The Braves have signed infielder Charles Leblanc to a minor league contract, according to the transaction logs on MLB.com. He had elected free agency earlier this offseason. Atlanta has also added infielder Kobe Kato on a minor league deal, MLBTR has learned.
Leblanc spent his age-28 season with the Angels organization, hitting .254/.379/.437 (108 wRC+) with a dozen homers and a huge 16.4% walk rate in 98 Triple-A games. He also took 28 plate appearances in the big leagues — his second season with MLB work, following a 2022 run in Miami — and popped a pair of homers in that tiny sample.
A fourth-round pick by the Rangers back in 2016, Leblanc is a career .259/.364/.454 hitter in parts of four Triple-A seasons. He’s slashed .254/.330/.412 in 197 big league games. Leblanc has spent the bulk of his professional career at third base but also has more than 1000 innings at both second base and first base. He’s played 473 frames at shortstop and another 376 in left field.
Kato, 25, was a 13th-rounder by the Astros in 2021. Houston cut him loose early in 2024, but he turned a stint with the independent York Revolution into a new opportunity with the Mariners and climbed three minor league levels, topping out in Triple-A. Kato hit .283/.393/.389 with a homer and eight steals in 135 minor league plate appearances last year. He’s played primarily second base in the minors but has experience at short, third and all three outfield spots as well.
A previous version of this post also had the Braves signing catcher Yohel Pozo, also per the MLB.com transactions logs. MLBTR has learned that Pozo is actually still a free agent and regrets the error.
Max Fried’s a very good pitcher. He’s not really a #1 and does have some injury issues/concerns, but he’s a solid #2 pitcher in my opinion.
I think the Braves(or other teams) should consider offering him 5/$135M and see if he’s interested. If he’s not, move on with your off-season and just take the draft pick and scout out other pitching options.
not a bad take, especially for the braves, but multiple teams need pitchers and fried, even as a 2, is still better than all but maybe three or four starting pitchers on the open market right now so that alone will probably net him an extra $10 mil, but the game of musical chairs may leave someone out just like it did last offseason
5 yrs seems a bit long. but he has really been solid when healthy. once Burnes goes off the table, we’ll know what the market looks like for length. but a higher AAV shorter contract would be a good fit for the Orioles’ new plan of finally extending contracts beyond a single year. go David Rubenstein! Go O’s! Flag fly forever.
“Seems a bit long”…I agree, but I believe that’s the price of doing business in MLB these days. 5 years would be my “Max” offer and these deals where you want a guy for 4-5 solid years and you go 7-9 yrs just to obtain him, are team killers in my opinion.
What statistic are you basing Max Fried not being a #1 pitcher off of?
If hasn’t proven to be a true #1, which takes at least 3-4 years to prove you are reliable enough, then you must only have about a handful of pitchers you consider #1’s then…
By definition, there are 30 “#1’s” in MLB. Are you saying he’s the 31st best starter? I beg to differ.
“Are you saying he’s the 31st”..I believe actually, you’re the one who’s saying Max is the 31st best pitcher in baseball, since I made no actual comparisons between pitchers.
What I’m saying is there are very few true #1 pitchers and Max Fried is not one of them. Just because some team trots you out there first doesn’t make you a true #1 pitcher in my estimation.
Imo, there are a lot more #1’s than there are Aces. Fried is a definite #1 and a borderline Ace.
Straight from MLBTR Top 50 Free Agents with predictions ..
“He’s all but a lock to post a low-3.00s or upper-2.00s ERA every season, with his earned run average clocking in at 3.25 or lower in each of the past five. Fried has a combined 2.81 ERA in 112 starts in that time.”
You are seriously out of touch if you think a 2.81 ERA over his last 112 starts in not a #1 pitcher. If I could figure a way to pull up the last five years and see how many have made that many starts with a 2.81 I would, but I can bet you it’s not double digits. He is absolutely a #1 when you don’t count the one or two abnormal years of most of these guys versus three other years of near 4 era’s. My guess is because he is pitcher and not just a thrower that gets a few of those really filthy looking k’s per game, you don’t think he is an ace.
That being said, since I am a Braves fan who wants Fried back I can only hope every other team is using your logic to figure out his value, as the BRaves might actually be able to retain him.
As an example .. again, from MLBTR Free Agent listing ..
“Dating back to 2021, Burnes ranks fourth among all big league pitchers with 757 innings pitched. He’s sixth in ERA in that time, with a 2.94 mark that’s a near-mirror image of his 2024 season.”
So, in the last 4 years, Burnes has a higher ERA than Fried. I guess Burnes isn’t a #1 either.
I do agree on your injury take though, and I failed to mention that in last post. It concerned me as a Braves fan both of the last two years, and I definitely think it will impact his value as you suggested. It’s probably the only reason I am a little leery of the Braves trying to get him to re-sign, but I figure they know the arm better than any other team, so I will be ok if they put the money out.
Using Burnes as an example, he hasn’t had arm trouble in the years mentioned above .. but in today’s game that’s just as scary … because who escapes it these days? Especially a power pitcher.
According to Fangraphs, Fried had the third best ERA over the last 5 years, behind Woodruff and Kershaw. He had 112 starts and they had 81 and 85, respectively.
Also outside of game 6 of the World Series he has been very bad in post season. Since that game he has made 3 starts 9 innings and 12 earned runs.
These additions the Braves just made may not seem very big but just remember you need a deep 40 man roster to get through a season. Just look at how many players had at least 1 at bat for Braves last year or for any team.
That includes when he was sick in 2022 and gave up six runs in 3 innings. That could happen to anyone.
I would have like to see Leblanc in Kansas City on a minor league deal. Numbers look pretty good for a 3B that gets on base. Hopefully they have bigger plans for the position.
Pozo rhymes with Bozo, but this guy is no clown. I like his potential. A sneaky good pick up
He already got released, not sure why
Max is gone, he will get number 1 money. I also don’t want Chuck back even for 10 million a yr. They will sign Evoldi and get another 5th starter.
They’re not sending they’re best to the comments section.
Kobe Kato Kaelin
@Smacky: “They’re not sending they’re best.” “They” aren’t sending someone who understands the difference between they’re and their either, are they Smacky? Those who waste their time reading Smacky’s garbage should know that his biggest accomplishment on this site is rivaling Samuel for most other posters muted.