By: TJ Hartnett

TheSouthernSportsEdition.com news services

The Atlanta Braves officially kicked off their offseason on Thursday with a high-profile trade, acquiring 31-year-old career minor leaguer Rafael Lopez from the Padres in exchange for cash.

Okay, that’s not exactly a big deal. Despite catcher Kurt Suzuki hitting free agency, this was a trade made for organizational depth. Lopez spent less than 40 games on the Padres’ Major League roster in 2018, and it was his longest cup of coffee yet. He also didn’t crack the Mendoza line.

Still, the move signals the opening bell for Atlanta, and now that the flood gates have been opened we can speculate wildly about what big moves Alex Anthopolous may have in store for Braves Country between now and Spring Training.

A primary focus will certainly be filling in the recently-vacated right field and catching positions.

Suzuki is an option for a one-year deal, but it may also be time for the Braves to find a more permanent backstop after two years of backup catchers splitting time behind the plate.

Tyler Flowers will still be around to handle back up duty (after both he and Zuk had stellar years in 2017, the Braves offered just one of them a two-year contract, and unfortunately bet on the wrong horse), but Atlanta needs to find someone to solidify the spot.

It’s no surprise to hear that they will be one of my teams fighting to trade with Miami for JT Realmuto. Realmuto has established himself as one of, if not, the best catchers in the game, and he’s wasted on a Marlins team that is not going to be good any time soon.

The prospect price will be high, but don’t be surprised to see Antholpolous offer up some prized arms for this guy.

Yasmani Grandal is an option as well. While he looked appealing prior to the playoffs due to his impending free agency, his dismal performance behind the dish is going to give a lot of teams pause.

Replacing Nick Markakis will be high on the list as well. Coming off of his first All-Star appearance at the age of 34, the stoic right fielder will likely be looking for a multi-year deal.

The Braves are unlikely to make such an offer, though his presence was invaluable over the past four years, and in 2018 in particular. Replacing Markakis will be difficult, and it also lacks easy solutions.

It also seems probable that Antholpolous will be looking for a front-line starter to join the Braves’ rotation in 2019.

Clayton Kershaw is, unsurprisingly, already off the table, leaving Dallas Keuchel and Patrick Corbin as the biggest-name starters left on the market.

Keuchel showed signs of regression in 2018, though he can still fire away, while Corbin had his best year in the bigs, seeming to fully recover from his Tommy John surgery from two years ago.

Corbin is the more appealing option of the two, being younger and coming off a breakout year, which means he will be highly sought after. The Braves could make a splash by taking him off of the market early and making a statement to the rest of the NL.

The last area the Braves will be looking to improve is the much-maligned bullpen.

Atlanta will need to improve their relief corps in a big way before next season, and while relievers are a dime a dozen in baseball, Atlanta needs to find reliable arms.

They might even need to overpay a closer to shore up the last three outs of the game.

We don’t know what will happen yet, but whatever it is, it has already begun.