Jon Chuckery spoke about all things Atlanta United and Atlanta Braves with 92-9 the Game’s own Insider Joe Patrick. Chuck only spent the first couple of minutes talking about The Five Stripes with Joe, and then the spirited debate took place.
While it was all in good nature Joe and Jon did not quite see eye to eye on whether or not the Braves should pick up another pitcher for the bullpen before the season starts.
At the end of the day, the discussion came down to how Jon and Joe think the Braves should approach the beginning of the season when it comes to the bullpen. Both agree that there are not too many good options on the free-agent market, but Jon believes the Braves should go ahead and re-sign Shane Greene before the season starts so they can have as Jon says “a reliable guy in there.” Jon also says “I don’t want to see Touki [Toussaint] or [Sean] Newcomb out there the first half of the season.”
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Now, while Joe does agree that there aren’t many great options out there for the Braves right now, he thinks “the smart play is the patient play.” Joe also says "see what you have this spring and address your needs from there.” Either way it goes, the Braves do need to add some more firepower to their bullpen, but the question is when is the right time?
Back in 2018 the Braves did a good job of addressing their bullpen needs when they acquired Shane Greene and Will Smith midseason. Maybe the Braves will do something similar this season.
Braves general manager Alex Anthopoulos, after signing Ozzie Albies, Ronald Acuña Jr., and more recently Marcell Ozuna to long-term deals, has shown that he will make the moves necessary for this team to be competitive. The only question that remains for Anthopolous is that time now or later?