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Chris Sale Wins National League Cy Young Award

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Braves left-hander Chris Sale has been named the National League Cy Young Award winner for 2024, per an announcement from the Baseball Writers Association of America. Zack Wheeler of the Phillies finished in second place with Paul Skenes of the Pirates in third place.

The award is the final cherry on top of a remarkable comeback season for Sale. He had a run from 2010 to 2018 of being one of the best pitchers in the majors, but struggled in 2019 and then was in the injury wilderness for quite a while. Due to various ailments, including Tommy John surgery, he only pitched about 150 innings total from 2020 to 2023.

The Red Sox flipped him to Atlanta almost a year ago, in December of 2023. The move was seen as risky at the time, as Sale was going into his age-35 season and was several years removed from his prime.

On top of that, Atlanta sent Vaughn Grissom to Boston in the deal, a notable prospect who still had years and years of cheap control. In return, they were getting just one year of Sale, though they did sign him to an extension that covered 2024 and 2025 with a club option for 2026. That extended their window of control over him, but at a fairly hefty price point: $38MM for the two guaranteed years plus $18MM for the option.

But so far, the deal has been incredibly lopsided in favor of Atlanta. Grissom was injured for much of 2024 and didn’t perform well while healthy. For Atlanta, most of their key contributors got hurt this year while Sale ironically stayed healthy, in spite of his recent track record.

Sale finished the season having made 29 starts and thrown 177 2/3 innings, allowing 2.38 earned runs per nine. He struck out 32.1% of batters faced, only gave out walks 5.6% of the time and got grounders on 44.8% of balls in play. He won the pitching triple crown by leading the National League in ERA, wins and strikeouts. His tally of 6.4 wins above replacement from FanGraphs was easily the most in the majors this year, with Tarik Skubal of the Tigers second at 5.9 fWAR.

Despite his previous dominance, this is actually Sale’s first time taking home the hardware. Per MLB’s Sarah Langs on X, Sale is the first pitcher to finish top five in Cy Young voting in five straight years, fall outside the top five for five straight years immediately after, followed by a return to the top five. He is also (X links from Langs) the first pitcher to have six previous top five finishes and later win the award, in addition to being one of the five oldest pitchers to win for the first time.

Sale got 26 of the first place votes (full vote tallies from the BBWAA), with the other four going to Wheeler, who logged exactly 200 innings over 32 starts with a 2.57 ERA. Skenes already won Rookie of the Year award earlier this week but this further cements what an amazing season he had. Other pitchers getting votes were Dylan Cease, Shota Imanaga, Logan Webb, Michael King, Hunter Greene, Ryan Helsley, Cristopher Sánchez, Reynaldo López, Sean Manaea and Aaron Nola.

12 Players Decline Qualifying Offers

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Twelve of the 13 qualified free agents have declined the QO, tweets Mark Feinsand of MLB.com. The exception was Nick Martinez, who accepted the $21.05MM offer from the Reds over the weekend.

The players who rejected the offer:

There wasn’t much intrigue by the time this afternoon’s deadline officially rolled around. Martinez, Pivetta and perhaps Severino were the only players who seemed like they’d consider the QO. All three made their decisions fairly early in the 15-day window that they had to weigh the offer.

All 12 players who declined the QO have a case for at least a three-year contract. Soto is looking at the biggest deal (in terms of net present value) in MLB history. Burnes, Fried, Adames, Bregman, Alonso and potentially Santander could land nine figures. Severino, Manaea, Hernández and Pivetta look like they’ll land three- or four-year deals. Walker could get to three years as well, though it wouldn’t be a huge surprise if his age limits him to a two-year pact at a high average annual value.

A team that signs these players will take a hit to its draft stock and potentially its bonus pool slot for international amateurs. The penalties vary depending on the team’s revenue sharing status and whether they exceeded the luxury tax threshold in 2024. MLBTR’s Mark Polishuk covered the forfeitures for every team last month. A team would not forfeit a pick to re-sign its own qualified free agent, though it would lose the right to collect any kind of compensation.

If these players walk, their former teams will receive an extra draft pick. The Brewers, Orioles and Diamondbacks are in line for the highest compensation as revenue sharing recipients. If their players sign elsewhere for at least $50MM (a virtual lock in the cases of Burnes, Santander and Adames), the compensation pick would fall after the first round of next year’s draft. If the player signs for less than $50MM — which could be the case if Walker is limited to two years — the compensation pick would land before the start of the third round (roughly 70th overall).

The Red Sox neither received revenue sharing nor paid the competitive balance tax. They’ll get a pick before the third round if Pivetta walks regardless of the value of his contract. The Mets, Yankees, Dodgers, Braves and Astros all paid the tax in 2024. They’ll get a pick after the fourth round if any of their players depart — potentially three picks, in the Mets’ case. The prospects selected by that point — usually around 130th overall — tend not to be highly touted, but each extra selection could carry a slot value north of $500K to devote to next year’s draft bonus pool.

Braves Select Rolddy Munoz

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The Braves announced Monday that they’ve selected the contract of right-hander Rolddy Munoz to the 40-man roster. In doing so, they’ll protect Munoz from next month’s Rule 5 Draft. The deadline to protect players from Rule 5 eligibility is tomorrow evening. Atlanta’s 40-man roster is now up to 39 players.

Munoz, 25 in April, split the 2024 season between High-A and Double-A. His twin brother, Roddery Munoz, was once in Atlanta’s minor league system as well and made his big league debut with the Marlins in 2024. Roddery bounced from the Braves to the Nats to the Pirates to the Marlins via waivers before that debut. He’s since been claimed by the Cardinals and is currently on the 40-man roster in St. Louis.

Rolddy Munoz, meanwhile, has yet to make his big league debut but is now one step closer to doing so after joining the 40-man roster. He logged a combined 4.24 ERA in 51 innings between High-A and Double-A last year, spending more time and enjoying more success at the more advanced of those two levels. Rolddy Munoz fanned a hefty 34.6% of his opponents overall, though his combined 10.1% walk rate was about 1.5 percentage points higher than average.

FanGraphs’ Eric Longenhagen ranked Rolddy Munoz 18th among Atlanta prospects last summer, noting that he has one of the best sliders in all of minor league baseball: a bat-missing 85-89 mph breaker with incredible movement. He sits upper-90s with his heater and can touch triple digits but has below-average command of the pitch, which has “ineffective movement,” per Longenhagen. Munoz figures to head to Triple-A Gwinnett early in the 2025 season and could have a chance at breaking into the majors next year.

Astros, Blue Jays, Braves, Red Sox Among Teams Interested In Willy Adames

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Willy Adames is drawing “very broad” interest in free agency, with MLB Network’s Jon Morosi (X link) naming the Astros, Blue Jays, Braves, and Red Sox as clubs looking at the shortstop.  The Dodgers, Giants, and Yankees are also mentioned in a somewhat more speculative fashion, under the general premise that teams with infield needs — rather than specific shortstop needs — have Adames on their radar.

Reports surfaced a couple of weeks ago that Adames was open to moving off shortstop if the situation warranted, thus further opening up his market of potential suitors.  Looking at Morosi’s list, the Braves would seemingly be the only one of the four clubs that would be looking at Adames as a shortstop, since Atlanta has a clear need at the position.

Orlando Arcia struggled through a very rough year at the plate in 2024, and replacing Arcia with Adames at shortstop would provide a huge upgrade to the Braves’ lineup.  Signing Adames would represent a new frontier for Atlanta president of baseball operations Alex Anthopoulos, as Marcell Ozuna’s four-year, $65MM deal from the 2020-21 offseason is the largest free agent contract Anthopoulos has handed out over his seven-plus years running the Braves’ front office.

Adames’ expected contract would more than double Ozuna’s deal.  MLBTR predicted a six-year, $160MM contract for Adames.  Adding somewhere in the range of $26.6MM in average annual value onto the Braves’ books would continue to boost a payroll that has plenty of long-term commitments in place, though Ozuna and Raisel Iglesias are both free agents after the 2025 season, and technically Chris Sale could be as well if Atlanta doesn’t exercise a club option on his services for 2026.

Signing with Boston would open up several defensive possibilities for Adames.  Trevor Story is the incumbent shortstop and still an excellent defender, even if injuries have limited Story’s offense and playing time altogether over his three seasons with the Red Sox.  Story is still owed $77.5MM through the 2027 season, and while he can opt out of his contract after the 2025 campaign, an opt-out doesn’t seem at all likely given the veteran infielder’s last few years.

The Sox used Story at second base in 2022 when Xander Bogaerts was still on the team, so Story could shift over to the keystone again to accommodate Adames.  Or, perhaps the simplest answer is just to install Adames as the regular second baseman, hopefully finally ending the revolving door that has been Boston’s second base position in recent years.

Star prospects Marcelo Mayer and Kristian Campbell could slot into the infield mix as early as 2025 if Campbell isn’t utilized as an outfielder.  Once the Sox see what they have in the youngsters and need to find playing time, the Red Sox could them perhaps use Adames as a third baseman, bumping Rafael Devers into a first base or DH role.  There are plenty of moving parts defensively, yet Adames would provide a clear boost to a lineup in sore need of a big right-handed bat.

Bo Bichette is coming off a miserable 2024 season, yet he remains Toronto’s everyday shortstop heading into his final year of team control.  With Bichette in the fold, the Jays could use Adames at second or (more likely) third base, as the Blue Jays’ collective of in-house young infielders are almost all better suited defensively to the keystone than the hot corner.

If Bichette was to leave in free agency next winter, Toronto could explore simply moving Adames back to shortstop, thus addressing a major position in relatively easy fashion.  Second and third base could then be occupied on a more permanent basis by one of the Blue Jays’ incumbent infielders, depending on which stood out during the 2025 season.  Again, the offensive upgrade is obvious, since Adames, Vladimir Guerrero Jr., and what the Jays hope will be a resurgent Bichette form a powerful lineup core on paper.

It is worth mentioning that Adames has played virtually his entire MLB career at the shortstop position, and he hasn’t played anywhere else on the diamond since making 10 appearances as a second baseman during his 2018 rookie season with the Rays.  Moving to third base would therefore represent an entirely new challenge for the 29-year-old, which provides an interesting backdrop to the Astros’ pursuit.

Since Jeremy Pena and Jose Altuve have the middle infield positions covered, Houston would therefore be looking at Adames as a third baseman if Alex Bregman signed elsewhere.  Astros GM Dana Brown has described re-signing Bregman as “our biggest priority,” so while Bregman’s departure is far from a foregone conclusion, the Astros surely have some backup plans in mind if their longtime third baseman did leave.

Replacing Bregman with another high-priced free agent infielder would count as a bit of a surprise, given how Brown has said his club “may have to get a little bit creative” in managing the payroll this winter.  The same applies to the Blue Jays, as Toronto already posted a team-record high payroll in 2024 with only a last-place finish in the AL East to show for it.  The Red Sox have plenty of payroll room open, and while the team has shied away from major free agents in the last few years, Boston has already been linked to a wide range of top names (Juan Soto, Max Fried, Teoscar Hernandez, Blake Snell), so the Sox seem to be signaling that they are ready to again shop in the high-rent district.

Since Adames is sure to reject the Brewers’ qualifying offer, a new team would face some sort of penalty for signing him.  The Braves and Astros both exceeded the luxury tax in 2024, and thus signing Adames or any qualified free agent would cost the club $1MM in international bonus pool money, plus their second- and fifth-highest picks in the 2025 draft.  It is a steep penalty to pay, though the draft hit could be slightly lessened in the form of a compensatory pick after the fourth round if either the teams’ own qualified free agents (Houston’s Bregman, Atlanta’s Fried) signed elsewhere.

The Blue Jays (just barely) and Red Sox stayed under the tax threshold this season, so both would have to give up $500K of international bonus pool money as well as their second-highest 2025 draft selection.  The Sox also have a qualified free agent of their own in Nick Pivetta, and if Pivetta departed, Boston’s compensatory pick could come before the start of the third draft round.

Braves Among Teams With Interest In Walker Buehler

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The Braves are among the clubs showing early interest in free agent righty Walker Buehler, reports MLB Network’s Jon Morosi (video link).

Buehler, 30, reached free agency for the first time this winter and, despite a strong finish to his postseason, is generally viewed as a rebound candidate on the heels of a dismal showing in 2024. This past season marked Buehler’s first year back from the second Tommy John surgery of his career, and some rust was quite clear.

After not pitching at all in 2023, Buehler tossed 75 1/3 innings in the big leagues but was tagged for a 5.38 ERA with career-worst strikeout and walk rates of 18.6% and 8.1%, respectively. His four-seamer, which averaged 96.5 mph from 2017-20, clocked in at an average of 95 mph, per Statcast. He entered 2024 with an 11.6% swinging-strike rate but logged an 8.2% mark in 2024 — ranked 190th out of the 204 pitchers who threw at least 70 innings.

The Padres rocked Buehler for six runs across five innings in his first postseason start, but he went out on a high note. In 10 subsequent innings, he was unscored upon, recording a 13-to-4 K/BB ratio in the process. That includes a pair of scoreless starts (four and five innings apiece), and what will go down as a gutsy closing effort in the ninth inning of World Series Game 5, when Buehler finished off the Yankees to clinch L.A.’s championship just 48 hours after he’d started Game 3.

Atlanta’s need for rotation reinforcements is rather clear. The Braves saw Max Fried and Charlie Morton become free agents when the season ended. Spencer Strider likely won’t be ready for Opening Day as he continues rehabbing from last year’s UCL surgery. The Braves’ rotation, as currently constructed, will be headlined by likely Cy Young winner Chris Sale, converted reliever Reynaldo Lopez and 2024 breakout rookie Spencer Schwellenbach. Options for the fourth and fifth spots at the moment include Griffin Canning (acquired for Jorge Soler), Ian Anderson, AJ Smith-Shawver, Hurston Waldrep and Bryce Elder.

Sale, of course, was dominant in a 2024 season that’s already netted him NL Comeback Player of the Year honors and is all but guaranteed to result in his first career Cy Young Award. But as good as he was in ’24, the lefty will pitch next year at age 36 and only pitched a total of 151 innings in the four-year span prior to this Braves renaissance. It can’t (or shouldn’t) be simply assumed that he’s once again good for 29 to 33 starts annually. Similarly, Lopez was excellent but missed time due to a forearm strain while shattering his own recent workload standards. The Braves surely hope that both will be as effective in 2025 as in 2024 — and as healthy or even healthier — but that’s far from a given.

Some form of rotation supplement is likely, and the Braves typically haven’t spent at the levels likely necessary to retain Fried — at least when it comes to free agents. Most of their long-term deals have focused on players who are either early in arbitration or have not yet reached arbitration. Those contracts all typically begin in a player’s mid- or late-20s. Fried will be 31 next year. A reunion seems unlikely, especially with the Braves likely to pay the luxury tax for a third straight season and with Fried likely to command an annual value north of $25MM. Atlanta would be facing a tax of at least 50% on Fried’s annual value in 2025.

Exactly what type of contract Buehler will command remains unclear. He was at one point one of the game’s promising young aces, pitching 564 innings of 2.82 ERA ball with a 27.7% strikeout rate and 6.1% walk rate from 2018-21. That version of Buehler hasn’t been seen in three years, however. It’s possible some clubs feel there’s enough upside to guarantee him multiple years right now. A two-year deal with an opt-out feels feasible, and maybe a club would put down a three-year offer with a more modest AAV and hope for a return to form.

It’s notable, though, that the deep-pocketed Dodgers are the team most familiar with Buehler, his medical history and what to expect from his performance moving forward — and they opted against extending a $21.05MM qualifying offer to the right-hander. On the one hand, that’s good news for his market and gives any club signing him to a short-term deal the possibility of recouping draft pick compensation with a QO of their own if Buehler performs well. On the other, the lack of a QO can be construed as a red flag.

If Buehler is amenable to a one-year deal, he fits the broad profile of what the Braves have targeted in free agent starting pitchers. Last offseason’s three-year deal for Lopez was the first time under Atlanta president of baseball operations Alex Anthopoulos that the team signed a starter to a multi-year deal — although even that can be viewed as something of an exception. The team expressed interest in trying to stretch Lopez out from the time of his signing, but there was always a possibility he’d return to a bullpen role if the experiment didn’t work. Anthopoulos has been far more willing to put down market-rate AAVs on relievers (in the $8-11MM range) than on conventional starters. Anthopoulos also knows Buehler better than most free agents, given his former role as the vice president of baseball operations in the Dodgers’ front office — a role he held when Buehler was drafted and was on the rise through the Dodgers’ system.

Braves Agree To Minor League Deal With Charles Leblanc

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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.

MLBTR Podcast: Roki Sasaki, Cole’s Non-Opt-Out, And Cardinals Rumors

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The latest episode of the MLB Trade Rumors Podcast is now live on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and wherever you get your podcasts! Make sure you subscribe as well! You can also use the player at this link to listen, if you don’t use Spotify or Apple for podcasts.

This week, host Darragh McDonald is joined by Anthony Franco of MLB Trade Rumors to discuss…

Check out our past episodes!

The podcast intro and outro song “So Long” is provided courtesy of the band Showoff.  Check out their Facebook page here!

Nick Pivetta Unlikely To Accept Qualifying Offer

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Red Sox right-hander Nick Pivetta was one of the more surprising recipients of a $21.05MM qualifying offer earlier this month, but he’s likely to reject the offer in search of a multi-year deal, reports ESPN’s Jeff Passan, who suggests that “at least” a three-year deal should be waiting for the righty, who’s heading into his age-32 season. Passan lists the Orioles, Cubs and Braves as potential landing spots.

Anything more than a three-year deal for Pivetta would register as a surprise and something of a precedent-breaker. In the past ten offseasons, only four pitchers have commanded a contract of four or more years when signing ahead of their age-32 season or later (link via MLBTR’s Contract Tracker): Jacob deGrom (five years, $185MM starting at age 35), Hyun Jin Ryu (four years, $80MM starting at 33), Zack Greinke (six years, $206.5MM starting at 32) and James Shields (four years, $75MM starting at 33).

Solid as Pivetta is, he doesn’t have the track record of any of those four pitchers. When healthy, deGrom has been the best pitcher on the planet. Ryu signed his four-year deal after a Cy Young runner-up. Greinke was opting out of a six-year, $147MM deal with the Dodgers and was one of the game’s best pitchers at the time he signed his six-year deal with Arizona. Shields was a clear No. 1 or 2 starter, having pitched 933 innings over the prior four seasons — 233 per year — with a 3.17 ERA and strong strikeout and walk rates.

Pivetta doesn’t have that sort of resume, though his high-end strikeout and walk rates have made him a candidate for a quietly strong deal. When preparing for our annual top 50 free agent rankings, we felt a three-year deal in the $14-17MM annual range was possible for Pivetta — at least before he received a qualifying offer. The right-hander has never turned in a sub-4.00 ERA campaign, but that’s largely due to a regular susceptibility to home runs, something that another club might feel can be curbed or improved with a tweak in mechanics, approach or pitch selection. Pivetta is durable, misses bats at a premium level and has improved his command three years running. He ranked 10th among 126 big league pitchers (min. 100 innings) in terms of his K-BB% this season (22.9%).

It still seems feasible that a three-year deal could be there, but suggesting anything more feels like a stretch, unless multiple teams feel Pivetta is untapped as a potential No. 1-2 starter and is willing to ignore historical norms for pitchers in this age bracket. That could well be the case, but Passan opines that Pivetta “is looking at one of the biggest deals of the winter for a starter,” which would surprise plenty of onlookers. That’s a subjective sentence, but no one expects Pivetta to top Corbin Burnes, Max Fried, Blake Snell and Jack Flaherty, while others like Sean Manaea and Yusei Kikuchi should have greater per-year earning power on a three- or four-year contract.

Time will tell where the bidding lands, but the more immediate takeaway is that Pivetta apparently doesn’t feel inclined to lock in a one-year deal that would more than double his career earnings. That speaks to the strength of the market he and his agents at CAA are finding for his services thus far.

Charlie Morton Planning To Pitch In 2025

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Veteran right-hander Charlie Morton has seemingly been mulling retirement for more than a half decade, but he’s continued his career on a series of one-year deals, leaving open the possibility that each successive year will be his last. That won’t be the case with 2024, however. ESPN’s Jeff Passan writes that Morton intends to suit up for an 18th MLB season next year.

Morton, who turns 41 today (happy birthday, Charlie!), has spent the past four seasons in Atlanta, anchoring the rotation as a durable innings eater amid frequent injury troubles throughout the rest of the starting staff. Despite those years representing his age-37 through age-40 campaigns, Morton has made at least 30 starts and pitched at least 163 1/3 innings each of the past four seasons. He’s provided more than just bulk work, as well; in 686 1/3 innings for the Braves, the grizzled righty has pitched to a sharp 3.87 ERA while striking out 26.6% of his opponents against a 9.3% walk rate.

The 2024 season wasn’t Morton’s best in Atlanta but was still a solid year all around. He logged 165 1/3 frames and turned in a 4.19 earned run average. Last year’s 23.8% strikeout rate was Morton’s lowest since his late-career breakout with the Astros, which began in his age-33 season, but it was still enough to check in about a percentage point north of league-average. Morton’s 9.3% walk rate was worse than average but marked an improvement over the career-worst 11.6% mark he turned in during the 2023 season. His 46.3% grounder rate was strong, and he generally did a fine job avoiding hard contact. It wasn’t the Cy Young-caliber performance Morton flashed in his 2018-19 peak, but it was a fine showing for a veteran third or fourth starter.

Logically speaking, a reunion with the Braves seems possible. Atlanta is looking for innings behind staff leaders Chris Sale, Reynaldo Lopez and Spencer Schwellenbach. Young ace Spencer Strider will miss the beginning of the season as he continues mending from last year’s UCL surgery. Longtime Atlanta star Max Fried is a free agent and seems likely to sign elsewhere on a contract beyond the Braves’ comfort zone. Morton has also been happy to pitch in the southeast region of the country, close to his young family in Florida.

On the other hand, the Braves are all but certain to pay the luxury tax for a third straight season this year. That’ll mean at least a 50% tax on any dollars over the luxury barrier, and perhaps more — depending on the extent by which they surpass this year’s $241MM mark. Morton earned $15MM from 2019-21 and has been paid $20MM in each of the past three seasons in Atlanta. Even if he’s likely looking at a pay cut from that level, he should still be able to land a salary north of $10MM, barring an unexpected discount to pitch in a locale of his preference. For an Atlanta club also looking to upgrade at shortstop and add to the bullpen in the wake of Joe Jimenez’s injury, a hefty one-year price tag on what’d be a fourth or fifth starter for them when or if everyone is healthy might be a bridge too far. Per RosterResource, the Braves’ current luxury projection is already at $228MM — just $13MM shy of this year’s threshold.

If Morton does end up leaving the Braves, it’s likely he’ll land with a contending club. At age 41, he’s unlikely to sign on for any rebuilding efforts or to mentor a group of young arms. He’ll look for an opportunity to pitch in the middle of what already looks like a postseason staff, adding some stability and significantly raising the floor of a new club’s rotation.

Morton would also have the chance to reach some more personal milestones; Morton is 12 wins shy of 150 in his career and would have a realistic chance at moving into the top-70 all time in strikeouts (he’s currently 82nd). With a strong performance in 2025, he could also nudge his career ERA under 4.00. He entered the 2024 season at 4.00 flat and raised it to 4.01 with this season’s 4.19 performance.

Braves, Enoli Paredes Agree To Minor League Deal

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The Braves are in agreement with reliever Enoli Paredes on a minor league contract, reports Ari Alexander of KPRC 2 (X link). Paredes will get a non-roster invite to major league camp.

It was a short free agent stay for the 29-year-old righty. The Cubs sent him through outright waivers last week. He elected free agency at that point but apparently emerged as a priority depth target for the Atlanta front office. Paredes posted strong numbers in a limited sample with the Brewers and Cubs this year.

In 21 2/3 innings between the two teams, he combined for a 1.66 earned run average. Discouraging peripherals led teams to pass on claiming him off waivers last week. Paredes only managed an 18.4% strikeout rate and walked more than 11% of opponents. Throwing strikes has always been an issue. Paredes posted double digit walk rates as a member of the Astros between 2020-22.

While he hasn’t missed many bats at the big league level, Paredes posted monster strikeout numbers with Milwaukee’s Triple-A team. He fanned nearly 40% of hitters en route to a 1.73 ERA over 26 innings at the top minor league level. He sits in the 94-95 MPH range with his fastball and features a mid-80s slider as his secondary pitch.

Paredes is out of options. If he pitches his way to an MLB job in Atlanta, the Braves would need to keep him on the roster or send him back into DFA limbo. They have a solid high-leverage core but a few spots up for grabs in the middle innings. A.J. Minter hit free agency while Joe Jiménez underwent knee surgery that might cost him the entire season.

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