#atlanta-braves

#atlanta-braves

Since Brujan is out of options, the split contract is essentially a workaround for that lack of ostensible roster flexibility: on a more generic contract, Brujan would have had little incentive to stick around upon being outrighted to the minors; this split contract presumably sweetens his pot a bit, but he forfeits the sweetener if he does reject an outright assignment in order to seek his fortune with another club.

Thursday was a busy night around the league, and Atlanta Braves outfielder Ronald Acuña Jr. joined in on the fun, taking home the National League Comeback Player of the Year Award. After returning from a major ACL injury, Acuña got back in the swing of things pretty quickly. He ended 2025 with a .290 batting average, cranking 21 home runs and even stealing nine bases.

This is due to a fairly new rule change to the MLB Collective Bargaining Agreement, to incentivize teams to promote their talented young players in order to prevent them from keeping them in the minor leagues for six weeks to extend their service time. This rule, called the Prospect Promotion Incentive, is given to players who are Top 100 prospects that make the Opening Day roster.

Tim Hyers will return for his second year as hitting coach, as expected. It was an uneven first year under Hyers, but the club hit much better in the second half of the season (107 wRC+) than the first (96 wRC+). All eyes will be on Atlanta's hitters to see if they can collectively rebound and get back to the heights of previous campaigns.

Baldwin was the only player named on all 30 ballots that were cast. He received 21 first-place votes and nine for second place, totaling 183 points. That was good for a finish ahead of Chicago Cubs rookie Cade Horton, who garnered nine first-place votes, 16 second place and four for third place, amounting to 139 points. Baldwin became the seventh catcher to ever win Rookie of the Year and the second for the Braves. Baldwin joined Earl Williams in Braves franchise history as catchers to win the award.

The Atlanta Braves seem primed to add long-time Minnesota Twins coach Tommy Watkins to their coaching staff per multiple reports. Dan Hayes of the Athletic was first to report the news earlier this afternoon. As Aaron Gleeman of the Athletic noted, Watkins had been with the Twins for 27 years. Reporting on the Braves side indicated that Watkins' role with the Braves is not yet known, with the Athletic's David O'Brien suggesting it could be a 3rd base coach or major league coach role.

Look, the Braves are nothing if not loyal... for the most part. One thing they've loved to do in recent years? Bring back old friends for a last, or even not-so-last, hurrah. Off the top of my head, I can think of getting Jorge Soler and Luke Jackson back at the 2024 Trade Deadline, the seemingly never-ending saga of Eddie Rosario, Adam Duvall came back multiple times, and even someone like Jesse Chavez seemingly had his presence on the team written in the stars.

Both Cade Horton of the Cubs and Drake Baldwin of the Braves had seasons worthy of earning the award. However, if Baldwin were to win the award, the Braves would earn an extra draft pick near the top of the 2026 MLB Draft. While the pick itself could be valuable next summer to add talent, it also could be an additional asset that gives Atlanta extra incentive to make a

Carrasco, 38, is a long-time big league veteran who started three games with Atlanta last summer when the team was at the apex of injury issues with the starting rotation. He was designated for assignment but re-signed with the organization and finished the year with Gwinnett. Vines, 27, didn't pitch last season due to injury, but has been in the organization since being drafted in 2016 and has nine major league games under his belt, appearing with Atlanta in both 2023 and 2024.

Atlanta Braves Holdings, Inc. released their third quarter numbers on Wednesday. Yes, one of the benefits of the Braves becoming an asset of a large corporation and later spun off is that they are compelled to tell us all about their money. You don't get that kind of transparency with the Miami Marlins or the Pittsburgh Pirates. Who knows what they're up to. But the Braves had a good third quarter of the year.

There is one choice that appears to be a no-brainer and that's the decision to decline an $8 million team option for INF/P David Fletcher. Again, this was a no-brainer. David Fletcher only made five appearances for the Braves at the major league level back in 2024 and spent the entirety of the 2025 season in Atlanta's farm system, as he spent the vast majority of his time with the Triple-A Gwinnett Stripers while also playing for the Double-A Columbus Clingstones for a spell.

While the scouting reports are fully behind a paywall there are still some interesting tidbits for those without an account - including Baseball America's Best Tools update which has quite a few newly drafted Braves prospects. For example Conor Essenburg, the fifth round draft pick out of 2025, claims the Braves best power hitter, while Briggs McKenzie takes home best curveball, and best changeup. Not surprisingly, Alex Lodise took home best infield arm, and best defensive infielder.

Kinley will receive a $750K buyout and head into free agency rather than collecting a $5.5MM salary for the 2026 season. The move to decline Kinley's option is something of a surprise. The right-hander pitched to a 3.96 ERA with a 3.69 FIP in 72 2/3 innings of work overall in 2025, but those solid yet unspectacular overall results don't tell the whole story.

In his final season with Charlotte, McCabe swatted 16 homers to go along with an OPS of 1.297. What were the expectations for 2025? Coming into 2025, the main focus for McCabe boiled down to two things: staying healthy, and simply getting back into the swing of things. After undergoing Tommy John surgery in February 2024, McCabe was only able to suit up for 35 games with Mississippi, posting an abysmal slash line of .137/.284/.214 in 117 at-bats.

The Braves have released right-hander Nathan Wiles, according to Lindsay Crosby of the Braves Today podcast. Wiles came to Atlanta's organization in a trade from the Rays back in March, and the righty made his MLB debut this season in the form of one inning of work (and three earned runs allowed) during the Braves' 10-4 loss to the Cardinals on April 22.

Well the bittersweet part about watching that absolute classic of a World Series Game 7 last night is that it means we've officially entered the offseason. The bad news is that there's no more Major League Baseball until next season. Blah.

The Atlanta Braves had one of the more unfortunate seasons in recent memory, especially with regard to injuries to their rotation. In fact, there was a point where all five members of the Opening Day rotation were on the Injured List at the same time. This resulted in quite a few roster moves to bring in pitchers to eat some innings, especially after it was pretty much a done deal that the season was effectively over. Erick Fedde was one of these moves, and worked out (or didn't) just as much as you'd expect.

Okay, now that we have that silly Game 7 out of the way, let's get back to the important things. The Braves have some important spots to fill. They have identified shortstop, starting pitching and bullpen as the most pressing needs. They also need a manager. Sources tell me than Quincy, Ivan's cat is available, but he will not come cheap and will at times be sleeping in the dugout.

The Braves signed Jhancarlos Lara back in 2021 as an international free agent. The team was still dealing with their international sanctions from the John Coppolella era at the time, significantly limiting what they could spend. So getting a real prospect in this time would require finding a diamond in the rough for almost no bonus - which is exactly what happened with Lara, as he signed for just $10k bonus.