What's next for the Braves? Biggest offseason questions after another early postseason exit

Atlanta rebounded from a poor 2025 to win the NL East, but were unable to finish the job and were knocked out by the Dodgers in the NLDS Coming off a 94-win regular season and National League East title under first-year manager Walt Weiss, the Braves came up short in the playoffs with Wednesday's NLDS Game 4 loss to the Dodgers and were eliminated from the postseason. Since winning the World Series in 2021, the Braves have won just one postseason series, this year's Wild Card Series, and gone 5-12 in the playoffs. On one level, the 2026 season was something of a success, as they bounced back from their disappointing and injury-marred 2025 campaign, the last under longtime manager Brian Snitker.

Under Weiss and buoyed by better health, the Braves added a hefty 18 regular-season wins to their 2025 tally. The postseason outcome, though, meant that all that work led up to a sour ending. The Braves remain in contending mode with several core contributors still under contract and an ownership group still presumably willing to spend toward the goal of winning baseball games. Obviously, the uncertainty surrounding the 2027 season and how it will look amid the ongoing CBA negotiations complicates matters, but the solid expectation is that the Braves will again go for it next season. With