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.
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