The Atlanta Braves offseason priority list starts with Max Fried. The southpaw is one of the most-coveted starting pitchers on the market for a reason, and as much as the Braves and Alex Anthopoulos would prefer to keep him around, their chances of doing so just went down dramatically.

Blake Snell signed a five-year, $182 million contract on Tuesday night with the Los Angeles Dodgers. Snell earned every bit of that deal last season, when he played on a one-year prove it contract with the rival San Francisco Giants. Snell has won the Cy Young twice, and were it not for Shohei Ohtani, would be the unquestioned ace of the Dodgers staff. Rather than waiting around too long like he did last winter, Snell jumped at the opportunity to join the World Series champions. It’s hard to blame him.

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Blake Snell signing puts Braves between rock and hard place with Max Fried

The unfortunate truth about the free-agent market this winter is that it’s top-heavy, especially at starting pitcher. It is a great year to be a free agent, but not an ideal time to need pitching help. The Braves, like many teams, will learn this the hard way.

If Anthopoulos hasn’t already, he should lower his expectations. The Braves pitching staff is fine without Fried, especially if Spencer Strider returns to form following Tommy John surgery. Chris Sale won the NL Cy Young last season, after all. Bringing back Fried would be a fantastic add, but he’d also cost upwards of $30 million AAV, which is a number the Braves are almost certain to back off from.

Atlanta spent the first several weeks of their offseason clearing payroll, whether it be trading Jorge Soler or letting Travis d’Arnaud walk. Those painful decisions come with consequences the Braves are willing to live with to get under the luxury tax. Anthopoulos will spend to improve a possible World Series contender in Atlanta, but that will be on his terms rather than those of