Years ago, a bunch of Braves executives – including iconic former manager Bobby Cox and standout former player Ted Simmons – sat in a room and evaluated the organization’s path forward. With the Braves set to undergo a rebuild, the group came to a realization.
If everything fell into place, 2021 or 2022 would be the target years for a World Series run.
“You could see the light at the end of the tunnel,” said Brian Bridges, the club’s former director of scouting who recalled this scene in a phone interview with The Atlanta Journal-Constitution.
Their predictions came true when the 2021 Braves made an incredible and improbable run to bring a championship back to Atlanta. And now, through the work of Alex Anthopoulos and everyone else in the organization, the Braves have positioned themselves to continue winning.
Around 2018 or 2019, Austin Riley, whom the Braves drafted in 2015, noticed the “core group is pretty special.” The 2016 Rome Braves team fielded Riley, Ronald Acuña and Max Fried.
“I feel very fortunate to be part of that group and the run that we’re on right now,” Riley said. “It says a lot about the front office, the work that they’ve done, really the guys, the personalities that they focus on. We’ve got a really good group of guys, guys pulling for each other. They come to work every day. When you go through those little bumps in the road, that’s where you can lean back on that, and, to me, that’s what gets you through those moments.”
The Braves have done this in a somewhat unprecedented way: They have given long-term extensions to many pieces of the core, something that doesn’t often occur in this sport.
Riley is signed through the 2032 season.
Acuña is signed through the 2026 season, but his contract includes club options for 2027 and 2028.
Matt Olson’s contract runs through 2029 and includes a club option for 2030.
Ozzie Albies’ deal has club options for 2026 and 2027.
Michael Harris signed a contract that goes through the 2030 season and includes a club option for 2031.
Spencer Strider’s extension runs through the 2028 season, and his deal has a club option for 2029.
This continuity could help the Braves. More than anything, it ensures they will field talented players for a long time. The extensions could backfire – who knows what happens, for example, in the sixth year of a deal? – but Anthopoulos, the Braves’ president of baseball operations, has worked toward sustained success.
“Just how young we are, the core group – we have the same mindsets,” Riley said. “To have that for four, five, six years down the road, I think it just builds to what we’re doing right now.
“It’s just like I talk about when us infielders play every day, you build that relationship with the guy next to you, whether it’s – now it’s Strider, Harris, those guys, you build those relationships and know what to expect from each other, and you can then build on that to hopefully be here year in, year out.”
The Braves went through a rebuild and exited it with five consecutive National League East titles (and counting). They’re now chasing their second World Series in as many seasons, with that core group of prospects leading the way as established major leaguers.
When Bridges, the club’s former director of scouting, watches the Braves these days, he sees a connection from the past.
“The Baby Braves of old,” Bridges said, referencing the large group of rookies who helped the Braves win a division title in 2005.
Once promising prospects, many of the Braves’ players have formed a core that could win for years to come.
“Anytime, you’re very fortunate to be in the postseason,” Riley said. “It’s very hard to get here. … The intensity (and) just everything about the postseason is exciting – and the waves of rushes and everything that goes with it is there.”
