Braves GM's honest take on losing Freddie Freeman, Swanson

Braves GM Alex Anthopoulos acknowledged that losing players such as Freddie Freeman and Dansby Swanson is part of being a contending team.

The Atlanta Braves are figuring out in increasingly heartbreaking ways that the cost of winning is hefty. Over the past two offseasons, they have lost two infield stalwarts in Freddie Freeman and Dansby Swanson, weakening the core of their 2021 World Series-winning roster. However, such is the reality of economics in professional sports. Even Braves GM Alex Anthopoulos acknowledged that this is just part of nurturing players to the best of their abilities.

Speaking with David O'Brien of The Athletic, Anthopoulos admitted that there's only so much money to go around in the Braves payroll, and that as much as they want to keep franchise cornerstones such as Freddie Freeman and Dansby Swanson in free agency, he wouldn't want to do that at the cost of the team's depth – even if it can be difficult for fans to say goodbye to some beloved players.

“So in theory, you want these guys to win Silver Sluggers, be All-Stars, keep getting raises, and so on. But I’ve said this, there’s only so much pie to go around,” Anthopoulos said. “So there’s a payroll number, and the one thing I know is that we can’t have 10 good players, and the rest of the roster is below average. Even if those (10) guys are elite, it’s probably not gonna be good enough. And it’s finding that balance, and it’s hard. It’s hard on fans.”

Nevertheless, results on the field will be what matters to fans at the end of the day. Despite Freddie Freeman and Dansby Swanson's departures in recent years, the Braves still have a plethora of talented position players, namely rookie of the year Michael Harris II, Austin Riley, Ronald Acuna Jr., Matt Olson, and Ozzie Albies.

The Braves may find it more difficult to replace a player who put up 6.4 WAR (per Fangraphs) in 2022 like Swanson did, but it's difficult to envision too much of a drop-off for a team that won 101 games in 2022, especially with Acuna and Albies set for a return from their injury-marred 2022 campaigns.

At the very least, the Braves remain well-positioned to compete for a World Series title in the next few years, even if that means they could find themselves losing yet another crucial foundational piece in the future.