#atlanta-braves

#atlanta-braves

Earlier this year, April 16 to be specific, Spencer Strider made a long-awaited return to the mound after missing nearly the entirety of the 2024 season due to surgery on his elbow. Considering how poor of a start the Braves got off to in 2025, his return was truly a sight for sore eyes and the obvious hope was that his return was the catalyst to help revive both the pitching staff's and the team's fortunes as well.

The Braves announced Tuesday morning that they've signed left-handed reliever Danny Young to a one-year, major league contract. It's a split deal, paying the 31-year-old at different rates for time spent in the majors versus time in the minors. Young, a client of Dynamic Sports Group, goes onto Atlanta's 40-man roster. He'll be paid at a $925K rate in the majors, MLBTR has learned.

The 2018 Braves were forecasted to be largely irrelevant. They surprised everyone and pulled off a once-in-a-generation-for-a-franchise turnaround. Did that carry over into 2019? Well, not really - the team was projected to be better than average, but more of a fringy contender. Inertia is a thing. Only by 2021 was the team in "solid contender" territory, with any foundering seasons firmly in the rear-view mirror.

While it may seem a bit odd, December typically is one of the most exciting months on the baseball calendar. The Winter Meetings is typically the peak of off-season activity, and we are just a week away from the 2025 MLB Winter Meetings starting. This does not mean that moves will stop until then, but the main takeaway is that activity should continue to pick for the Braves and other teams.

It is a beautiful, late autumn morning as I sip a cup of coffee and watch the lingering, golden yellow leaves of a maple tree fall gently to the ground. The smell of banana bread completing its final minutes of baking wafts through the air. For this, I am thankful. This is the fifth consecutive year that I've been fortunate enough to publish this editorial here at Battery Power.

We have a lot of things to be thankful for as Braves fans, but I want to shout out a few here: Alex Anthopoulos - Having a really smart, savvy guy in charge of baseball operations is a huge asset for this organization. Anthopoulos has balanced different timeframes really well and has been a responsible steward at the top of what is one of the most respected organizations in the league.

Hartman was selected with Atlanta's 20th round pick in the 2024 draft, using the 611th overall selection on the outfielder from Holy Trinity Academy out of Alberta, Canada. He was given a signing bonus $337,500, which was understandably significantly higher than his slot value. What were the expectations in 2025? When it was announced the Braves had actually signed all 20 selections in their 2024 class - including Hartman - it came as a bit of a surprise.

We spend a long time here worried about what the winter moves mean and how it will help the team going forward. What if it doesn't matter because the Braves are just undeniably good? Walt Weiss could be that rock that steadies the ship. Tim Hyers might be a guy that could be allowed to encourage the Braves hitters to hunt for power.

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.

There's not a whole lot of mystery surrounding the Braves' offseason needs. Ha-Seong Kim declining his player option leaves them back at square one at shortstop. They need more depth in a rotation that was battered by injury. They're potentially losing three high-leverage relievers (Raisel Iglesias, Pierce Johnson and Tyler Kinley) to free agency. President of baseball operations Alex Anthopoulos said on Tuesday that starting pitching and shortstop will take precedence early in the offseason.

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.