By: Matthew Weatherby
The Braves’ Drake Baldwin has won the National League Rookie of the Year award for the 2025 season. He was able to edge out Cubs starting pitcher Cade Horton and Brewers infielder Caleb Durbin. The recipient of the award for the American League was Nick Kurtz, who was a unanimous selection.
Baldwin slashed .274/.369/.469 over the course of the season. He also hit 19 home runs and drove in 80 runs. He accounted for 3.3 WAR (wins above replacement). Baldwin’s 3.3 WAR is tied for second among rookies. He tied with Chicago White Sox shortstop Colson Montgomery and only trailed American League winner Nick Kurtz, who amassed 5.4 WAR this season.
Baldwin Continues Braves’ Success
Drake Baldwin was the 10th Rookie of the Year recipient for the Atlanta Braves. He joins current teammates Ronald Acuña Jr. and Michael Harris II. Acuña Jr. took home the award in 2018, and Harris II took it home in 2022.
Aside from being tied with the Yankees for having the second most recipients ever, each team has 10 former or current players who received the award. They trail only the Dodgers, who have had 18 former winners. It is a show of the Braves’ strength and their development.
Though the Braves have had plenty of success in recent years, they have not always been the biggest spenders in Major League Baseball.
In fact, they have only had a top-five payroll in all of baseball once. That came last year in 2024. Their success has come from the farm — a system rather fitting to their southern roots.
The Braves were 12th in payroll when they won the World Series in 2021. However, they have continued their success through the farm system and slightly increased payroll by paying their homegrown talent. They go by a philosophy that most teams surprisingly do not tend to follow. The Braves develop players and then pay them. Guys like Acuña, Harris, Austin Riley, and Spencer Strider are all cornerstones of the franchise. But is it time to start spending?
Payroll can help the Braves
A reluctance to spend has also cost the Braves some of their homegrown talent. Max Fried is in New York now. Freddie Freeman is on the brink of becoming known as a Dodger. All while Dansby Swanson has been a steady presence at a position that has plagued Atlanta since his departure.
While the Braves cannot go back and right some of those wrongs, especially with Freeman, they can supplement a fantastic development program with free agency spending. Luckily enough, Braves Chairman Terry McGuirk said that he is “aiming back to the top five” in terms of payroll and expects the Braves to be “quite active” in free agency.
Spending is a luxury when it comes to being a baseball fan, not an expectation. At least, that is how a lot of ownership groups view it. Atlanta was criticized for its lack of spending last offseason, with their big addition being Jurickson Profar, who ended up being suspended for 80 games due to a substance violation. For Atlanta, it appears that ownership now seems to be aligning with fan thought in terms of how the team should spend.
Final Thoughts
The 2025 season was defined by the injury bug for the Atlanta Braves. At one point, the entire Opening Day starting rotation was on the 60-day Injured List. Their roster sits in a good spot to rebound after last year. The Braves missed the playoffs this year for the first time since 2017, and ownership clearly was not a fan of that.
There are many ways to address the Braves’ needs, but shortstop is a position that must be addressed. Although he is expected to re-sign in Toronto, Bo Bichette is a guy I would expect the Braves to at least give an offer to. While I am not the biggest fan of the managerial hiring, the Braves roster is in a good spot and can only get better with spending. That should signal a return to the playoffs, a frontline World Series contender and back to being the darling of Atlanta sports.
