The Braves announced today that they have signed both right-hander Reynaldo López and left-hander Aaron Bummer to new contracts. They also selected right-hander Domingo Gonzalez to the roster.
López will make $30MM over the next three years: $8MM in 2025, $14MM in 2026 and $8MM in 2027. On his previous deal, he was set to make $11MM in ’25 and ’26 with an $8MM club option and $4MM buyout for ’27. This deal effectively guarantees that club option ahead of time while allowing Atlanta to move some of his money from the ’25 ledger to the ’26 ledger.
Bummer’s deal had two club options for ’25 and ’26, both valued at $7.25MM with $1.25MM buyouts. Per today’s announcement, he is now guaranteed $13MM over the next two years: $3.5MM in ’25 and $9.5MM in ’26. That’s slightly less than the $14.5MM he could have made if both options were eventually picked up but he gets the security of having it locked in now, staving off any chance of an injury or a decline in performance hurting his future earning power. In this instance as well, the club moves some money from ’25 to ’26.
Before the offseason has really even begun in earnest, Atlanta’s payroll and competitive balance tax situation have already been a clear focus. Almost as soon as trades were allowed to happen, outfielder/designated hitter Jorge Soler was flipped to the Angels, essentially as a salary dump. Atlanta got right-hander Griffin Canning in return but it seems their primary motivation was to get rid of the two years and $26MM left on Soler’s deal. Now, a couple of days later, they announced these reworked deals. In both cases, the goal was seemingly to give Atlanta a bit more spending power in the upcoming offseason.
According to RosterResource, Atlanta is currently slated to have a payroll of $191MM and a CBT number of $210MM. The latter is higher because it’s calculated based on a contract’s average annual value rather than what the club is set to actually pay in 2025. The club has signed some backloaded extensions, which leads some players to have a higher CBT hit than their current salary.
The club finished 2024 with a payroll of $232MM and $277MM. Looking ahead to 2025, there’s some breathing room relative to last year’s numbers, but triggering options on Marcell Ozuna ($16MM), Travis d’Arnaud ($8MM) and Luke Jackson ($7MM) will eat up some of that. The club also has plenty on its offseason to-do list, with Max Fried and Charlie Morton now free agents, opening up two holes in the rotation. The club might consider upgrading on Orlando Arcia at shortstop, Sean Murphy at catcher or Jarred Kelenic in the outfield.
In the case of López, his new deal won’t impact his CBT hit. He signed a three-year, $30MM deal with Atlanta last winter, a deal that came with a $10MM luxury tax calculation. This new deal also has him slated to make $30MM over the next three years, keeping the CBT hit the same.
In terms of pure dollars, he is now guaranteed $4MM extra than previously, with that club option locked in. If he should suffer an injury or a decline in performance between now and then, he has prevented the club from going with the buyout. In exchange, the club gets a small increase in spending power this winter by moving $3MM of his salary ahead by a year. His return to a starting role was a big success this year as he posted a 1.99 earned run average in 135 2/3 innings.
With Bummer, the club clearly wanted to keep him around but worked out some details that they liked better than those options. This will actually increase his CBT hit relative to 2024, but by a bit less than if they had just picked up the option.
Atlanta acquired Bummer a year ago when he still had one guaranteed season left on his deal with the White Sox. Per the rules of the collective bargaining agreement between the league and the players union, a player’s CBT hit is recalculated at the time of a trade. Bummer was set to make a $5.5MM salary in 2024 and $1.25MM buyout on the option, so his CBT hit was $6.75MM in 2024. He had a strong season, posting a 3.58 ERA out of Atlanta’s bullpen this year.
If Atlanta had picked up the ’25 option, his CBT hit would have jumped to $8.5MM, when factoring in the $7.25MM salary and the $1.25MM buyout on the ’26 option. Instead, Atlanta has locked him in at $13MM for the next two years, reducing his CBT hit to $6.5MM. They also backloaded the salary so that they have more money to spend on the ’25 club. For him, he’s potentially leaving a small amount of money on the table, as he could have eventually made $14.5MM if both options were triggered. But he now has more guaranteed up front, so he’s protected against a big surgery or some other unfortunate developments cropping up between now and his second option decision.
Perhaps Atlanta expects to have a bit less of a payroll crunch a year from now. Ozuna’s contract will be done after 2025, as will that of Raisel Iglesias. They have ’26 club options for players like Chris Sale, Pierce Johnson, Ozzie Albies, David Fletcher and Arcia that they could walk away from, depending on each player’s health and performance between now and then. RR currently pegs Atlanta for a $137MM payroll and $136MM for CBT purposes in 2026. However, those numbers will eventually climb based on the options and players who qualify for arbitration, as well as with any multi-year deals the club gives out this winter.
Gonzalez, 25, was originally signed by the Pirates but Atlanta nabbed him in the minor league phase of the 2022 Rule 5 draft. Players who have played parts of seven years in the minors, including the cancelled 2020 season, can qualify for minor league free agency. That was about to be the case for Gonzalez but Atlanta wanted to keep him around, so they’ve added him to the roster today.
He was in a swingman role when in the Pirates’ system but Atlanta has had him working primarily in relief since they grabbed him. He has posted huge strikeout totals but also given out a high number of walks. He spent all of last year in Double-A, posting a 4.19 ERA in 53 2/3 innings. He struck out 30.5% of batters faced while giving out free passes at a 13.3% rate. This year, he split his time between Double-A and Triple-A. He had a 2.91 ERA in 52 2/3 innings, increasing his strikeout rate to 38.8% while decreasing the walks to 10.3%. Those strong results will get him onto a major league roster for the first time and he should compete for a role in Atlanta’s bullpen next year.
What a great year Lopez had
We were told he wouldn’t make it as a starter, though.
135 innings. Not bad.
Obviously AA thinks he can grow that number. If not, that rubber arm Canning cat lying in the long relief weeds ready to fill in if he gets dead arm syndrome (and/or other SPs) at anytime during season? Nice get AA!
AA is staying busy.
The Braves are doing some NFL style accounting, kicking the can down the road. I’m not sure that’s a sound philosophy with guaranteed MLB contracts.
If you’re worried about teams kicking the can down the road, take a look at the Dodgers commitments. Oy vey!
The Dodgers are annualy funding the market value needed to accrue to later deferred amounts and are being charged against the luxury tax accordingly. Deferred money is nothing new and it is not kicking the can the can down the road in any way.
I hope you’re right.
It’s been heavily reported on. He has an annual salary of $2M and the Dodgers will be paying $44M annually to fund that year’s deferral. Hence the $46M annual luxury cap figure. So ultimately Ohtani signed a $460M contract present day value. It is just being held and accruing for him to be paid at a later date. Meanwhile he continues to gain name recognition over the confusion and constant mention of his contract and ultimately the most marketable MLB player of all time finacially, continues to rake in MLB record annual endorsement income.
It is kicking the can down the road no matter how much denial you are currently consuming yourself with.
All I’m gonna say is make sure you dont kick that can bare foot and make sure there’s no sharp edges because it sucks getting a tetanus shot
another Bobby Bonilla type of contract basically.
The value of his contract is $46M annually present day value. That it the cost to the Dodgers annually. The accrued $ is being paid interest by a 3rd party that the annual $44M is invested with.
Do you grasp this concept??
Nice to see two White Sox escapees being paid amounts they’d never get from uncle jer. Also, how is $5M “SLIGHTLY less?”
13m that he is guaranteed now is slightly less than the 14.5 he could have gotten if Atl picked up the option next year.
Bummer had a good year and is totally worth the $13M over 3 years.
Move more money off ’25 books by renegotiating deals. Love it.
Gonna need it for Soto 😉
I’m expecting Soto right after Bauer
lol yeah I’ll 2nd this one. They both might be after trading for Ohtani and the ghost of Pete rose RIP
And Addison Russell for SS.
You ain’t getting soto
@Kaiser. It’s a joke you bell end.
No thanks on Soto. His defense is already suspect. The next contract is going to be at least 10 years. he will be like 38 and a dh with diminished skills by 34 or 35.
FWIW — it should be worth noting that ATL’s TV contract is up in 2027, so new negotiations should be happening soon, so if they really wanted to maximize the value of any new deal, they can invest now, meaning a radical expenditure like Soto (or many others) could be more attractive, knowing it could pay for itself in a new TV deal, marketing, ad rates, combined with any profits from…winning. I’m not suggesting ATL will go that far, but I am saying it should be worth noting that a franchise-altering contract looks more attractive than before, when they were locked into their decent TV deal.
They committed over $10m to save $2m on the 2025 CBT number. That’s a team with a big CBT problem.
Those buyouts counted against the the total CBT over fewer years. By guaranteeing them, they spread over the total years of the contracts. Lopez CBT went from $13M per year for two years to $10M per year for three years. Bummer would have cost them $8.5M CBT in 2025. Now it’s just $6.5M in 25 and in 26. They wanted to keep them anyway, so it’s a more efficient structure.
@Atloriolesfan
Actually Lopez CBT stayed the exact same and Bummer’s CBT went up. So this is actually the opposite of you suggesting the CBT being a problem.
Ultimately is was about moving overall dollars around some. Moving from 2025 to 2026 much like you see in the NFL.
Bummer’s CBT went down and annual cash went down comparing to his original deal for 25. Guarantee up though; however, still agree with the salary shift intent. Clearly an AI generated article (I hope).
ATL has always been more concerned with their actual payroll #. Michael Harris II and Strider have a significantly higher CBT number than what ATL owes them this year.
I like these deals. They give the team a little more payroll wiggle room, both in actual pay and in the CBT.
More to come…
I wouldn’t be surprised if they offered d’Arnaud 2yr/$12M.
I honestly see D’Arnaud retiring after this season and becoming an ATL coach. We have catchers in the pipeline that he could benefit and spending more time on murphy’s development would be great. Big D is coach material. Hopefully our new hitting coach changes things. Braves have been due for some development changes even at the MLB level. Too much comfy is not great.
I think they’ll at least bring d’Arnaud back for 2025. I think Murphy’s main problem in 25 was injuries.
‘24 unless you are miss Chloe 😉
Oops. My bad.
Travis is an absolute stud. Love that guy
Fantastic deal for the Braves and good for both Bummer and Lopez. Win for all sides involved. And for fans who will freak out about bummer, you clearly have no idea that he was not only one of our better bullpen arms statistically but he was also one of our must underutilized (meanings used in low leverage situations) in the pen. He’s the 2023 Joe Jiménez. Great #’s, great underlying #’s, snit just wouldn’t use them right
Between watching cox and snit (we don’t talk about the dark ages in between) it’s the same . Like a high school coach playing the seniors just cause.
I fear that line will continue with bench coach Walt Weiss. Hopefully I’m wrong.
I don’t think you’re wrong Run. Tuiasasopo might be another candidate. Be shocked to see them go outside the organization though.
Bummer is going to be our top lefty next year replacing AJ minter. The braves really only need a SS and outfielder this off-season.
Maybe another couple starters.
I’m guessing Gonzalez replaces Jackson on the roster?
Gonzalez has crazy strikeout numbers. 80+ in 52 IP. Looks like a nice bullpen option.
Jackson is an ATL legend along with Matzek butt those are hard outliers to their current abilities/production. I love wild new BP guys every year.
1. Great move for Lopez
2. Sean Murphy will not be upgraded. He had an injury/down year. They signed him for the long haul right or wrong.
Playing d’Arnaud more could alone be an upgrade. If a team wants Murphy trading him and bringing up Baldwin could be an upgrade too
I’m not sold on losing Murphy yet. Cap D doesn’t need to play a full season. He’s injury prone too. A new season of them both being healthy would prove robust I think.
d’Arnuad is 36 y/o by ST — I wonder how many C at 36 play more than ~35% of games behind the plate (and ATL doesn’t have a DH spot they can keep d’Arnaud’s bat in without playing him at C). He was forced to play too many games in ’24 b/c of Murphy’s injury and he could benefit from Murphy’s health, especially the amount of concussion’s d’Arnaud has had.
My thoughts exactly DMC
Baldwin looks good but sometimes it adds up on paper and doesn’t prove to work in real life.
The timing of Murphy’s injury essentially derailed his entire season. Having all winter and spring training to prep for the season and then have to be cut off for two months, then return when the seasons well underway for everyone else is tough.
Aaron says that contract’s no Bummer.
It would be a bummer to lose him. He’s a low key beast. AA did well there.
I think these moves make sense as well as trading Soler. But it appears the Braves are not overflowing with money and that’s a bit concerning.
Braves will never be LA or NY but we have just as many legit rings in the last 10 years so I’ll take it.
And infinite more than NYM or PH so that’s also a plus.
Infinite more is my favorite number.
Since the Mets inception in 1962, the Braves have won 2 WS titles, the Phillies have won 2 WS titles, and the Mets have won 2 WS titles.
Which team will get to 3 first?
Marlins 2 titles.
Nationals 1 title.
I vote Mets!
@ Sunday L
Just to be annoying, the Marlins also have 2 WS titles in a much shorter timeframe. Y’all have a couple of years head start
Probably the Mets but I’m talking last 10 years 😉 let’s keep it relevant lol
nah. even the richest people on earth do stuff like this. i.e moving money around to save money.
More importantly, AA said he expects the payroll to go up from 2024. So no worries.
What makes AA good? Between Toronto and Atlanta he had one WS title in 14 years. Doesn’t seem all that impressive.
Braves have the 6th highest payroll so it kind of goes without saying that they should make the playoffs every year.
So why is this guy so loved?
2021.
They’ve won the division every year since he’s been in ATL, until this year. Kept/acquired/developed start talent — and the separator that very few of his peers can do — retain most of them, not all. When they needed a bat, enter Donaldson rectifying his career. He chases the bag to MIN, need a bat, enter Ozuna, who has a career year. Need a innings-eater on a short-term deal, enter Morton wanting to stay near his FL home, and come back to where it all started. Homer googles off — I’d think the Acuna/Albies extensions alone would award him a key to the city and his own day in April. I can’t think of another recent year in pro sports where it was overwhelmingly obvious how valuable a GM was, than in 2021, when almost all of the moves he made were invaluable to winning a title, and without one of the sport’s brightest stars (Acuña).
All great points DMC, his reputation seems to be earned then.
Has shown good talent evaluation skills since he’s been in Atlanta. Didn’t trade Riley when many fans/pundits whined that he should have. Not all on AA, but the organization has done well in keeping the right prospects when trading. Very disciplined payroll management. He hasn’t been perfect—Cole Hamels, questionable trade of Contreras—-but he’s definitely helped create and maintain a winning culture. Shudder to think where they’d be w/out him.
Failed to include his above average record of signing under the radar FA’s at good value.
…or Grissom-for-Sale, then extended Sale (before ever pitching for them) – whom his employer (BOS) paid another team to go away b/c he was never healthy – and extended him b/c they believe 2024 could happen. I mean, the cajones! They knew Sale better than BOS knew Sale!
Lol, yes they did. They also definitely knew Grissom.
NJ!!! I sure as heck hope you have been keeping the pikers at bay! Especially with the off-season getting in to swing!! Hope you are doing good old buddy!
You too Trumbo. No pikers around here. Good to see you again.
Yeah but what about Kelenic? I mean, he didn’t stink it up too bad. But is he a keeper?
Or did they?
Where was Chris Sale when it mattered most? Let’s be objective here.
@Lindor’s: Sale was held out of the first round of the playoffs because of an issue w/his back. Fried got bombed early, Lopez pitched well, but the Braves depleted lineup continued to be unable to score runs. The Braves reported that Sale felt better and would have pitched in the next round if they could have gotten there. What’s “objective” about trashing a player being unable to go when injured? Countless players miss time for injury. Does that mean that their talent wasn’t evaluated well enough to you?
Kelenic sucks. So far major dud
Why is Sunday lasagna so good it’s your name? Everyone has their reasons and the majority of baseball and almost all Braves fans think this so it must be legit.
I’d say his creativity and his ability to walk away from contracts that tantalize but will likely wind up as regrets are a couple things I’ve appreciated about him. Locking in the young talent has established a pattern other teams strive to emulate.
David Fletcher for Jordan Montgomery.
R.A. Dickey next Gen!
Bummer deserves like 5 salaries
He was good for the White Sox, but he improved with the Braves. Plus dear old Jerry wasn’t going to ever pay this much for Bummer even if had the numbers to back it up.
It amazes me how Atlanta continues to get away with under paying there player’s.
Are you talking about these 2, or someone different? Guys want guaranteed dollars, and many will leave some on the table have that certainty, whether it means avoiding arbitration and/or delaying/avoiding free agency. Just like in any job, they want job security. And if you are on a team with a winning culture, your family is happy, you’re financially secure, and you have a good shot at attaining the ultimate goal — would you really risk any one of those for more money? Some would, and do. Grass isn’t always greener.
@The Kaiser: At the time Acuna signed his extension it was the largest contract ever given to a MLB player of his age and service time. Albies had been moved off SS to 2B after he broke his olecranon (tip of his right elbow.) He chose to take the security of the deal offered to him due to health worries and family needs. Maybe everyone else is over paying their players. Maybe Atlanta is the organization getting this right.
Meant to @Kaiser w/that comment Run. Totally agree w/you on this. If he’s griping about Lopez here, he shouldn’t be. He got a $4M raise in addition to the option being guaranteed. Bummer’s taking $1M less over 2 years, but his option year was also guaranteed.
Guaranteed money and the opportunity to play for a team that’s going to continue to be competitive, yeah that’s why they stayed with the Braves.
The Kaiser
Perhaps it’s because the Braves have become so good at reworking pitchers, and those 2 guys had their careers squared away by the Braves coaches in 2024.
They sure as heck weren’t demanding or getting big money when the Braves got them.
“I have no money. My family is poor. I come from a poverty stricken third world country. No I don’t want your $100 million!”
Come on man, take your blinders off.
NO Saints ahh moves.
The Braves continue to make moves at the beginning of the off-season that give them flexibility. I’m wondering if similar kinds of extensions for Ozuna and Iglesias come next, as both are at the time in their careers when they probably value long term certainty more than top dollars per year.
I expect the Braves have a free agent target or two in mind already and are positioning themselves for another early signing (or two) of good players who they won’t get into bidding wars for. Or maybe they have trade targets in mind for which they need this financial flexibility
Idk if the braves will bring ozuna back after 25. He will be 35 or so at that time. Iglesias is decent but he is also streaky at times. And I imagine the braves could move someone else to closer if necessary. I still think Ian Anderson comes back at some point next year and starts. We could also use Holmes as a closer or as a starter.
Great, we’re exploiting salaries in baseball now after it’s been done to death in football. That was the one thing I always liked about MLB. Despite the payroll differences between teams, contracts are guaranteed and there’s no get out of jail free cards or bs void years like NFL GM’s do. I feel teams should have to pay for their mistakes not keep getting away with them and doubling down.
Exploiting salaries? Who?
Player contracts in all American team pro sports are – like a lot of things teams do – becoming a joke.
Now get Bo from Jays
Lopez was a stud this year. They had to make this move.
go grab walker b and people prob wont like it but id grab bauer as well !!! id let jackson walk and go get david robertson
Walker is going to be overpaid on his brief postseason success. He’s talented, but 2 TJS is ominous. I’d trust Eovaldi over him (also 2 TJS). Nick Martinez would be interesting, possibly for less. He may want to get a similar deal to Rey Lopez, transitioning to rotation and give bullpen some IP/flexibility to ease in top prospect arms. If you can have success at Great American Ballpark, you can anywhere.
no need for an additional pitcher. We have plenty, including Ian Anderson and now Canning and then you got aj Smith Shawver,
“You can never ____ ______ ________.”
None of those names instill confidence in competing a full season at the big league level for a championship-caliber team. For a team that’s cleared money off the books, has said they want to increase payroll, while coming off a season where their offense sputtered, any rotation with Sale and Strider coming back from injury should have solid reinforcements. There’s rumors that Morton may not want to retire…if for the right price, he could be a decent SP5 option.
@RunDMC: Can’t shake the feeling that Morton’s going to be back on a deal for about $12-14M, and that the organization is going to count on young pitchers for their cheap back of the rotation starters (Holmes, AJSS, Waldrup, Drue Hackenburg, Lucas Braun) instead of signing a FA arm. Also expect Ian Anderson to get the first chance to grab the 5 spot. Of course, I’m probably totally wrong about them not adding another veteran arm. Your point about the possibility of injury concerns is a strong one.
ehh. You have Holmes, lopez,sale, the young kid,Anderson, strider and Canning. I get you can never have enough pitching but it doesn’t make sense to bring in more pitching. We have plenty of extra. Smith shawver and Ian Anderson should be fine.
Jim Bowden predicted that Fried would go to NYM and that ATL would trade for Jordan Montgomery (with ARZ paying half of his salary ~11M) for 2 unnamed pitching prospects.
Looks like AA is trying to open up payroll by restructuring deals. I wonder if he was told to reset the tax number?
not sure why they are talking about Sean Murphy being potentially replaced. he was injured on and off last year. he’s a great catcher and there aren’t very many in the mlb that are better than he is defensively. The article writer has no clue. We only need a SS and outfielder. Our roster is sound. Let fried walk, and Morton retire.
Yeah, this is the 2nd time this offseason already a MLBTR writer has linked ATL catching needing an upgrade from Murphy, which is kind of baffling to me, ignoring the possibility of a lingering injury (oblique), his team control, his relative young age and career output (2024 notwithstanding) and the lack of catching depth around the league. Also, even if ATL were looking for more production at C besides Murphy, more than likely they’d ease top prospect C Drake Baldwin before paying more for more risk in going outside the system.
@RunDMC: Yep!
I think Canning is going to take a turn for the better for us, just like bummer did once he left the whitesox. The angels are where players go to die and decline. The only 2 decent people they have are trout and the coach Washington. Canning stuff is actually really electric, as I saw his stuff when he pitched against the braves. He has lots of movement on his stuff, but just didn’t locate very well and the braves chased him quickly. I could see him being a 2 or 3 starter if we turn him around. He probably had lost a ton of confidence with the angels because players who play there suck.
I don’t know about that. My local team is LAA’s AA team (Trash Pandas), where a lot of their talent has been in the last 2 years I’ve seen them play a good bit. Sure, their farm has been pretty bad, but Caden Dana looked really good in-person, and Christian Moore is a stud in the making. Neto/Schanuel are 2 good pieces, but will they continue to develop? I can see Ben Joyce being the new Mason Miller of the riskiest high-reward arm that almost looks destined for TJS or greatness.