The Atlanta Braves miss out on signing top free agent shortstop. Willy Adames has reportedly signed a seven-year, $182 million contract with the San Francisco Giants.

MLB insider Jon Heyman also mentioned in another tweet that the Braves, along with the Giants and Dodgers, were the most active in pursuing Adames.

The Braves’ names have been raffled off in the Adames sweepstakes since the start of the offseason. Only the day before had they been promised that they would sign him. In early November, ESPN named the Braves the best team. In mid-November, Jon Morosi of MLB Network mentioned that the Braves were in the hunt.

Given the Braves’ priorities this offseason, with their top priority being staying under the luxury tax threshold, it’s no surprise they were unable to sign Adames. He signed for $26 million per season and that would have automatically put the Braves over the threshold. If they still have to deal with starting pitching, the bullpen and the outfield, that wouldn’t have been the best move.

These are the types of deals that have forced the Braves to change their priorities ahead of the winter meetings. There’s no guarantee they’ll end up with Adames, but it’s hard to ignore that limited wiggle room under the luxury tax has influenced the way the Braves handle their offseason.

While acquiring a shortstop is still possible, this prioritization likely means they will continue with what they already have. Their current shortstop, Orlando Arcia, is still available for cheap. The Braves could rely on last season’s performance at the helm to be an aggressive outlier and Arcia to have a better year.

If that’s not the case, they could try the recently signed Nick Allen or target Nacho Alvarez Jr. Allen hasn’t shown any mastery of MLB pitching yet, but he has a strong glove. Alvarez is missing the glove, but he still has the ceiling offensively. In his first stint in the MLB, he had three hits in 30 at-bats, but in Triple-A he slashed .297/.398/.463 with 10 home runs in 64 games.