By: Colin Lacy

TheSouthernSportsEdition.com news services

Now another season for the Atlanta Braves begins.

After a NL East title in the Regular Season, a series win against the Phillies and falling in the NLDS to the Dodgers in the Postseason, the Braves turn their attention to arguably the most important season to a MLB front office, the off-season.

What is and what should be the priority for Alex Anthopolous and company over the next few months? Let’s dive in.

First off, we’ll start with the two that are as close to a lock as you can get. Ozzie Albies and Ronald Acuna Jr. have team-friendly club options for this season and are expected to have the Braves accept those options. The club options would give $17 million to Acuna and $7 million to Albies.

One free agent that may be a quieter than deserved bidding war is utility man Mauricio Dubon. Dubon had one of his best years of his career and has made comments in the last few weeks that he feels like “he’s earned this free agency cycle.”

Dubon bounced around the field in 2026 for Atlanta playing five different positions. Most of those appearances came at shortstop and left field. While many are calling for the Braves to resign Dubon and make him the everyday shortstop, the better fit in my eyes would be to resign him and make him your consistent left fielder.

Braves will also have the man expected to be the shortstop at the beginning of the year in Ha-Seong Kim hitting free agency as well. Kim’s 2026 season will be one he would like to forget after a year flooded with injury and frankly underperformance, a new situation may be better for Kim elsewhere.

There are a couple of down the depth chart guys that enter free agency on the position player side like Lane Thomas, and Rowdy Telez who spent most of the season at Triple A Gwinnett.

You would imagine that the mound will be a heavy emphasis this offseason, and it starts with sifting through those that could be departing.

The first that pops up on the radar is Braves closer Raisel Iglesias. Last season, “Iggy” signed a one-year $16 million deal to return to Atlanta after turning down offers from the Dodgers and Blue Jays.

While many believed that Atlanta signed Robert Suarez last winter to take over as closer in 2027, there may still be some meat on the bone for Iglesias who will turn 37-years-old this offseason. That $16 million mark has been the sweet spot for Iglesias, and assuming he wants to keep going, I hope he’s back in the ATL.

One that is interesting is the mid-season acquisition in Tyler Mahle. Mahle turned the season around after being traded from the Giants to the Braves at the deadline to the tune of a 1.99 ERA in nine appearances after the move.

Mahle could be a big piece of this rotation. Will it be a sub-2.00 ERA all the time? Probably not, but he has shown he can be a reliable #3 or 4 starter in a rotation at the very least, with a much higher potential. One positive in the equation is Mahle said multiple times when asked that he would be extremely interested in staying in Atlanta.

Martin Perez and Joe Jimenez are two others on the hill that will hit the cattle-call of free agency, but for me fall into the category of “if the resign, great; if not, I’m not torn up.”

Outside of the free agents that the Braves are trying to keep in Atlanta there are two areas that should be the top of the docket for the Braves front office: starting pitching and shortstop. The Braves have been in conversations for the past few years with the Texas Rangers about acquiring shortstop Corey Seager.

Seager has been one of the most consistent shortstops in baseball for a while now and would be an enormous addition to the Braves infield and lineup with his contact focused approach.

It’s no secret that the Braves need starting pitching, and I keep hoping that the Braves are able to make a move and land a large addition to the rotation. The Braves have capital to deal in prospects and can’t be afraid to deal Ronald Acuna Jr before he hits uncontrolled free agency next year.

This offseason is going to be interesting to see how aggressive teams are with the uncertainty of when we will see baseball on the field in 2027 due to what many feel is a lockout coming.

I personally will be shocked if we’re playing baseball before summer of next season at the earliest, so seeing how front offices navigate through the unknown will be fascinating to watch.