I'm pretty certain that either the Braves had lower internal projections, or they reviewed the Dodgers series and punted to 2020 because they felt they would've had to mortgage the entire dang farm system to have a chance. Although people haven't believed me, I've said elsewhere that the offense still has a way to go to be able to match with top tier pitching consistently, and that was another thing that showed glaringly in that series last year and it's clear that it's still not fixed. It's getting closer, but it's still streaky.
Pitching has been an unmitigated disaster so far. I wish if it was true they decided to punt to 2020, that they just didn't bother with Donaldson. Sadly I don't think that spreading the money around would've worked, as if no Donaldson, you'd have probably still seen a good chunk of cash sunk into at least 1 other position player. You would've needed at least 4 relief pitchers and 1 starting pitcher.
