Braves infielder/outfielder Cavan Biggio elected free agency this morning, per David O’Brien of The Athletic (X link). He’d been on Atlanta’s 40-man roster, so presumably Biggio cleared waivers before rejecting an outright assignment. He’ll now head to the open market in search of a new opportunity.
This was always the expected outcome for Biggio, whom Atlanta acquired in a September swap to help patch over an injury-plagued infield mix. He would’ve been arbitration-eligible with Atlanta and was projected by MLBTR contributor Matt Swartz for a $4.3MM salary. The Braves were never going to put forth that type of commitment to someone acquired in a late-season cash swap after he’d previously been with three different organizations.
Biggio spent his entire career with the Blue Jays prior to this past June, when he was designated for assignment and traded to the Dodgers. He appeared in 30 games for the Dodgers but fared no better in L.A. than he did in Toronto prior to being cut loose. He was designated for assignment a second time and released in early August. The Giants quickly added him on a minor league contract and then shipped him to Atlanta for cash — a post-deadline deal that was permissible because Biggio was on a minor league deal (and not a major league contract that had been outrighted off the roster) in San Francisco.
Overall, Biggio’s 2024 season resulted in a dreary .197/.314/.303 batting line. He still walked at a strong clip, drawing a free pass in 10.7% of his trips to the plate, but Biggio’s typically patient approach has become almost passive in the box. Among the 365 hitters who drew at least 200 plate appearances this season, Biggio’s 55% swing rate on pitches in the strike zone (per Statcast) ranked as the game’s 12th-lowest. He took more called strikes than he has at any point in his career, and this season’s 32.1% strikeout rate was unsurprisingly a career-worst.
Biggio debuted to considerable fanfare in 2019 and, for his first two seasons, looked like a building block alongside fellow second-generation Jays signees Bo Bichette and Vladimir Guerrero Jr. From 2019-20, Biggio turned in a .240/.368/.430 batting line with 24 homers and 20 steals through his first 159 big league games. He walked at a ridiculous 16.1% clip, which helped offset a higher-than-average 26.5% strikeout rate.
It’s been a downward trajectory since that impressive showing, however. Biggio did manage a roughly league-average batting line in 111 games in 2023, but his overall body of work since that strong two-year start to his career is decidedly lackluster. In 1159 plate appearances dating back to Opening Day 2021, Biggio is a .216/.325/.349 hitter. He’s played all over the diamond, with 500-plus innings at each of second base, first base, third base and right field. Biggio draws solid grades for his glovework at second and in right field but isn’t a plus defender at either spot.
Any player who’s designated for assignment and released multiple times over the course of a given season appears likely to land a minor league deal in free agency the following offseason. That’s true of Biggio as well. It’s possible a team will give him a guaranteed roster spot on an incentive-laden deal, but a non-guaranteed pact and an invitation to spring training in 2025 feels far likelier. Given his age (30 in April), pedigree, plate discipline and early success in the majors, he ought to have several clubs interested in such an arrangement.