Braves News: Atlanta rates well in early ZiPS projections, Ronald Acuña Jr and more

We are still a long way from the start of Spring Training and the offseason as a whole has been slow to get started. Things should pick after Thanksgiving with the Winter Meetings on deck for December 4-7. With that said, projection systems are starting to drop and FanGraphs’ Dan Szymborski published his very early ZiPS projected standings on Wednesday.

The results are pretty appealing for fans of the Atlanta Braves as they are currently projected to win 96 games without any further additions to the roster. The Cardinals and the Dodgers are the next closest teams in the National League with 91 wins each.

As we noted on this week’s PTBNL Podcast, Steamer projections are pretty bullish on Vaughn Grissom as a potential replacement for Dansby Swanson. It appears that ZiPS is high on Grissom as well as Szymborski points out.

Here we see the results of Alex Anthopoulos ruthlessly ensuring that Atlanta’s entire core stays put for a very long time. Dansby Swanson is a big loss, but when you see the projection for Vaughn Grissom, you’ll understand why the Braves dominate this very preliminary run of the NL East standings.

Projections are just projections, but it is an interesting read and will provide some food for thought over the holiday.

More Braves News

• Our season review project continued Wednesday with a recap of Darren O’Day and left-handed prospect Adam Shoemaker. You can follow the entire series in this Storystream.
• FanGraphs’ Esteban Rivera took a closer look at what Ronald Acuña Jr. needs to do to regain his form post ACL injury.
• Speaking of Acuña, he began play in the Dominican Winter League with a bang.

Braves Podcasts

• Stephen and I discussed a variety of topics in a pre-Thanksgiving edition of the Podcast to be Named Later.

More MLB News

• Free agent outfielder Aaron Judge had a sit down meeting with the Giants this week that reportedly went well. San Francisco is expected to make an offer to Judge in the coming days.
• Bryce Harper underwent Tommy John surgery Wednesday and the procedure reportedly went well. Harper is expected to miss the start of the season and could begin hitting competitively by mid-May according to NBC Sports’ Jim Salisbury.
• The Texas Rangers announced the hiring of Mike Maddux as the team’s new pitching coach and the addition of former Royals general manager Dayton Moore as Senior Advisor to Baseball Operations.
• Cody Bellinger appears to have a robust market since becoming a free agent after he was non-tendered by the Dodgers. The Colorado Rockies are another team that is reportedly interested in Bellinger’s services.
• The Red Sox signed former Mets reliever Joey Rodriguez to a one-year deal that also includes a club option for the 2024 season. Rodriguez posted a 4.47 ERA in 50 1/3 innings with New York in 2022.
• The Seattle Mariners already acquired Teoscar Hernandez this offseason, but are reportedly interested in adding another outfielder to the mix this offseason.
• The Reds and catcher Tucker Barnhart have discussed a possible reunion. Cincinnati traded Barnhart to the Tigers prior to last season.