Braves offseason lookahead: What needs must be addressed?

The Braves, who are playing better lately, will be faced with a pivotal offseason as it relates to their contention hopes. They retain a talented core, but it needs supplementing.

With this lost season nearing its conclusion, here are some questions facing the roster this winter:

The offense and middle infield

The Braves are set at most positions. Start with the outfield, which should again feature Ronald Acuña Jr., Michael Harris II and Jurickson Profar. The latter has excelled recently as he tries to put a disappointing start to his Braves tenure behind him. He’s now looked like the productive on-base menace he was signed to be.

Harris is signed long-term and needs to translate his second-half production to the season’s earlier months. He’s been sensational in the past month and believes his adjustments will create sustainable success.

As for the rest of the offense, if the Braves commit to Drake Baldwin and Sean Murphy sharing the designated hitter role, that removes the possibility of adding a full-time DH type. Matt Olson and Austin Riley will continue handling first and third base, respectively.

So the Braves’ best avenue to improving the offense would be via second base and/or shortstop. The team has a $7 million club option on Ozzie Albies that includes a $4 million buyout. It’s unlikely to find a better player than Albies at a price that would make the buyout worthwhile, especially in a weaker free-agent market. Picking up the option and trading Albies also doesn’t seem probable because his value is at a low point.

Shortstop Nick Allen would be easier to upgrade offensively, but that would come at the expense of defense. He’s been superb, deserving of Gold Glove honors. But the most obvious route to bolstering their offense would come by adding a shortstop.

Bo Bichette is the best free-agent shortstop, but he leaves much to be desired defensively and will require a sizable financial commitment. Ha-Seong Kim has an opt-out or could be traded by the Rays, but he isn’t a legitimate offensive upgrade. Utilitymen like Willi Castro (who’s played only five games at shortstop this season) and Amed Rosario will be free agents.

It’s easy to say the team needs to upgrade at that position, but it’s not so easy to do. President of baseball operations Alex Anthopoulos has some decisions to make. How to handle the middle infield will be among the more fascinating ones.

If the Braves’ offense sustains its second-half surge, that’d make the club feel much better entering the winter. It could center its attention on pitching. But it’s difficult to envision the Braves beginning 2026 with Allen unchallenged as the starting shortstop. They need to add a more productive bat there.

The DH situation

As mentioned earlier, this could be addressed by alternating Murphy and Baldwin. Are they maximizing the value of both players with that approach? They’ve started using a trial period for this deployment down the stretch of this season.

Marcell Ozuna, whose Braves tenure will be remembered for varying highs and lows, seems unlikely to be re-signed, which opens the door to see the Murphy-Baldwin duo cover DH or for the Braves to add another player. Never say never with retaining Ozuna, of course, but him returning would make the most sense on a one-year deal, and his recent resurgence might earn him a larger commitment from an offensive-needy club.

The Braves will have to be diligent in how they invest their resources. Divide Murphy’s and Baldwin’s salaries by two and they’re paying around $8 million each for a DH and catcher. That’s pretty good, especially for the production they’d be getting (Baldwin has been the better bat).

But if options to bolster the infield are scarce, does that affect the approach here? Do the Braves explore another player who could serve as DH or be part of a rotation?

Some fans will speculate about the Braves listening to offers for Murphy, an All-Star catcher signed for an affordable $15 million annually through the next three seasons with a club option. But there’s some robbing Peter to pay Paul there, too.

The Murphy rumors last month were outside speculation. The Braves don’t seem inclined to go that route and it’s easy to understand why. They should be willing to listen on almost anybody, but moving Murphy could create other roster questions and leave them susceptible to a catching issue should Baldwin get injured or regress. Anthopoulos has consistently expressed his belief in the importance of having two quality catchers.

Teams need catching and Murphy, a bona fide backstop signed long-term, could appeal to clubs regardless of payroll size if the team was willing to trade him. He’d be among the better players available this winter and the Braves could garner a strong return.

File that under extremely unlikely. There was probably more space here devoted to the idea than there is credence to it. The Murphy-Baldwin duo is a strength.

The bullpen

Since they didn’t trade Pierce Johnson, the Braves have a $7 million club option that they could use to retain him (or pay a $250,000 buyout). Newcomer Tyler Kinley came with a $5 million option that could prove good value. Joe Jiménez, a crucial piece of the unit, should be back healthy. Dylan Lee will be eligible for arbitration for the second time.

Who’s the closer? Jiménez would be a candidate. Perhaps the Braves add one via free agency or trade. Could Reynaldo Lopez, an All-Star starter last summer who’s been sidelined throughout this one, be best utilized in such a way? A move back to the bullpen might be best for his sustainability.

The Braves could re-sign the incumbent Raisel Iglesias. But maybe the team decides Jimenez and/or Lopez could fill that role and the money would be better spent elsewhere. It’d be worth considering retaining Iglesias if the contract was around, say, two years, $25 million. It depends how the team wants to spread its wealth.

It’ll be paying $13 million combined for Johnson and Kinley if it picks up both options, and that’s good value in the all-important quest to build bullpen depth.