Planning a Dream Offseason for the Braves (Part III – The Roster)

Braves fans, soak it up. You are World Champions. It still doesn’t feel real, and I’ve never had to do one of these pieces (Falcons, Hawks, or Braves) coming off of a Championship. I’ll do my best, but I’d say Alex Anthopoulos knows what he’s doing. I always do these for fun, so don’t take them too seriously. This is Part III of III that will show the final roster; Part I dealt with Housekeeping, Part ll dealt with free agent signings. If you want to read those, they are linked below:

 

Dream offseason for the Braves – Part I

Dream offseason for the Braves – Part II

 

This is the summation of everything, and what I think would be a pretty good offseason for the Braves if they trotted this group out on Opening Day.

 

Injured List:

 

RHP Mike Soroka

OF Ronald Acuña Jr.

 

Get well soon, boys.

 

Pitchers:

 

LHP Max Fried

RHP Ian Anderson

RHP Charlie Morton

LHP Carlos Rodón

RHP Touki Toussaint

RHP Luke Jackson

LHP AJ Minter

RHP Colin McHugh

LHP Tyler Matzek

RHP Jesse Chavez

LHP Will Smith

RHP Huascar Ynoa

LHP Dylan Lee

RHP Richard Rodriguez

 

I’m going to roll with 14 pitchers for now, and you’ll see why in a moment. There are a few guys you could mix in here, notably Kyle Wright — who performed very well during the postseason. Tucker Davidson and Kyle Muller are also candidates, but I think you can afford to start them in AAA and work them in whenever an injury happens. Right now, the only new additions are Rodón and McHugh, while Tomlin, Dayton, and Smyly all depart. Richard Rodriguez barely makes the roster over Jacob Webb, while Sean Newcomb gives it one more go in AAA. Spencer Strider is also just on the horizon.

 

Position Players:

 

C Travis d’Arnaud

C Jacob Stallings

1B Freddie Freeman

2B Ozzie Albies

3B Austin Riley

SS Dansby Swanson

SS Orlando Arcia

OF Jorge Soler

OF Eddie Rosario

OF Adam Duvall

OF/IF Travis Demeritte

 

Orlando Arcia and Travis Demeritte make the roster due to their positional versatility. Arcia can play all over the infield, and Demeritte can play all over the infield AND outfield. Hopefully, the DH is in play, and the Braves can get a good look at Demeritte. I think Ronald Acuña Jr. will be back pretty quickly, but there’s no reason to rush him. Whenever he is ready, you can send down a struggling relief arm with options to add him to the roster. I think Shea Langeliers and William Contreras will be ready soon, but I think it’s best to let them marinate in AAA before bringing them up. Jacob Stallings won a Gold Glove, so he is a perfect defensive backstop to manage the staff.