The Braves announced that they have declined their club options on catcher Travis d’Arnaud and right-hander Luke Jackson while picking up their option on designated hitter Marcell Ozuna. Jeff Passan of ESPN relayed the d’Arnaud news on X prior to the official announcement. The d’Arnaud option was for $8MM and came with no buyout and he will now enter the open market. Jackson will head to free agency as well, collecting a $2MM buyout instead of a $7MM salary next year. Ozuna’s option had a $1MM buyout but the club will bring him back with a $16MM salary instead.
The news on d’Arnaud is the most surprising development. Just one month ago, president of baseball operations Alex Anthopoulos said in his end-of-season press conference that the club was planning to pick up options on each of d’Arnaud, Ozuna and left-hander Aaron Bummer. They did indeed pick up Ozuna’s option while Bummer agreed to a reworked deal yesterday that saw the club essentially trigger Bummer’s two club options for 2025 and 2026, though with Bummer sacrificing a small amount of total earnings in exchange for more money to be locked in upfront.
The new deal for Bummer and also one for Reynaldo López saw Atlanta kick some money from their 2025 payroll ahead to 2026, indicating that payroll flexibility in the coming season is an ongoing issue for them. That’s likely a factor for the d’Arnaud call also, as the club can keep some powder dry for their offseason pursuits and perhaps circle back to d’Arnaud later in the winter.
Per RosterResource, Atlanta is projected for a payroll of $215MM next year, just $20MM shy of this year’s figure. They have plenty to do this winter, as they are set to lose Max Fried and Charlie Morton to free agency, opening up two rotation holes. It’s also possible that they could pursue upgrades over Orlando Arcia at shortstop, tweaks to the bullpen or other moves. Triggering d’Arnaud’s option would have locked in another $8MM today but it seems the club would rather hold onto that bit of spending capacity at least for now.
Atlanta clearly likes d’Arnaud, as they have a relationship that goes back a ways. He just finished his fifth season with the club, having signed multiple deals to stay in town. They signed him to a two-year, $16MM deal going into 2020. Late in 2021, as that deal was winding down, the two sides agreed to extend the relationship by another two years and with another $16MM. Midway through 2023, they agreed to another extension, locking in an $8MM salary for 2024 and the club option which has been turned down today.
During that time, d’Arnaud has hit .251/.312/.443 for a 106 wRC+. His framing and blocking have generally been well regarded and FanGraphs has considered him to have been worth 9.3 wins above replacement over his 384 games with Atlanta.
The club has clearly viewed him as worth $8MM per year in the past but isn’t locking him in at that price point now, despite Anthopoulos suggesting a month ago they likely would. He’ll now head to free agency and be one of the better backstops available. Guys like Danny Jansen, Kyle Higashioka and Carson Kelly are the best catchers in free agency this winter but d’Arnaud shouldn’t be too far behind that group.
With the shenanigans to move the López and Bummer money around and now d’Arnaud’s option being declined, perhaps the money is a bit tight for Atlanta at the moment. Given the way Anthopoulos operates, it wouldn’t be a surprise to see them get creative on the trade market and move some contracts around, but the pursestrings might be a bit clenched for now.
As for Jackson, he’s had some good seasons in the past but has been up-and-down lately. Tommy John surgery wiped out his 2022 season, just as he was headed into free agency. He signed a two-year, $11.5MM deal with the Giants going into 2023, with the aforementioned option for 2025. He was able to make 33 appearances last year with a 2.97 earned run average but his 2024 was more challenging. He missed time due to a lower back strain and eventually posted a 5.09 ERA on the year, getting traded back to Atlanta midseason. His 25.1% strikeout rate and 50.7% ground ball rate were solid but his 11.1% walk rate was on the high side.
Jackson has had some success in the past and got a solid deal even after missing a full season due to surgery. Spending $5MM on such a pitcher wouldn’t have been outrageous but it’s also not shocking to see the club move on when considering his poor 2024 campaign and their apparent budgetary concerns.
Maybe he is taking a team friendly multi-year deal to save the team money?
That’s my guess
Or he’s retiring
He’s had a few concussions and his wife just had a new baby (his 3rd). He may want to hang ’em up.
Maybe the Giants pick him up?
Offer him 2 seasons at $13 million. He is still a solid player in limited play time and from all reports a class act in the clubhouse.
It should also be noted that there’s been rumors of him possibly as a future coach and/or manager. ATL let go catching consultant Sal Fasano, a position they created for him. Not insinuating anything, just saying.
RunDMC not sayin’, just sayin’.
A player/coach would be fun!
They could’ve worked out that team friendly extension already like they did with Lopez
That’s what I thought of immediately, also. Sad, because he’s such a great clubhouse guy, and still a great backup catcher.
Travis is almost 36 and $8M is quite a bit for a backup catcher. I wouldn’t be surprised to see him sign back with Atlanta for a $4M-$5M deal.
I would doubt very much he would retire.
He should have enough $ he could
Travis can still earn good money for another 2 or 3 years as a semi starter platoon player
An Above average offensively and defensively Catcher will surely find a home like someone mentioned the CUBs but many others.
He might stay with ATL on something like a 2 year 10M total with incentives (speculation on my part)
The Braves like Baldwin a lot and think he is the future.
Murphy is still the future. If Baldwin hits 100% of what their hopes are, he would probably still top out below Murphy. Even with that, you have to have three legit catchers on your 40 these days because of injuries and wear and tear.
To me, I think they will sign D’Arnaud at a reduced amount like others have mentioned, and start Baldwin in AAA. Whether or not he will get the call-up if D’Arnaud or Murphy get hurt is a good question given he would have to be put on the 40 and start a service clock. My guess is they would first try to roll to some aging vet they get for PTBNL and if that fails it would be Baldwin, though Baldwin could force them to forego the aging vet trade in that situation if he continues to get better.
@UGA Steve: Tromp may still be in the mix in AAA. The Braves seem to value him as an acceptable break glass in case of emergency guy.
Did not expect this
Didn’t the braves say they were going to pick up his option?
Yes, the braves originally had said in an interview they were picking up the option (can’t remember if it was Snitker or Anthopoulos).
Of course they also originally said all the coaching staff would be retained and we saw how that worked out.
Paving the way for Drake Baldwin to have a roster spot?
Chump.
And the door to the Cubs swings open. Sign d’Arnaud and Tanner Scott and the Cubs are already a way better team. I’d even overpay both of them a little as in 2027 they will have more money to throw around when Happ, Suzuki, and Tallion come off th3 books. Key is 3rd year bump in pay when they’ll have more money and a higher Tax. Do something right Hoyer.
Lot of cost cutting measures so far by the Braves.
@blackpink: Cost cutting and moving money around to spend on needed upgrades is different than the narrative you’ve been promoting. They’ll either sign re-sign d’Arnaud on a cheaper deal or it opens the spot for Drake Baldwin. Baldwin’s ready. Above average defense, LH hitter w/power, good contact and walk rates, low strikeout rate.
Some teams just spend money when they have roster holes to fill. In fact that’s what most teams do. If the Braves have to cut salary before making additions it’s exactly what I am saying it is.
You don’t understand the difference between allotting salary for a different purpose and “having to cut salary.” “Most teams just spend money when they have roster holes to fill,” No. They don’t. “In fact that’s what most teams do.” Prove it. You can’t. Teams trade to fill holes, promote mil players, shuffle salary to align w/their needs on the luxury tax, etc—-including spending money, but not exclusive to that. The Braves “don’t have to cut salary before making additions.” “Have to” vs choose to. They choose to because it aligns w/their goals, not because they’re cash strapped.
Whatever you say Jeff.
What kind of a loser gets defensive about something like this?
What kind of a jerk starts name calling when he gets a reply to his “claims?” You do. Constantly.
Your reply is made up nonsense.
@nashville,
You may be right, but they may also end up cutting salary. As you said to black pink: prove it.
Yeah obviously we will see what happens it’s still early in the offseason. I said there is reason to be concerned not that they are definitely doing anything.
I mean, maybe this allows the braves to have better bargaining power. teams would use they are over the cap and use as a power move on us losing a deal. Idk. speculating. But I’ve seen teams in hockey having issues in trades because of the cap.
@stymeedone: Salary or payroll? The payroll may go down because of Fried leaving, the possible retirement of Morton, and the non tenders of d’Arnaud, Jackson, and several other options that weren’t picked up for obvious reasons. AA has said that payroll would go up this season. That remains to be seen. They ended the season just under the 3rd luxury tax level. Be surprised to see them go into the next level.
@stymeedone: I replied “prove it” to his assertion “that’s what most teams do” in regard to “just spending money when they have roster holes to fill.” My point was that there are several other ways that teams address roster needs beside “just spend(ing) money.”
Yeah, let’s ride with the .193 guy behind the plate.
…who had a higher bWAR in 27% less games than d’Arnaud, while sporting an AVG 40 points lower than his career AVG, possibly because of a G1 oblique injury.
But sure, Russell Wilson, Braves Country, “let’s ride!”
They’ll either re-sign d’Arnaud for less money or roll w/Drake Baldwin as Murphy’s backup. Good way to break Baldwin in.
And they still have Tromp as an experienced backup.
Either Baldwin is ready, or he’s not. Being ready is a good reason to do what they did.
Braves20 citing BA likes it’s still the 20th century.
Eventually we’ll just all have to admit we made a huge mistake on Murphy whether you like 20th or 21st century numbers.
Murphy was a 2023 All-Star who had a better year than Contreras, playing a month’s less worth of games (33) with a bWAR of 3.9 v. Contreras’ 3.8, with Murphy having much more defensive value. Even Sale has raved about Murphy calling his games. I don’t there’s antiquated stat that will convince your jaded opinion, but that’s ok.
You can’t talk to some of these folks Run. To them, one down year means a guy should retire apparently.
Good. Guy’s a defensive liability. -6 DSR last year and -21 for his career. Cooked! I(f you’re going to be a backup catcher, at least have some defense to your game.
He was still worth over a win in WAR last year. That’s worth $8m. Might not be worth it next year, but they could have done a lot worse for a backup catcher, and most teams routinely do.
I’ll miss little d if the Braves don’t re-sign him, but a rookie on a minimum contract as Murphy’s backup/timeshare partner opens up more money to spend on a SS, LF’er, and AA’s favorite investment—pitching, pitching, pitching. Looking forward to Drake Baldwin. Plenty to like about him.
Forever Dodger!
And Ray.
Longer as a Brave than either the Dodgers or Rays.
He’ll get a lot of interest as a backup catcher.
He wouldn’t be a bad fit in Anaheim, seeing as how he grew up a few miles from there. O’Hoppe got worn down this past season and the Halos could use a veteran to help out.
Guardians?
There’s 2 for the Mets a backup C and a cheap bullpen piece
Five years with the club and no buyout? Dat dude’s agent sucks1
Good player. Is a Starting Catcher if healthy. Also, getting a little old in the tooth . Winning ballplayer who can still play if he wants to continue!
They WHAT!?
I’m hoping he’s Sal’s replacement.
Be a good mentor to Drake Baldwin too bham.
Would love for the Mets to bring him back as a backup for Alvarez.
I was thinking the exact same thing.
I actually really like this move. They paid Sean Murphy all that money just to basically play half the time. I really think his poor offensive numbers were a direct result of this. And clearly Snit was never gonna give Murphy a full time role. I like D’arnaud but it was time.
I would rather try and resign D’arnaud for two years at $10 million than to start the clock on a prospect to back up Murphy.
@notagain: Baldwin was drafted in 2022 out of Missouri State. He’ll be 24 next March. Braves #1 prospect according to Baseball America rankings released today. Not picking up d’Arnaud’s might indicate the Braves think Baldwin’s ML ready. Excellent showing in the Az Fall League. Breaking him in behind Murphy is a reasonable move. Also helps w/the luxury tax to have the backup catcher on a rookie minimum salary. 100-110 games for Murphy, 50-60 for Baldwin plus some lefty pinch hit ab’s off the bench.
I will bet that Travis will be back with the Braves for another year at $6M or so but that’s a cold way for the team to save $2M.
Yes, it’s a business but still…
It’s not always just about the benjamins
On another note, thank heavens they cut Luke Jackson.
buh bye
Wondering if declining d’Arnaud’s option has anything to do w/the need to replace the production of Joe Jiminez (and AJ Minter.)
I like the decision given that they have options in the minors and given that Murphy could possibly rebound without the internal competition at the position, hard to lose D’Arnaud, clearly a better hitter than Murphy, and possibly the better all around player but not much of a market for Murphy after last seasons bomb.
The real question Id raise with the article is the Braves trying to find an upgrade for Orlando Arcia, that is unlikely, Arcia is a great defensive shortstop and a serviceable bat, great player to have on the team.