The Daily Chop: Liberty Media CEO sets bar high for Braves offseason

We will have to wait until the start of spring training to fully understand the Atlanta Braves’ offseason. However, team officials continue to raise expectations with their comments. Liberty Media CEO Greg Maffei is the latest official to discuss the team’s offseason outlook saying that the club plans to “spend some money” this winter.

“We’re well set up…with young talent,” Maffei told Faber before referencing Freddie Freeman, Ronald Acuna Jr. and Ozzie Albies as some of the club’s key young players. “But in addition, we just signed Will Smith–probably the best reliever in baseball. Yeah, we’re going to spend some money, and we have relative freedom under the cap and in our payroll compared to most people, including the Mets.”

Just last year we saw team chairman Terry McGuirk make some comments and then have to backtrack later. This time feels a bit different but most Braves fans will say that talk is cheap. For now we will have to reserve judgement until we see how the remainder of the offseason plays out.

If you want to watch the full interview with Maffei then you can find it here.

MLB Front Office/Coaching News

The New York Yankees have reportedly hired Rachel Balkovec to serve as one of the first full time female hitting coaches to be hired by a big league organization. Balkovec is expected to be based in Tampa and serve as a roving instructor throughout the organization.

The Los Angeles Dodgers have signed president of baseball operations Andrew Friedman to a contract extension according to a report by the MLB Network’s Jon Heyman. Terms of the deal are unknown but it is expected to eclipse the previous five-year, $35 million deal he had with the team.

Former Giants coach Hensley Meulens has emerged as the frontrunner to join Carlos Beltran’s Mets coaching staff as bench coach.

More MLB News

Major League Baseball officials who are investigating the alleged sign stealing by the Houston Astros have reportedly asked players associated with the organization what they know about a range of alleged sign-stealing techniques. Per the report, the Commisioner’s office has been inundated with accusations from officials of other teams and officials are trying to separate fact from fiction. Additionally, players who might have broken league rules are being told that they can expect leniency for answering truthfully.

The Chicago Cubs acquired right-hander Jharel Cotton from the Oakland A’s in exchange for cash considerations on Saturday. Cotton underwent Tommy John surgery in 2018 but failed to make it back to the majors last season.