It's always interesting to look at how the World Series teams were built as a good reminder that there isn't necessarily just one way to construct a team, so as the Atlanta Braves and Houston Astros travel west for Tuesday's Game 6 at Minute Maid Park, we examine how both rosters came together -- and what other teams around baseball can learn from this year's last two standing. You need to find players in all avenues: the draft, from Latin America, in free agency and via trades. One thing the Braves and Astros have in common, however: It's good to have that homegrown talent to build around.
ATLANTA BRAVES
Homegrown drafted players
1B Freddie Freeman (second round, 2007); 3B Austin Riley (first round supplemental, 2015); P A.J. Minter (second round, 2015); P Ian Anderson (first round, 2016); P Tucker Davidson (19th round, 2016); P Kyle Wright (first round, 2017)
The Braves have long been known as a draft-and-develop organization, but they have just six originally drafted players on the playoff roster, with Davidson and Wright only added due to injuries to Huascar Ynoa and Charlie Morton. Freeman and Riley have something in common besides their big numbers at the plate: Both were two-way prospects in high school and some teams liked both better on the mound. Freeman wanted to hit, however, and the Braves loved Riley's power potential. Needless to say, they projected correctly.
By the way, the Braves' first-round pick in 2007 was Jason Heyward. He eventually brought them Shelby Miller in a trade with St. Louis, and Miller later brought them Dansby Swanson. They also drafted Craig Kimbrel that year, although he didn't sign and the Braves re-drafted him in 2008.
Anderson was taken with the third overall pick in 2016 -- the fruits of a 67-95 record in 2015 -- as a projectable high school pick from the Albany area. Wright was the fifth overall pick out of Vanderbilt, and he has developed slower than expected given his polished repertoire coming out of college. If you rebuild like the Braves did for a couple years, you have to nail those top picks, and it looks like they at least went 1 for 2.
Homegrown amateur free agents
2B Ozzie Albies (Curacao, 2013); C William Contreras (Venezuela, 2015); plus injured OF Ronald Acuna Jr. (Venezuela, 2014)
Albies and Acuna were not prized international prospects. Albies signed for $350,000, as some teams were wary of his size. Acuna signed for $100,000, both figures well below what the top Latin American kids receive. Despite the modest signing bonuses, both became top prospects as teenagers and reached the majors at 20 years old. Albies has shown much more power than he had in the minors while Acuna has somehow exceeded the hype. Both also left a lot of money on the table when they signed team-friendly long-term extensions -- Acuna's team options for 2027 and 2028 are $17 million per season, compared to Fernando Tatis Jr., who will eventually earn $36.7 million per season.
Major league free agents
P Will Smith (2020); C Travis d'Arnaud (2020); P Chris Martin (2020); P Charlie Morton (2021); P Drew Smyly (2021); IF Ehire Adrianza (2021)
Under Liberty Media, the team's owner since 2007, the Braves have rarely played in the big boy department of free agency. The biggest total value contract they've given to a free agent was $75 million for B.J. Upton -- a signing that didn't work out. They have been a little more aggressive in recent seasons, however, as Marcell Ozuna's $65 million deal is the second biggest in franchise history, and Will Smith's three-year, $40 million deal ranks fifth. For the most part though, they've emphasized short-term deals, like with Josh Donaldson in 2019 and Smyly and Morton for this season (Morton has since signed an extension for two more seasons).
Trades
P Max Fried (Padres, 2014); SS Dansby Swanson (Diamondbacks, 2015); IF Orlando Arcia (Brewers, 2021)
Fried and Swanson are the types of deals front offices dream about when they trade away veteran players. The Braves had gone a disappointing 79-83 in 2014 and decided to enter a rebuilding/trimming payroll phase. The Padres had selected Fried seventh overall in 2012, but he had undergone Tommy John surgery in 2014. Then-Braves GM John Hart gambled on Fried's upside even knowing he would miss the 2015 season. They got him for Justin Upton.
The Swanson trade was even stranger as the Diamondbacks had just selected him with the first overall pick in 2015 when the Braves got him that December for Miller. The Braves also acquired Ender Inciarte in the deal, and he gave Atlanta several good seasons.
The Braves certainly fleeced two inexperienced front offices in these deals. A.J. Preller had just taken over the Padres when he tried to turn around the franchise immediately by making the Upton deal (and a couple other ill-advised ones). The Swanson trade was one of several questionable transactions during the Dave Stewart/Tony La Russa regime in Arizona.
2021 deadline trades
OF Joc Pederson (Cubs); OF Adam Duvall (Marlins); OF Jorge Soler (Royals); OF Eddie Rosario (Indians)
As well chronicled, with Acuna's injury, Ozuna out after his domestic violence arrest and Cristian Pache struggling at the plate, the Braves had to re-make their entire outfield at midseason. Not to discredit what Alex Anthopoulos did with those trades, but the Braves fell into a scenario where not many contenders were looking for outfield help. Soler and Rosario hadn't hit well with the Royals and Indians, and were also essentially just salary dumps. Cleveland saved the grand total of $1 million by trading Rosario to Pablo Sandoval, whom they immediately waived.
"Free" talent
P Luke Jackson (2018); P Tyler Matzek (2019); OF Guillermo Heredia (2021); P Jesse Chavez (2021); P Dylan Lee (2021); OF Terrance Gore (2021)
The Braves had originally acquired Jackson from the Rangers in a trade for Tyrell Jenkins in 2016, but they designated him for assignment in 2018 and kept him when he cleared waivers. Matzek, a former first-round pick, was actually out of baseball in 2017 after the White Sox released him in spring training, unable to fix a bad case of the yips. Chavez and Lee were released in spring training this year; Chavez by the Angels and Lee by the Marlins. More proof that relievers can come from anywhere. The Braves also claimed Heredia on waivers from the Mets in February.
Lessons learned
The core of the Atlanta roster is its homegrown stars: Freeman, Riley, Albies and the injured Acuna. Throw in Fried and Swanson and you have an outstanding base to build around, with all but Freeman young and relatively inexpensive. That certainly makes building the rest of the team easier. There is a clear organizational philosophy to stay away from the biggest free agents -- and perhaps the Ozuna situation will only make the Braves double down on that philosophy moving forward ... although maybe they'll make an exception to re-sign Freeman.
There are two hard-to-replicate aspects to this team. They had good luck acquiring two top prospects in Fried and Swanson; and other teams can't plan on coming up with their versions of Acuna, let alone signing him to an eight-year, $100 million deal (plus those two option years). Albies' seven-year, $35 million deal is even more ridiculous -- it includes team options in 2026 and 2027 for $7 million. Those contracts for two All-Star players keep the payroll down and give the front office a lot more flexibility in building out the roster. Let's see now if ownership is willing to spend that extra cash on Freeman.
HOUSTON ASTROS
Homegrown drafted players
SS Carlos Correa (first round, 2012); 3B Alex Bregman (first round, 2015); OF Kyle Tucker (first round, 2015); OF Chas McCormick (21st round, 2017); plus injured P Lance McCullers Jr. (first round, 2012)
The Astros are still reaping the rewards of the Jeff Luhnow tanking era -- a strategy widely duplicated yet never equaled. Correa was the first overall pick, but not a slam-dunk No. 1. The Astros signed him to a below-slot deal that left money in the budget to also sign McCullers -- another strategy that other teams have attempted without the same degree of success.
The 2015 draft was huge. They got the Bregman pick (second overall) for failing to sign Brady Aiken the year before, so a little good fortune there. Tucker was the fifth pick, the last high selection from the tanking years. Daz Cameron was the 37th pick, and he was a key part of the Justin Verlander trade. Trent Thornton, Patrick Sandoval and Myles Straw brought in Aledmys Diaz, Martin Maldonado and Phil Maton in trades.
Homegrown amateur free agents
Jose Altuve (Venezuela, 2007); Framber Valdez (Dominican Republic, 2015); Jose Urquidy (Mexico, 2015); Cristian Javier (Dominican Republic, 2015); Yuli Gurriel (Cuba, 2016); Luis Garcia (Venezuela, 2017)
The Astros have a long history of signing amateur talent out of Venezuela, going back to the likes of Bobby Abreu, Johan Santana, Richard Hidalgo, Carlos Guillen and Freddy Garcia, all original Houston signings. The pipeline dried up for a long spell other than Altuve, but Luis Garcia's strong rookie season gives hope that he'll develop into a rotation anchor.
Gurriel was a 32-year-old long-time Cuban star when the Astros signed him to a five-year, $47.5 million contract, then re-signing him to a two-year extension last September.
The interesting thing here is that Urquidy was 19 years old, Garcia 20 and Valdez 21 when they signed. Amateurs from Latin American usually sign when they're 16 or 17. The Astros certainly hit on a market inefficiency there, and it's a reminder that a lot of physical development can happen between ages 16 and 20 or 21 -- an age when players are often dismissed as too old, even though they're the same age as some college students in the U.S.
Major-league free agents
C Martin Maldonado (2020); OF Michael Brantley (2021); P Jake Odorizzi (2021); P Ryne Stanek (2021); C Jason Castro (2021)
Similar to the Braves, the Astros have stayed away from premium free agents. The biggest contract for a free agent in franchise history was Carlos Lee's $100 million deal way back in 2007. In the Luhnow era, the biggest deal was four years and $52 million for Josh Reddick. Michael Brantley has signed two separate two-year contracts -- both for $32 million -- and those have certainly paid off given Brantley's consistent production. The Astros have twice traded for Martin Maldonado (in 2018 and then again in 2019) and then re-signed him as a free agent.
Trades
DH Yordan Alvarez (Dodgers, 2016); P Ryan Pressly (Twins, 2018); IF Aledmys Diaz (Blue Jays; 2018); P Zack Greinke (Diamondbacks, 2019); P Blake Taylor (Mets, 2019); P Brooks Raley (Reds, 2020)
The Astros have their own version of the Braves' Fried/Swanson trades, stealing Alvarez from the Dodgers for reliever Josh Fields. The Dodgers signed Alvarez out of Cuba in June of 2016 for $2 million, but he never played a game in the Dodgers system. He certainly wasn't an unknown, having played in Cuba's top league as a 17-year-old, but still a great find for the Astros' pro scouts at the time, especially in a trade for a second-tier reliever like Fields was. Teams are always looking to flip a hot reliever for a roll-of-the-dice prospect -- but that player doesn't usually turn into Yordan Alvarez.
While the Astros haven't dipped into the premium free-agent market, under Luhnow they did acquire high-salaried pitching help through the years -- Justin Verlander, Gerrit Cole and then Greinke. It's a way to mitigate risk: You're not signing these guys to six-year or seven-year deals, but you can still acquire an ace if you're willing to give up young players. The Astros got Greinke for four players - Seth Beer, J.B. Bukauskas, Corbin Martin and Josh Rojas - dealing from the depth that the farm system now lacks, so it may be more difficult to make that kind of trade in the immediate future.
2021 deadline trades
P Kendall Graveman (Mariners); P Phil Maton (Indians); P Yimi Garcia (2021)
The Astros had a clear weakness in bullpen depth and GM James Click did a great job of acquiring three quality low-cost relievers. He did give up some big-league talent in Abraham Toro and Myles Straw (and Bryan Da La Cruz hit well for the Marlins), but none of those guys are going to turn into big regrets.
"Free" talent
OF Jose Siri (2020); UT Marwin Gonzalez (2021)
Siri had long been a tooled-up prospect for the Reds, but never reached the majors with them. He was with the Mariners and Giants last season, but never on either major-league roster, and the Astros signed him after the Giants let him go. Gonzalez returned to the Astros after the Red Sox waived him in August; he's on the roster as an injury replacement for outfielder Jake Meyers.
Lessons learned
The obvious similarity to the Braves has been refraining from signing the top-tier free agents. That doesn't mean the Astros haven't spent money at all: They gave Altuve a $163.5 million extension, Bregman a $100 million extension and Verlander is wrapping up a two-year, $66 million extension that he missed almost all of after Tommy John surgery.
It will be interesting to see if the Astros splurge this offseason. Correa is likely to depart, but they lose Verlander and Greinke off the payroll, so there might be room to move on a big name. Click, who replaced Luhnow before the 2020 season, hasn't been in a position to do that, so we'll see what his free-agent philosophy will be.
Like the Braves, the Astros' core is the homegrown talent: Altuve, Bregman and Correa, and the four starters in the rotation. That's how to make the World Series three times in five years: Keep that core intact, make some smart trades (the Pressly trade was a key one) ... and then somehow steal away a hitter like Alvarez from another organization.