1:36pm: The Braves have formally announced the move.
12:48pm: Tomlin’s deal actually comes with a $1.25MM guarantee, Rosenthal now tweets. That indicates a $1MM salary next year plus the $250K buyout on the $1.25MM option for 2022.
11:40am: The Braves have agreed to a new contract that will bring free-agent righty Josh Tomlin back to Atlanta, reports Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic (via Twitter). The Meister Sports client will receive a $1MM guarantee, and his contract also contains a $1.25MM club option for the 2022 season. That option comes with a $250K buyout, suggesting that Tomlin’s 2021 salary checks in at $750K.
Tomlin, 36, joined the Braves in 2019 after a nine-year run with the Indians and has been a steady swingman for manager Brian Snitker over the past two seasons. Tomlin has appeared in 68 games for the Braves, starting on six occasions, and totaled 119 frames of 4.08 ERA ball with 6.6 K/9, 1.1 BB/9, 1.51 HR/9 and a 35 percent ground-ball rate in that time. The right-hander’s heater sits in the 88-89 mph range, but he’s managed to succeed by avoiding hard contact at an above-average clip and capitalizing on some of the best command in the game.
It’s likely that Tomlin will return to that long relief/swingman role in what should again be a solid Braves relief corps. Atlanta surprisingly bought out Darren O’Day’s club option for the 2021 season and is also in line to lose both Mark Melancon and Shane Greene to free agency. However, the Braves still have Chris Martin, Will Smith and a seemingly resurgent Tyler Matzek to anchor the ’pen, and general manager Alex Anthopoulos figures to add to that group in the coming months.
Liking this news!
like it too…but hopefully this isn’t at the expense of resigning most the other relievers hitting free agency. Oday, Greene, Melancon need to be higher on the to-do list
I don’t mind this move. It’s puzzling though that they let O’Day go when he was on a modest salary but brought back Tomlin? I don’t know, have to see how the rest plays out, I guess.
I don’t think they’ll keep both Greene and Melancon. The cost will probably be too much. They need to get 2 out of the 3 you mentioned back, though.
Even after the buy out, the Braves saved $3 million on O’Day. I guess they decided two years of Tomlin for about that same price was worth more than 1 year of O’Day, assuming they pick up Tomlin’s 2022 option.
No on O’Day.
Well it’s not Milone so that’s good.
After he left the Indians, I definitely thought he was done. Good for him for managing to extend his career. He’ll be a great pitching coach if he ever chooses to go that route someday.
I hadn’t paid attention to his stats the last couple of years and didn’t realize that he’s been pretty solid as a Brave. I too thought he was done after leaving Cleveland.
This is the big move Braves fans have been waiting years for!
Lol I love these comments. I too can’t believe they don’t sign 26 super stars.
Dang I didn’t realize Josh Tomlin’s 36. He seems like the kind of player who would retire and then fall under the radar because he’s the pitching coach of some AAA team. hen sometime in his mid 40’s he’d get an opportunity to be a big league pitching coach and when he takes the offer we would all say, “Oh, I remember Josh Tomlin”. He just has that look to him.
Hopefully there’s a clause for him to shave that awful playoff ‘stache. That and that alone is why we lost in the playoffs. Period.
For real. About time someone said it
I remember when Mickey Callaway said Tomlin was one of the brightest he’d ever been around…and Callaway was a thinking man. Ya, and Tomlin DOES that look about him.
A million bucks for that resume and current level? Yep, anytime.
He is credited with advising Kyle Wright to change where he stood on the rubber (the 1st side rather than the 3rd base side). The results were immediate for Wright, who looked like a different pitcher until that horrible 1st IP vs. LAD in the NLCS.
$1.25 mil? Ouch!
Braves fan so negative all the time this is a solid move . He’s been solid for the Braves
Lies! He’s only good when he gets guys out. When he gives up runs it’s time to fire Snitker & AA.
Ok, that made me laugh a little, Smacky.
I thought $1.25 mil a year was rather low… Tomlin is a solid pitcher. Not great, but still decent. Look at some Arbitration numbers out there…. Boyd is expected to get about $8 mil.
Congrats Braves! Also glad as it means Tito doesn’t bring him back again.
MLBTR PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE do the free agent contest again this year. Nobody else is doing one. Some of the most fun I had last year
In the top 50 prediction thread, it said they’d post it Nov 16th!
Solid move. Melancon should be next
The article mentioned Tomlin, obviously, and they mentioned Matzek, Martin, and Smith, but they curiously left out AJ Minter who also had an excellent bounceback season. Minter reverted back to his former, excellent self, while midnight struck for Luke Jackson and he finally turned back into the terd everyone knew he was…lol
So far, the Braves pen is looking solid with Tomlin, Will Smith, Chris Martin, Matzek, Minter, Webb, Ynoa, Newk, and likely Pfeifer, Walker, or one of their other guys stashed at AAA…
They should be in good shape as is, but I could definitely see them still either resigning Melancon or going out and getting a veteran replacement for him…
So who is the closer without Melancon? (I’m not big on Melancon either).
Will Smith, I’d imagine.
Snit loves playing the position matchup – as do most managers – which is why you see few southpaw closers to lineups loaded with righties. I can’t imagine Smith would get a majority of the saves without some kind of intervention with Snit. And that’s all assuming he can get over the HR hiccups Smith had in 2020. My traditional pick would be Chris Martin, with an underdog pick of Jeremy Walker.
Chris Martin was the name i was thinking would get the most, but i can see more guys rotating in Smith and Minter as well.
Only thing with Martin is he’s never really done it. I know in theory 3 outs in the 7th should be the same as 3 in the 9th but some guys don’t have that closer mentality. I’m not saying Martin couldn’t be great at it. Just worries me a bit there.
@Appalachian Outlaw, Martin was the closer at Texas before coming to Atlanta
@Fabulous61, for a full season? Baseballreference shows Martin with 6 career saves.
I’d say it should be Chris Martin, although Smith would probably get the first look.
Honestly, I wouldn’t mind them handling thenreigns over to Martin, Webb, or Minter if he can prove he is truly back to his old form..
If I’m Snitker though, I reward Martin and give him the role. He prevents home runs, induces alot of weak contact, and he has been the most dominant and the most consistent guy each time out
However, even with all that being said, the most likely move at closer will either be resigning Melancon or going out and signing a veteran to replace him..
One of the good guys in baseball. Glad to see he is still going.
Mr. 5-spot. Good guy or not
Tomlin is a good dude who serves every role. Glad to have his tobacco dipping face in a braves uniform next year. Dude packs some fat lippers
Considering the advice he gave to multiple pitchers combined with a decent relief season makes this contract a good decision.
He wasn’t that great as a starter but maybe this next season he won’t have to step in. If you look at his stats he was pretty effective. It seems if he has to pitch more than 1-2 innings he becomes quite hittable. Probably has to do with the contrast compared to everyone else on the staff. Every bullpen should have at least one guy who throws slower to throw off your opposition.
So he has the stats and is a good clubhouse guy. I like the move and I’m not surprised.
Solid deal. Being a couch gm, if I had to split hairs… the club option isn’t needed on the deal. 1 year at 1 mil is enough or 1.25 for 1 year is fine. Not like he’s hard to replace at league min if he doesn’t want to resign next year
They don’t just want him for his pitching abilities. Alot of guys kn the pen and some of their young starters absolutely LOVE having Tomlin around as a mentor.
If he is pitching even somewhat effectively, for ke that’s just a bonus with all he brings helping out the younger pitchers on the roster…
Agreed. Again, I’m just a couch gm splitting hairs in the name of entertaining myself in the comment section of mlbtr lol. I get adding the option though. Give him 250k extra to work with this off-season in theory, which isn’t a ton but the way liberty handcuffs AA, that 250 might be big. I’m just a guy who doesn’t like tacking money on that might be dead money, especially at such a low amt
You can hire coaches a lot cheaper than this. This is a rare misstep by AA
Tomlin isnt just a veteran presence on this team, he eats up innings both ones that matter and garbage innings, saving the arms of other guys so they can be used and fresh for another day.
You might argue, well they also have Ynoa that can do the whole ling relief role, or even Matzek. While yes, that is technically true, they’re grooming Ynoa for a much bigger time than just that, and they’re possibly even considering using him as an somewhat extended opener/emergency starter next season. They love Ynoa’s stuff and his arm, and he’s also still very raw and young. In order to put him in the best position to succeed moving forward, it is more important that Ynoa has a more identified role. This way he will know what to expect on a daily basis, and he can alter his training and throwing regiment accordingly.
Tomlin doesnt need all that, his arm is basically made of rubber, and he’s always ready to pitch. He’s going to give you all he has, and pitch his heart out whether it is 10-0 or 1-0, it has zero effect on Tomlin. The facts are not everyone is wired that way, actually very few pitchers are wired like Tomlin..
Tomlin was asked to perform countless roles last season, and he proved to be up for the task each and every time he was called upon. Yes, he had his ups and downs, but there were still alot more ups than downs. Couple that, WITH how henis able to act as another coach and mentor, and the Braves and AA got Tomlin for a STEAL!!
Not only is it not a bad deal, it is an EXCELLENT DEAL for AA and the Braves.
I disagree that this is a “rare misstep for AA”. His tenure is riddled with missteps more so in the form of not doing something or doing something until it was too late. Granted he’s lucked out with some good moves (Donaldson Ozuna and Ozzie acuna contracts), but he refused to upgrade the bullpen last year until it was crunch time, costing the braves tons of games. Worse, he refused to do anything this deadline to upgrade a bleeding rotation, which proved to be the difference in the playoffs. If we had one or two additional decent starting pitchers… we’d like win 1 of the last 3 games against the Dodgers… just saying… AA is fine, but he’s not clean of big costly mistakes