Why Braves might regret Drake Baldwin decision after award-winning 2025

The Atlanta Braves have the best record in Major League Baseball during the 2026 season, so it's hard to look at any of their moves this offseason with negativity.

Before the year, their lack of starting pitching help was criticized, but they've gotten a lot better work from their starters than most would've expected. The offense has also been great, so there's not really anything to be overly critical about.

However, Bleacher Report's Kerry Miller did identify one thing the Braves did, or in this case, didn't do, that does deserve to be considered a regret from this past winter.

"Offseason regret: Not Extending Drake Baldwin," Miller writes. "... And whatever that price tag would have been before the season began, it has only gone up."

Miller is highlighting the missed chance to extend Drake Baldwin as the biggest regret from the offseason for Atlanta. While it's not some brutal mistake, it is one that the Braves might come to regret.

Why Braves might regret lack of Drake Baldwin extension

The Braves have typically been proactive about signing their young players to long-term deals, so their lack of movement with Baldwin was a bit interesting.

He's been one of the best players in baseball this season, posting 2.3 bWAR for the Braves in 48 games and 188 at-bats with 13 homers, 38 RBIs, a .303 average, and a .931 OPS.

Baldwin won Rookie of the Year for the National League last season with an .810 OPS in 124 games as the Braves' starting catcher with 3.3 bWAR.

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This season, his 2.3 bWAR is very close to his total last year, despite playing a little under 80 games fewer than he did last year. That's a sign of how great he's been this season.

But it's also a sign that he will be a lot more expensive for the Braves if they want to extend him now, even with this injury.

Baldwin is going to be very expensive to keep long-term, which the Braves should very strongly consider.

Their decision not to extend him over the offseason might be a move they come to regret in the future, as they may have signed him already before he proves to be one of, if not the best, catchers in baseball.

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