"León was well-traveled when Atlanta signed him on April 2, 2024 after he failed to make the Kansas City Royals roster. He'd played in more than 550 games for six different big league teams since making his debut with the Washington Nationals in 2012, having appeared at the MLB level every subsequent season until 2024. León spent 2024 at Triple-A with Atlanta and returned in 2025 as a veteran mentor at Gwinnett."
"León was expected to help Drake Baldwin continue his development as a catcher in 2025 at Triple-A while also helping guide a pitching staff and serving as the fourth or fifth catcher on the Braves depth chart. As it turned out, Sean Murphy's Spring Training injury opened the door for Baldwin to make the big league roster; Murphy's return sent presumptive backup Chadwick Tromp to the waiver wire. That Braves added long-time big leaguer James McCann late in Spring Training and traded for Jason Delay - who was actually on the 40-man roster for much of the year - but when McCann moved on for a 26-man roster spot in Arizona, it was León who was called-up to add a third catcher to Atlanta's bench, and then again when Murphy was lost for the season due to (finally) acknowledging his hip issue in September."
"Performance-wise, there was no expectation at all, because León is one of many big league catchers who are basically there for mentorship and intangibles rather than production. Aside from a massive xwOBA overperformance that led to 1.9 fWAR in 283 PAs back in 2016, Leon has never posted more than 0.5 fWAR in a season, and was below replacement in every season going back to 2020. He has a career 56 wRC+ and hasn't been a useful pitch framer since 2019. So, unless you were really banking on him carrying forward his 151 wRC+ fr"
Sandy León made his first MLB appearance since 2023 after serving as the third catcher on Atlanta's organizational depth chart. Atlanta signed him on April 2, 2024 after he failed to make the Kansas City Royals roster. León had appeared in more than 550 games for six different big league teams since debuting with the Washington Nationals in 2012 and had played at the MLB level every season through 2023. He spent 2024 at Triple-A and returned in 2025 as a veteran mentor at Gwinnett. He was expected to aid Drake Baldwin's development, guide a pitching staff, and serve as a depth option; roster injuries and moves produced his MLB call-ups, and performance expectations emphasized mentorship over production.
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