The Braves signed free-agent first baseman Jesus Aguilar to a minor league contract, per the team’s transaction log at MLB.com. He was released by the A’s earlier this month.
Aguilar, who’ll turn 33 later this month, hit just .221/.281/.385 with five homers in 115 plate appearances for Oakland after signing a one-year, $3MM deal in the offseason. Oakland’s hope had been that Aguilar could recapture his 2017-21 form — .262/.338/.476, 93 homers in 1972 trips to the plate — and emerge as a summer trade candidate. That didn’t happen in the season’s first two months, however, and Oakland has turned first base over to impressive Rule 5 pick Ryan Noda on a full-time basis now.
During that 2017-21 peak, Aguilar was an All-Star (2017) and consistent power threat, topping out with a career-high 35 dingers back in 2018. At his best, Aguilar walked between 10-11% of his plate appearances and kept his strikeouts at or south of the league’s average rate. In 2023, he walked at a sub-par 7% clip and fanned in 27.5% of his plate appearances while delivering career-worst marks in average exit velocity (86.7 mph) and hard-hit rate (29.3%).
For the Braves, there’s little harm in bringing aboard a slugger with some track record on a no-risk deal. Atlanta is set at first base with Matt Olson and has gotten better play from designated hitter Marcell Ozuna of late, so there’s no pressing need on the big league roster. Aguilar can play some first base in Triple-A Gwinnett for the time being, and should the Braves incur an injury or simply want some additional right-handed thump off the bench, he could be an option in the event that he’s playing well.
This is the kind of deal that makes AA the best GM in the business.
Also of note, Braves are just an awesome franchise. Jesus probably had several minor league offers and calls from people less set at 1B and DH. And yet, he chose Brave culture.
Chicken dinner, my friends. Chicken dinner.
Worth the risk.
Love the pick up.
He’s quite the character and a good clubhouse influence
The Braves will take just about anyone from the A’s, won’t they?
Five years from now, the Braves will get Shea Langeliers and sign him to a six year deal.
Not John Fisher. You can keep ’em.
this may look like very little but I promise you if he plays he will murder lefties and be rejuvenated in that park and lineup. Easily can hit 10 hrs down the stretch and be a valuable pinch hitter
Great insurance policy. Better than Voit combined with any other flotsam and jetsam 1B floating around in free agency.
Finely aged belly button lint.
Sign Cam Robinson or buy him for $1 and call it a day.
“cash considerations” = $1
Plan the parade.
All A’s refugees are welcome! Well, most.
Spencer Strider gave up a homerun to Miguel Cabrera today. About 5 to 10 years ago that would’ve been believable. It may be the last time Miguel hits a HR in the major leagues.
Depends on the playing time that Cabrera gets the rest of the year. Either way what a great career and first ballot hall of famer.
Agreed. His right knee ended his career a few years ago.
Well Strider hasn’t looked great his last couple of starts. Non Strider like
This is an Eddie Rosario type pick up.
I was thinking Matt Adams
Given Strider was an amateur 5-10 years ago, not really.
Cabrera 5-10 years ago when he could function better as a baseball player vs today’s Strider.
This is an excellent pickup for the Braves.
It might look like nothing, but if something were to happen to Olson, the Braves would’ve only had Fuentes at AAA as a backup 1B
They likely could have tried out someone else at 1B and having them play out of position, but this signing avoids all that nonsense and adds a solid veteran bat to their organization.
Olson has been putrid against LHP this year, so it might not be such a bad idea to have Aguilar around taking up a spot on the roster later on after they try to rework his swing.
Olson has been very “meh” since they aquired him. His groundballs are down (good), flyballs are up (bad), and he is pulling the ball less. More flyballs to center (45.1% in 2020, 58.9% in 2023). He just needs to hit the ball more often—the strikeouts (16.8% 2021, 29.9% 2023), ugh. Note that I used arbitrary years to tell my story. His defense is also down but those metrics may not be accurate.
I miss Freddie Freeman and I don’t agree with that decision. Freeman was a known quantity but getting older and Olson was younger but unknown.
Relax, Olsen is just a 1B version of Swanson. He’s extremely streaky, but his highs are just like Swanson and his floor is higher than swansons lows. I wouldn’t be too concerned with him yet
“I miss Freddie Freeman and I don’t agree with that decision”
You do realize that it was Freeman’s decision and not the organization. Freeman was stated years before he hit FA that he made enough money and wanted to be a Brave for life. The fact he went to FA shows he is a chump who went back on his word. Great ball player but made every excuse not to take personal blame for wanting to leave Atlanta. He even didn’t listen to advice from Chipper about the contract negotiations. Braves fans need to get over it and realize Freeman didn’t want to be a Brave. Dude just puts on an acting show bc he doesn’t want the fan base to turn on him and many don’t bc he is a Hall of Famer who gave the Braves many great years.
Fair enough. Thanks for the info. I miss the player in the lineup. That’s all.
I should’ve known something was wrong when he got those veneers. I can picture him standing in front of the mirror, licking his teeth, chanting, “here we come LA, here we come LA…” over and over. Very disturbing.
Why am I one of the few people who always question these moves? Like you know he’ll be called up and replace someone who shouldn’t be replaced all cause he has a little pop or is a clubhouse guy. It’s zero risk, I get that, but idk. AAA must need another bat or first basemen
Not sure why people are fawning over this move TBH. AA is a genius, but Aguilar looks toast to me.