 years. He would also have an MVP award on his resume if not for Albert Pujols, who had stunning stats in 2005, when Jones led the majors with 51 homers and led the NL with 128 RBIs. But 10 Gold Gloves and 434 homers should be enough. That, and an endorsem*nt of the great Willie Mays himself, who once told Jones he was the best Mays had ever seen.
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Also, Alan M., I wouldn’t give up just yet on Jones getting elected to the Hall by the writers, even if he’s yet to get one-third of the required 75 percent for enshrinement. He should get a bump in voting percentage this year as the ballot has cleared up some after a logjam in recent years, and he’ll have six more years on it. There is increasing support for his election from some prominent writers and others around baseball. And if he doesn’t get in via the writers’ ballot, he’s a strong candidate for eventual election by the Era Committee, which will include some of his contemporaries who are in the Hall of Fame, and just about anyone who ever played with or against Jones agrees he was the best center fielder they ever saw — or is at least in the top two or three during their lifetime.
What will the Braves do with Ender Inciarte next season? — Sam A.
Even if they have to eat part of the $9 million that he is owed and the buyout of his 2022 team option, the best bet is a trade. I know the importance of having center-field depth, and you can say keeping a three-time Gold Glove-winning center fielder just makes more sense than paying for him to go away. But Inciarte isn’t a guy the Braves can stash at Triple A while making $8 million and have ready in case of injury. And Cristian Pache showed during the NLCS that he’s ready to hold his own offensively; if he can put together quality at-bats like he did against the Dodgers in the NLCS, after having almost no previous major-league experience, Pache doesn’t need to go back to Triple A, especially since he’s better defensively than Inciarte and has a far better arm. So the Braves should trade Inciarte, whether that means eating half the salary he’s owed or trading for a player unwanted by another team who they think might benefit from a change of scenery and help them in an area of need, perhaps bullpen or bench depth or a player who could be sent to Triple A. But having Inciarte at spring training, going through the whole thing with him again, people asking about his slow starts and all that just doesn’t seem to be beneficial at this point. It’s time to turn the page on that matter. Pache is ready and no distractions are needed. Ronald Acuña Jr. can move to center field if there’s an injury, and by midseason, Drew Waters should also be an option if needed.
Do you think Acuña will fix his strikeout problem? — Jacob C.
He played much of last season with a wrist issue, and the Braves are looking at it as a year in which Acuña survived despite not being at his best and still helped them, in a huge way at times, win another NL East title and get within a win of the World Series. He only missed a couple of weeks with the sore wrist, but it bothered him for most of the season, he and hitting coach Kevin Seitzer later said.
Yes, 248 strikeouts in 786 at-bats (and 917 plate appearances) over the past two seasons is excessive. But we have to keep in mind that Acuña turns 23 on Friday. He has missed time with injuries and played through some other physical ailments that would’ve sidelined some players. He’s tough. And he’s ridiculously talented. And along with those 248 strikeouts in 202 games over the past two years, there were 114 walks and 215 hits, including 55 home runs.
His .371 OBP through his first three seasons is impressive for someone with so much power and a desire to hit balls 1,000 feet. If he can produce a .371 OBP and .909 OPS along with 81 homers in 1,219 at-bats, which is what he has done in his first three seasons, just imagine what he’ll do as he continues to learn pitchers and what they’re trying to do against him. That comes with experience. I wouldn’t worry much about the strikeouts. As long as he’s getting on base and hitting the ball to all fields with authority, the rest will come. Consider this, since I’ve seen a lot of fans on social media advocating for signing George Springer: In Springer’s third season, and he was 26 at the time, not 22, he had 178 strikeouts and an .815 OPS. In four seasons since, he has averaged 138 strikeouts per 162 games with an OPS of .879.
What are the Braves going to do with (Mike) Foltynewicz and (Sean) Newcomb? They seemed to be out of sight and out of mind at the end of the year. Do they have anything in their Atlanta future besides being designated for assignment? — Alex R.
There’s no decision to make with Foltynewicz, who became a minor-league free agent after the season after been designated for assignment and outrighted to the alternate training site following his first start and not being added back to the 40-man roster. The Braves are likely to give Newcomb another shot at the Opening Day roster but he’ll be back in the bullpen role in which he was successful in 2019, not the starting role he prefers. He just hasn’t been consistent enough to count on again as a starter — he was 0-2 with an 11.20 ERA in four starts before being sent down last season — and I can’t see the Braves using him in that role unless as a spot starter or after another rash of pitching injuries.
The rotation is at least seven deep when Mike Soroka returns from his Achilles tear, which could be as soon as April and perhaps even by Opening Day. But even if the Braves are careful and give Soroka an extra couple of weeks on the injured list at the outset, they still have a potentially formidable Opening Day rotation with Max Fried, Ian Anderson, Morton, Smyly and either Kyle Wright or Bryse Wilson. And if there are injuries, they also have Huascar Ynoa and Touki Toussaint as options. That’s why Newcomb seems more likely to be prepared to be a reliever as a versatile lefty who could go multiple innings or possibly be used in late innings. Of course, he could also be a prime candidate to be traded this winter or during spring training if another team has a couple of injuries and remembers how good Newcomb was at times in the bullpen and as a starter, including the time not long ago when he was within one out of throwing a no-hitter against the Dodgers
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Newcomb could be sent to Triple A to begin the season or sent down to prepare to start if there are rotation woes early. The Braves have a couple of openings in their bullpen after the free-agent exits of closer Mark Melancon, setup man Shane Greene and sidearmer Darren O’Day, who are all free agents. One or more could be re-signed, but the Braves feel good about their returning quarter of back-of-the-bullpen options — Chris Martin and lefties Will Smith, Tyler Matzek and A.J. Minter — as well as Josh Tomlin and Luke Jackson, whom they re-signed, and several youngsters, including Jacob Webb.
Does Liberty Media have a plan regarding the Braves’ name and iconography? After what the Cleveland Indians have announced, it seems inevitable they’ll start by removing things like the tomahawk and eventually lead up to dropping the name. Or do they plan to do something akin to Florida State so they can feel comfortable remaining the Braves? — Rick H.
I disagree regarding any inevitability of the Braves ending the use of symbols and iconography such as the tomahawk and dropping the name in the foreseeable future. I say that because of statements issued during the summer, when team officials doubled down on the use of the name and team chairman Terry McGuirk said they were proud of the name and expected they would “always” be the Atlanta Braves. Then there was the release this month of a T-shirt featuring Native American syllabary for “ballplayer” and traditional designs. It was created by the team and a group that includes the Eastern Band of the Cherokees.
That working relationship and initiatives such as the T-shirt — proceeds will go to Kituwah Academy and the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians Speakers Council — came about after St. Louis Cardinals relief pitcher Ryan Helsley, a member of the Cherokee Nation, said in October 2019 he was offended by the Braves’ tomahawk chop and war chant. At the time, the chop and the chant occurred frequently during games at Truist Park, including during a pitching change involving Helsley in the 2019 NL Division Series. The Braves said they’ve had ongoing discussions about the use of the chop and the chant. It’s possible they will drop them, although they haven’t said they will, and it wasn’t an issue last season because fans weren’t permitted in ballparks due to COVID-19 restrictions. One option would be for the team to not play the music that accompanies and incites the tomahawk chant and not distribute foam tomahawks as the Braves have done occasionally, but not prohibit the chant if it occurs organically, such as if fans start doing it on their own accord. We don’t know yet what the team is planning in that regard, because it hasn’t said.
Anyway, I don’t see the Braves, the reigning Super Bowl champion Kansas City Chiefs or the Chicago Blackhawks changing their names any time soon. All three have said they have no intention of doing so. And while those team names and some of the iconography each uses certainly offend some people, they haven’t drawn the level of protest that was generated by the Redskins name for years before Washington’s NFL team finally agreed over the summer to change it, or the Chief Wahoo logo that Cleveland used, along with its name. The Braves stopped using their own Indian-head logo several years ago but have indicated no plans to drop the use of the tomahawk, which is stripped across most of their jerseys and is featured on many caps, T-shirts and other souvenirs and used throughout Truist Park. McGuirk has said the Braves name and the tomahawk are parts of the team’s brand and will continue to be.
(Photo: Dale Zanine / USA Today)
David O'Brien is a senior writer covering the Atlanta Braves for The Athletic. He previously covered the Braves for The Atlanta Journal-Constitution and covered the Marlins for eight seasons, including the 1997 World Series championship. He is a two-time winner of the NSMA Georgia Sportswriter of the Year award. Follow David on Twitter @DOBrienATL
