There are bad takes, and there are the ones certain people had about the Atlanta Braves during the offseason…
Today is a day where we will continue to praise the remarkable partnership between general manager and skipper in Alex Anthopoulos and Brian Snitker of the Atlanta Braves.
This tandem has been dynastic over in the NL East for the better part of a decade now. The five-time defending division champions are poised to make it six in a row. However, their eyes are on the prize of something much bigger. Atlanta is on a shortlist of teams who can realistically win the World Series. We know this because the plucky 2021 team did the improbable only two years ago.
With the halfway point in the year approaching, here are three oh so stupid offseason takes people way smarter than me got so horribly wrong when it comes to the only team that matters.
Atlanta Braves: 3 stupid offseason takes that are already been proven so wrong
3. Atlanta Braves must cut ties with the rusty boat anchor that is Marcell Ozuna
This one should be the most surprising, given what we saw out of him the last two seasons, but we kind of always knew Marcell Ozuna had this kind of turnaround in him. Ozuna led the NL in home runs and runs batted in during the 2020 COVID campaign. It led to him getting a massive four-year extension with the Braves. He was terrible during the first two, and in April of this year.
Then, everything changed… Ozuna started finding his powerful stroke from the right side of the plate at the home of his former employer. As it turns out, all it took was a trip to South Beach in May for Ozuna to get right in the batter's box. His willingness to spray the ball to all parts of the field has been a massive boost to the Atlanta batting order. The Braves are reaping the benefits.
Ozuna has not been asked to man left field this season, focusing on what he does well at the plate. With plenty of excellent batters all around him, it has served Ozuna to undergo a bit of a renaissance offensively. He may struggle for stretches during the latter part of the season, but Ozuna's production at the plate in May and June have been a pleasant surprise to say the least.
There is no sense in cutting ties with the former rusty boat anchor on an albatross of a contract.
2. Atlanta Braves really did not need to trade for Sean Murphy this offseason
A big reason for the Braves' success last season was their All-Star backstop tandem in Travis d'Arnaud and William Contreras. While d'Arnaud's strong season for the Braves was not all that much of a surprise, seeing Contreras rake at the plate in somewhat of a DH role certainly was. Even more shockingly, the Braves then traded Contreras to Milwaukee to land one Sean Murphy.
This three-team deal between the Braves, the Milwaukee Brewers and the Oakland Athletics was a major talking point throughout this offseason. Yes, we all knew that Murphy was an excellent player behind the plate in relative obscurity for the Athletics, but Atlanta already had d'Arnaud! Well, once d'Arnaud suffered a concussion vs. the San Diego Padres in early April, Murphy took off.
While he has been dealing with a hamstring issue the last few days, Murphy remains the leading vote-getter for catchers for the MLB All-Star Game in his first season in the National League. His work behind the plate has been as advertised, but his power bat of the clutch variety has been even better than expected. The best part is he and d'Arnaud seem to have made each other better.
Atlanta is so fortunate to have such an elite backstop tandem, one that they somehow upgraded.
1. Atlanta Braves are going to be so horribly screwed at shortstop this season
The only thing that has been more shocking than Marcell Ozuna's turnaround at the plate and Sean Murphy being a total revelation since coming over from Oakland for the Braves this year has been the great play of starting shortstop, Orlando Arcia. When Anthopoulos decided to let Dansby Swanson walk after a career year and not pursue another free agent, we knew something was up.
The thought was popular Troublemaker Vaughn Grissom would be groomed to be the Braves' shortstop of the future. His bat has promise, but his glove … needs work. And even if Grissom struggled fielding his position, Braden Shewmake's bat was starting to catch up to his glove at Triple-A. As it turns out, all the Braves needed to do was give Arcia a little bit more playing time.
The former prized prospect of the Brewers organization has flourished in his first full season as the Braves' starting shortstop. His glove work has been as good as Swanson's was and his bat has been every bit as clutch. Essentially, the Braves are getting contract-year Swanson out of Arcia for merely pennies on the dollar. He has totally earned the right to start at short for the NL in Seattle.
Orlando Magic has been such an integral part in the Braves' first-half success this season thus far.