Baseball Isn’t Boring
Presser: Alex Anthopoulos Is Explaining His Signing (Iglesias) And Trade (Dubon)
23 Nov 2025
Chapter 1: What is the main topic discussed in this episode?
There you go.
All right. Alex, let's just start off with Iggy. How important, I know we had talked about what do you prioritize, but getting the closer was big. How significant is this as you move forward with your offseason?
Chapter 2: What are the details of Raisel Iglesias' re-signing with the Braves?
Yeah, very. You know, we talked about this at the trade deadline last year. We looked at the market for closers and obviously, you know, there's the options trade and so on. And, you know, we felt like we were going to want him back. We knew that that was going to be a process to work through. But again, he had a rough beginning of the year, but all the underlying stuff was very good. So,
We always had intentions to bring him back. We didn't know when it would get done, how long it would take. I think staying with the same team makes it easier for that to happen.
Chapter 3: How does Alex Anthopoulos view the significance of signing a closer?
Sometimes when you cut the cord and people move on to other places, there's hard feelings, things like that, all that kind of stuff. So we definitely felt like our best opportunity to bring him back, knowing we had every intention to be competitive again and get back to the postseason in 26, was to have him on this roster again.
and continue to watch him and continue to see him throw the ball well. So it's important. You don't know the timing of things you're going to get done. We needed to address closer one way or the other. And who better than someone that we know? We know he fits in the clubhouse. We know the health. We know the makeup. We know the ability. He's such a great fit for us.
And, look, he wanted to be here. I mean, I don't want to speak for him, but I think, you know, his goal and his first choice was to be back in Atlanta. So we're glad we were able to get it done. And, yeah. You know, he's just a great fit for us.
You're muted. Dave.
The dollar. Sorry about that. With Dubon, he's an upgrade over Nick.
Hold on a second.
You're in Atlanta. You're wearing a 49ers cap. Oh, I'm sorry. I didn't know you could read that. Show a little loyalty. I forgot I had it on. You're allowed to be a fan. I forgot I had it on. Here you go. Does he give you some coverage at shortstop in case you can't re-sign Kim or get another guy?
I think the appeal with Dubon is he can play everywhere, right? He's a Swiss Army. He's a true Swiss Army knife. He can play everywhere. He protects you at a lot of spots. And he's a good defender at almost every spot. So high-energy guy, great teammate, has speed, bat the ball, great contact. So, you know, I told him, I said, I don't know what your role is going to be yet.
Walt talked to him as well. But the fact that we have the flexibility to do all kinds of things with him. So he can play all over the infield, play all three outfield spots. So we'll just see how the rest of the offseason goes. But we know that in light of the injuries we've had and so on, he hits left-handers well. There's just a lot of fits from just a player.
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Chapter 4: What makes Mauricio Dubon an attractive trade option for the Braves?
And just like you said, the fact that he can play positions, the fact that he's a great teammate and great in the clubhouse, it's a great fit. And guys like you will now have Truist Park in your background when you do Zooms. It's even better.
On my defense, you're right. Truist Park, best park in history. I just put baseball field on Google, and that's what I have.
My wallet's off. I'm just having fun. That's a great park, too. I worked there for a few years. I missed having fun.
Thank you very much.
We've got everyone from California. We've got Dave O'Brien wearing Francisco 49ers. We've got a gentleman from Honduras with Dark Dodger Stadium. You guys are on the wrong Zoom.
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Chapter 5: How does Dubon's versatility impact the Braves' roster strategy?
Well, Alex, I'm wearing a brave shirt, so I'm back on the right team.
Yeah, you got a brave shirt. Bo's got a Waffle House in Atlanta Institution.
So go ahead. Is there an advantage for you guys to sort of jump out in the front of this free agent market before winter meetings?
Look, people always say, do you react to what other teams are doing, this and that? I think you guys have heard me say this. Our philosophy, if we can, you can't force it, is we'd rather lead than follow. Lead meaning do the things we want to get done and try to get them done. And sometimes that's January or February or March. But We can get things done early. It just sets up your offseason.
It eliminates some things and it gives you a clear path. Right. So now if deal isn't there, you can't force a deal at the same time. So, you know, you don't know if you could draw it up. You do things in a certain order and so on. It just doesn't work that way. Right. You know, some players need more time. Some players are ready to. to sign. Some teams are ready to make trades.
Some teams need more time to do that. So, you know, we made the Chris Sale trade on New Year's Eve. We've been talking about him for two years. So it would have been nice to do that in November. It just didn't materialize. Right. So this is, you know, once a deal is closer within range, we'll try to get it done.
And, you know, if we can get it done early, there's obviously tons of advantages because it gives us clarity for the remaining moves.
Hey, Alex, with respect to the bullpen, how much clarity does it give you to know the guy that you're bringing back that you're going to entrust to be the closer because you've made some decisions already with some options? And obviously there are a lot of pieces to put together. I remember you said in spring training a couple of years ago, you never wanted to try to rebuild a bullpen in season.
So having the winter to really find and identify some pieces and build that depth, having Iggy there, was that kind of the first big step that you wanted to have or just kind of the way it fell?
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Chapter 6: What role does Alex foresee for Dubon in the upcoming season?
So, but yeah, he's just a really good, good fit. And, you know, we were, he was a good fit for all the reasons, his ability on the field, but also what he brings to the team and the clubhouse and his experiences.
Thank you.
Alex, when you get a versatile guy like this, does that continue to keep your options open for DH as well? Because if you've got a versatile guy who can play many different positions, you might not have to have that guy who is that Ozuna type, as you said last week, where you might still go after one of those guys, a permanent DH or however you want to say it.
But having a versatile guy like Dubon, does that allow you to – to stay open to the possibility of maybe not filling that DH spot with somebody who's going to play there every day.
Right. Um, so yeah, it's, it leaves our options open because like you said, he can fit in anywhere and look, you'd like to believe everyone's going to play one 62. It's other than Matt Olson. You can't count on anyone doing that. Um, and that's not a knock. It's more of a credit to Matt Olson, whatever, seven or 800 games in a row. So, um,
And the fact that he protects us, so it just gives us, the optionality is through the roof. But, you know, we'll just see. And that's, it just, it doesn't close any doors for us, which I think is probably the most important thing. It allows us to, you know, we like him. We like the bat, the ball. We like the energy he brings. But you just know you're protected.
The fact that you're protected at premium positions, right? You're protected in center. You're protected at short. You've got all these other areas that he can play as well. And he's got some speed. And he's got contact skills. And he's a good teammate. Good energy in the clubhouse and all that stuff. So it just made sense for us to get this deal done today.
Like I said, we had talked about him during the summer. The Astros weren't in a position to move him. But we did spend time with him last summer, beginning of the offseason, had some conversations. There wasn't anything there. And then finally today it came together.
would you say when you go back to that trade deadline, and I don't know, we kept asking you, why didn't you move Iglesias? Is it safe to say that this was in the back of your mind? And you kind of said it, you know, you keep a guy on a roster, it's easier. This was kind of your thought, hey, this is going to... 100%.
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