Some things change, and for the Atlanta Braves, some things happen to stay the same.
A season after needing to chase down the New York Mets in August and September to win the 2022 NL East title by a tiebreaker on the season’s final day, the Braves had no issues taking care of New York in 2023. Atlanta went 10-3 against the Metropolitains last season, with New York sitting 7.5 games back in mid-May and eventually tearing it down at the deadline.
The Mets shipped out eight players off their major league roster over the summer, including significant amounts of cash to get better prospects in return. It bolstered the farm system, but the loss of major league talent resulted in New York falling to a 75-87 record, an unimaginably poor record when you consider that the Mets had the highest payroll in baseball history entering the 2023 season.
Have the Mets made enough moves this offseason to get back into the divisional mix, or are they destined for another 4th place finish in 2024?
The departures mean that there’s ostensibly more playtime for some of the younger players, with former top prospects Brett Baty and Mark Vientos penciled in at third base and DH, respectively.
