Atlanta Braves fans are concerned that left field might be vacant as free agency starts.

Reports came out on Sunday that the Braves were “expected to decline” outfielder Eddie Rosario’s $9M club option for 2024, making him a free agent and leaving the Braves without an obvious replacement in the outfield corner.

But it’s still possible that Rosario returns – there are situations every season where a team declines a player’s option, just to turn around and sign the player in free agency to a different contract, usually for less money than the option but often with multiple years.

Now, that’s not a guarantee. There’s bound to be interest in Rosario, who despite grading out only average at the plate (100 wRC+) as the strong-side of a platoon, has shown that he can get hot and take over a series – the 2021 NLCS is an obvious example, but there’s evidence of that happening even this season.

When Atlanta went to Arizona to face the Diamondbacks for a three-game set to open June, Rosario singlehandedly carried Atlanta to a series victory. He hit two home runs on Friday, scoring all of Atlanta’s run in a close 3-2 loss, before adding a triple, a run scored, and an RBI on Saturday and a grand slam on Sunday as Atlanta won the final two games of the series.

It’ll be quite interesting to see what happens going forward with Atlanta’s left field position, but Rosario absolutely can still be a part of it if the money works out.

What contract options have Atlanta already decided on?

The Braves have officially declined their side of reliever Brad Hand’s mutual option, choosing to pay a $500k buyout instead of a $7M salary for 2024. They still have two reliever options to decide on, $5.75M club option with a $1.25M buyout for Kirby Yates, and a $6M club option with $1M buyout for Collin McHugh.

How long until pitchers and catchers report?

98 days. Atlanta’s expected to ask pitchers and catchers to report on Monday, February 12th, in advance of their first spring training game on February 24th against the Tampa Bay Rays. An official announcement of the reporting date will come in January.

Here’s the odds for the top 10 teams to win the 2024 World Series according to FanDuel

Atlanta Braves – +600
Los Angeles Dodgers – +700
Texas Rangers – +800
Houston Astros – +800
Philadelphia Phillies – +1000
Tampa Bay Rays – +1300
Toronto Blue Jays – +1600
New York Yankees – +1600
Minnesota Twins – +1800
San Diego Padres – +1800