The Atlanta Braves were in the running for Shohei Ohtani before he chose to go to the Los Angeles Dodgers, and Braves general manager Alex Anthopoulos spoke about why they missed out as well as whether or not he has to respond to the big move by the Dodgers.

“He's a great player and obviously the Dodgers are a great organization,” Alex Anthopoulos said, via Jeff Schultz of The Athletic. “We just can't — we get asked this all the time: Do we react to what other teams are doing? You can't. You have to do what's best for your organization. You still monitor what other teams are doing. But we're much more in tune with what the other four teams in our division are doing.”

The Braves and Dodgers are two of the model organizations in baseball over the last few years. The Dodgers have been a consistent contender for about a decade, while the Braves have a young core of players that has been dominant in the regular season over the last two years. Playoff disappointments have taken place for both the Dodgers and Braves in recent years, but the Dodgers won a World Series in 2020, while the Braves won in 2021.

Both teams went out in the NLDS last season.

While the Dodgers added another star in Shohei Ohtani, the Braves and Antopoulos believe they have an elite roster that will contend next season. On paper, that should be the case. The biggest move so far was the addition of Jared Kelenic. It is unknown if there are any other bigger moves coming.

Regardless, Anthopoulos is confident in his team's ability to compete.