Offseason Preview: NL Wild Card exits

Atlanta Braves:

The 2024 season for the Braves can be summed up in one word: injuries. However, if you’re a fan of the team, a word you may also find yourself using often is resilience.

The Braves lost their ace, Spencer Strider, and their MVP, Ronald Acuna Jr., to season-ending injuries, yet were still able to secure a spot in the postseason on the season’s final day.

The good news is that the co-stars should both be ready for the beginning of the 2025 season. The bad news is that in their absence this year, the Braves had to plug in a mixed bag of spare parts, with varying degrees of success.

For instance, the 89-win Braves regularly deployed Whit Merrifield, Gio Urshela, Eli White and Luis Guillorme down the stretch as they chased down a playoff spot. Each of these players was basically unwanted as they were dumped by other teams or stashed in the minor leagues during the season.

They were, however, able to catch lightning in a bottle in the form of outfielder Ramon Laureano, who slugged .505 in 67 games as a Brave.

The Braves would love to have a better plan in place this year should injuries and underperformance once again ravage their roster.

Their most important impending departures in free agency will come in the form of rotation-mates Max Fried and Charlie Morton.

Fried, a lefty, has been with the club since 2017 and will be near-impossible to replace. He has produced a 3.07 ERA in 168 appearances in that time and was the Cy Young Award runner-up in 2022. He was an all-star this season and should demand a hefty contract in free agency.

Morton, on the other hand, is closing in on his 41st birthday. Although he has been a workhorse in his last 4 seasons with Atlanta, starting 30-plus games each year, his production has been trending downward with a drop in his strikeout rate. Based primarily on age, he may be staring down the barrel of retirement.

The Braves will need to do some major work this offseason, either in free agency or on the trade market, to fill in the back end of their rotation behind Chris Sale and Reynaldo Lopez.

In their lineup, the Braves will need a replacement for Adam Duvall, who is coming off of a down year in which the power bat clubbed just 11 home runs and accumulated a ghastly WAR of -1.4, one of the worst marks in the league.

It would not be surprising to see them check in on a superstar free-agent outfielder like Juan Soto, but given his monetary demands, it may be wise for them to look into a lower-cost bat like breakout outfielder Anthony Santander.

One may also wonder what kind of a leash the club will give shortstop Orlando Arcia after his ugly 2024 campaign. Willy Adames could be an interesting fit if the club decides to make a change.

The Braves will be largely improving at the margins this offseason with much of their core being set in stone for years to come, but they do have multiple holes that will need addressing.

Milwaukee Brewers:

The Brewers were expected to take a large step back in 2024, as they shipped their former Cy Young Award winner Corbin Burnes to Baltimore, signifying the potential beginning of a rebuilding period.

However, the club wildly outperformed expectations, winning 93 games and securing the top Wild Card spot in the National League. Alas, their playoff run was short-lived, as they saw a late lead slip away in the ninth inning of a decisive Game 3 with their star closer Devin Williams on the mound, as the righty served up a dramatic, go-ahead three-run home run to Pete Alonso of the New York Mets.

The way in which the team lost the lead will leave a sour taste in the mouth of fans entering the offseason, but it should not be forgotten that most projection models saw the Brewers as a 73-ish win team entering 2024. Their season can be viewed as nothing less than a success.

However, their path toward contending once again in 2025 is far from clear-cut.

This is due to the fact that their young shortstop Willy Adames is set to test the waters of free agency, and figures to land a sizeable contract, something that the Crew has balked at dishing out in years past.

Adames smacked a career-high 32 home runs in 2024, paired with 112 RBIs and 21 stolen bases. He is coming off of a career year and with the emergence of Joey Ortiz at third base this season, the club will likely be contempt to slide Ortiz over to shortstop and show Adames the door in free agency.

It will be a large hole to fill in terms of production, but the Brewers have enough young stars to feel confident enough to not search for an exact replacement.

The club will have at least one very easy decision to make, as they contain their top starting pitcher, Freddy Peralta, by exercising Peralta's $8 million club option.

Their patchwork rotation could use one or two seasoned starting pitchers, and they’ll likely set their sights on acquiring multiple mid-leverage relief arms to bolster their bullpen.

It would not come as a surprise to see the Brewers bring in a couple of veteran bats to compliment their youngsters in the lineup, but expect the club to refrain from making any high-profile signings in free agency.

Dominick Pizzelanti is a second-year dual majoring in broadcast journalism and Spanish. To contact him, email dqp5565@psu.edu.