The Braves continued their pattern of adding veterans on one-year commitments Monday, announcing the signing of Kurt Suzuki to a one-year contract. The MVP Sports client will reportedly receive a $1.5MM guarantee and can earn up to $2.5MM worth of incentives based primarily on games started. The Braves had an open 40-man roster spot, so no corresponding move is necessary to accommodate the signing. Atlanta’s 40-man roster is now full.
Suzuki, 33, hit .258/.301/.403 with eight homers over 373 plate appearances for the Twins last season. That somewhat modest output that still represented a big improvement from a dire 2015 season for the veteran catcher, though it fell short of Suzuki’s strong 2014 campaign (.288/.343/.383 in 503 PA) that earned him an All-Star berth.
[Related: Updated Atlanta Braves Depth Chart]
In Atlanta, Suzuki joins Tyler Flowers as the Braves’ top catching options. A traditional platoon isn’t an option since both are right-handed hitters, though Flowers is likely to get the bulk of starts behind the plate given his superior pitch-framing abilities. Both Baseball Prospectus and StatCorner ranked Flowers as one of the game’s best framers last season, while Suzuki was ranked near the back of the pack. (Suzuki’s defensive issues reportedly played a part in a relative lack of trade interest in his services last summer.)
The Braves have been looking for catching help for much of the offseason, heavily pursuing Jason Castro and also being linked in rumors to the likes of Welington Castillo, Nick Hundley, Brian McCann and Matt Wieters. Suzuki represents something of a fallback option to those higher-profile names, and with Atlanta now ostensibly set behind the plate, it further limits the market for the still-unsigned Wieters and Hundley.
Rosenthal notes that with Suzuki now in the mix for the Braves, backup Anthony Recker could receive some trade interest from other teams. Atlanta has also added Blake Lalli and David Freitas as minor league depth this winter, and already acquired and then traded away veteran Tuffy Gosewisch.
SB Nation’s Chris Cotillo first reported the agreement. FOX’s Ken Rosenthal tweeted the financial terms. Cotillo tweeted context on the incentives.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.
No Wieters there then
Same thought. Nationals seem like the best fit now.
I think the angels could somehow sneak in and still get him for a cheap price.
I like that idea a lot, actually. Surprised that MLBTR didn’t mention them.
I’m not sorry about that
I thought hundley signed with the Giants. Typo?
Not a typo, prior to that he was linked to the Braves. Castillo and Castro both signed with other teams. McCann was traded to the Astros of course
Don’t think they are completely out on Wierters. Might be looking for the right opportunity. They could always deal Suzuki. It makes sense for the Braves, who may be waiting on a price drop.
Though they would sign a more defensive catcher to develop young pitching
Yeah, he’s definitely not a defensive catcher anymore. And he’s not much of a hitter, either. Minus that first half that earned him an All Star bid, his tenure in MN was painful to watch.
Good vet move
Wieter’s stock is falling down
Yeah if it keeps falling I can see a team like the Rockies or Angels jumping in and making a 1-2 year offer
I have a feeling he’ll sign a two year deal. Just think he has wellington Castillo and lucroy to compete against next year which could be tough but definitely not as tough as this year has for him. Maybe two year deal with angels or one year with rays with Ramos out a while (he’d really have to drop his asking price). With murphy and wolters, I don’t think rockies will sign him
No prospective fan trades of Tuffy Gosewisch and Rio Ruiz for Buster Posey then….?
Why would the Braves ever do that?
(Yes this is sarcasm)
Braves would need to add another piece….probably a chase d’arnaud type
That’s an overpay for Buster, he’s on the wrong side of 20 and his name is a common name for pets
plus he thinks the blue on maps is land.
And North Korea is a state in America
Ok? I guess they weren’t confident in Recker?
Kurt Suzuki is a really solid player and a all around great guy. 2004 college world series hero for cal state Fullerton. I saw him get hit in the ribs by a jeff neimann fastball and then in his next At bat he got hit Again. Then on a play at the plate he got laid out in a head on collision. The guy is what baseballs about. Playing the game …
2004 was kind of a long time ago…
As opposed to all the other players who don’t play the game? Suzuki sucks.
He was a bit better than a quadruple-A catcher for a while but he’s just not especially productive at the plate or good defensively at this point.
Notwithstanding he’s a good dude and he’ll fill whatever role he’s asked to fill.
Great guy but the A’s killed his body after years behind the dish
About the only thing Flowers does well is frame a pitch. Similar intellect to Lenny from of mice n men, seen him get steamrolled at home by a player half his size twice; of course he dropped the ball: safe at home. Drops easy pop-ups around home plate, never comes through with RISP, Strikes out constantly not a ML,B player. Suzuki should receive the bulk of the workload if ATL wants to compete this year.
Last year Flowers had a career year with the bat. He hit .270/.357/.420 and came through with quite a number of big hits. If he can pull a rabbit out of his hat again in 2017 then we’ll take the defensive liability.
Why have 2 righty catchers with similar batting stats? Will they move Flowers now?
Suzuki is a toolbag. Look up Jose Ramirez homerun on YouTube and you’ll see why.
You mean that time that Ramirez hit a home run that put the Indians up by 9 runs and he held on to the bat all the way until he was in front of the Twins’ dugout and flipped his bat up and toward the dugout? Yeah, that was definitely Suzuki being the toolbag. Suzuki sucks at baseball though.
So you’re the old school guy who wants players to just put their head down and run around the bases? They intentionally walked someone to get to Ramirez and he made them pay. Why do we watch baseball, and any sport for that matter? To be entertained. I at least want to see players have fun out there. In most Asian countries bat flips are celebrated and happen on nearly every homerun. Fans here make no sense. If you don’t want a hitter to flip his bat the answer is very simple: get him out.
No, I am all about celebration when the time calls for it. But flipping your bat TOWARDS the other team when you are up by 9? That’s not celebration, that’s silly retaliation for having his feelings hurt for getting walked to.
Lol it’s a freaking bat flip…. Get him out if you don’t want him to celebrate. Ramirez was just establishing himself at the time and this was probably one of his bigger moments in his young career. You’re complaining about Ramirez having his feelings hurt, that’s exactly what happened to Suzuki. He’s mad about a bat flip when his team is losing by 9…. Maybe try to not be a terrible player before criticizing how others play. When is the right time for players to bat flip? Only in close games? Big moments? Give me a break. Everyone is different and chooses to celebrate differently. Should NFL wide receivers be yelled out when they do an endzone dance up 30? Nobody seems to care about that. MLB fans are way too uptight. It’s entertainment…
Go watch baseball in “Asian countries” then Rols. Celebrating is one thing. Hurtling bats through the air towards another team isn’t. There is no place for that in the sport, regardless of the country. It’s poor form.
Trkatl77….. You really told him!!! Bet you’re just a JOY to be around at Party’s. Said no one EVER!
Actually I was at a party last night and rather enjoyed myself. But the the point is that in rare instances (the Bautista homer in the playoffs comes to mind) flipping a bat out of pure emotion is acceptable. Down 9 runs isn’t that time. It’s all a matter of opinion and I just don’t think it’s appropriate 99% of the time.
And honestly, when tons of replies by Rols include commentary on how a players sucks, is terrible, etc it cheapens his points. Kurt Suzuki may be past his prime as a player but any player good enough to hang in the league for a decade doesn’t “suck”. It disregards the fact that he has played at the game’s highest level.
Just my $.02. No need to critique my social life…
Right…. Let’s have all the players show zero emotion accept when you think it’s acceptable. It’s not like they’re human beings or anything. Pitcher gets a huge strikeout? Don’t fistbump it might make some people mad!! Big homerun? Put your head down and run don’t have any fun while you do it! My god it’s a grueling 162 game season and you want these guys to play like robots. Fans like you give baseball a bad name. You must’ve not liked Jose Fernandez very much. Try realizing this is all for entertainment and you might actually start enjoying yourself. Smh…
“Should NFL wide receivers be yelled out when they do an endzone dance up 30? Nobody seems to care about that. MLB fans are way too uptight. It’s entertainment…”
Well, actually NFL players get penalized for celebrating, but I think that’s ridiculous. Apples to oranges because they get penalized for far less than, for example, throwing the football at the other team when they score. Which, yes, should be a penalty.
BTW you do know Suzuki is an American, right? so he has nothing to do with the Asian baseball leagues.
Definition of sportsmanship
: conduct (as fairness, respect for one’s opponent, and graciousness in winning or losing) becoming to one participating in a sport
Honestly I don’t care that any of that happens, it’s entertaining to me (especially when Twins down hy 9 lol) but I can see why an opposing team might be upset but to your point than they should just comeback and win, it should not be fun to lose–that’s the true bad form
They get penalized for excessive celebrations, but they can dance all they want up by 30. And either way, the other team never gets offended because they know they just got beat.
When did I say Suzuki had anything to do with Asian baseball leagues? I know he’s from Hawaii. I said in Asian baseball leagues fans and players celebrate bat flips. It’s part of the game and part of the entertainment. For some reason many fans in America, like you, would rather see emotionless robots play unless it’s that 1% that you deem worthy. They’re playing a kids game for the purposes of entertainment… try to enjoy it
Toolbag is the indian player. You make many excuses for him showing up a team he is beating by 9 runs. If that was being done by a Twins player up by 9 runs you would be calling him a toolbag. Kurt did what he should do and stick up for his team. Next up will be ball players flopping on the ground like Lebron after any contact. Play the game right.
“For some reason many fans in America, like you, would rather see emotionless robots play unless it’s that 1% that you deem worthy. ”
So only 1% of games are actually competitive? Talk about a reason not to watch… All I said was “not when up by 9 runs” and “not hurling equipment towards the other team”.
common man, so you can’t imagine any middle ground between bat flipping to a 9 run lead and playing the game with no emotions?
let’s turn this political, THAT’LL FIX IT!
That also has nothing to do with this conversation. Go find yourself a Trump forum or something.
I swear this guy writes the same comment on every post calling someone a snowflake and talking about adults running the country. Tony, you’re obviously much smarter and wiser than us all so please entertain us with some new material!
Yeah if I’m on the mound the next guy up to bat is getting ear-holed
Wait, let me get this whole convo straight… Ramirez is NOT a toolbag when his team is up by 9, hits a homerun, carries his bat around the bases, and flips his bat towards the dugout….
BUT Jose Bautista IS a toolbag for hitting a clutch homerun and flips his bat in celebration? #doesnotcompute
But with regards to the article, it is questionable that ATL signed a catcher that doesn’t have opposite splits as their current starter and not as good defensively. I guess they really want to mix some good veteran leadership in the clubhouse with their young guys.
Jose Bautista was a toolbag long before the batflip. But I think he also caught flack on that one for it probably being the biggest bat flip in history. But, you’re right – emotions were incredibly high on that home run and who can really fault him for being that emotionally high at that moment.
Interesting. I thought we’d go for Matt Weiters. But I guess Suzuki is cheaper
to a minor league contract with invitation to spring training. (is what I hope gets written later)
1.5 mil with another 2.5 in possible incentives is what I read. Seems like that clearly says hes our backup/platoon catcher
If theres one thing the Braves cant ever get right, since McCann, its the catcher position. Now we are going to give at bats to this guy? Man are they desperate for a long term catcher
There is so much wrong in this comment, McCann has been gone for only 3 years. 2 of those are rebuilding years. So you wanted them to sign a big FA catcher for a rebuilding period? Genius…..
Thought the same. Aside from the fact AJs first year was a great one.
McCann wasn’t the answer the last couple of years of his tenure and we were saved by backup David Ross, who was the starter in a one game playoff over a healthy Brian McCann going through a prolonged slump.
There was so much hype about the Baby Braves and all of the homegrown talent led by Franceour, McCann, Heyward that really put rose-tinted glasses on many fans rather than doing what’s best for the team. Thank goodness we didn’t sign any of these to long-term deals.
And we aren’t the only ones searching for long-term catchers. Almost every team not with Buster Posey or Salvador Perez is — and even then, ,they hit so well you want them to either DH or play 1B to save their ABs. ATL has been loading up on catching talent and I wouldn’t be surprised to see them spend their high 2nd round pick on a catching prospect, if some catchers don’t show maturity in the early season of the MiLB.
Jason Heyward wasn’t a part of the Baby Braves. Heyward debuted in 2010 and the Baby Braves were 2005. So including him in your comment doesn’t make any sense.
Brian McCann did play out a long-term contract with the Braves but he wasn’t going to get a second deal with them because he was over the age of 30 and really struggled his last couple of years in Atlanta. It’s why it was a such a shock the Yankees drastically overpaid McCann. No other team was going to pay him that much money.
McCann was great for many years so it’s surprising you made that comment and put him in the same sentence as Franceour and Heyward. That’s just silly..
As far as developing catchers goes, its hard to blame a lack of development in catchers on the Braves per say. Both Tyler Flowers and Jarrod Saltalamacchia were highly rated catchers coming up through the Braves system. Flowers never even debuted in Atlanta before he was used as trade bait to the White Sox in the Javier Vazquez trade. So I think the Sox deserve some blame for Flowers turning out the way he did, because last year back in Atlanta was the best season of his career. So clearly something wasn’t working on the South side.
Saltalamacchia did debut with the Braves in May of 2007 and played a couple of months with the Braves and looked very promising. He looked like he was going to be a really good hitter even if his defense was average at best, which we know now he ended up being terrible defensively. But then was traded at the deadline in 2007 to the Rangers in the Texieria trade. I don’t know what the crap the Rangers did to him but they ruined his bat.
Christian Bethancourt bombed.. That just happens sometimes. You can’t get them all right. Braves are trying to fix their long-term catcher situation. They’ve traded catchers high in each of the last couple of drafts and just traded for Alex Jackson who they’re moving back to catcher.
Braves got the best of that deal got Javier Vazquez for Tyler. White Sox didn’t make Flowers suck, he’s not even a good MiLB catcher. He had 3-4 years in Chicago to prove he can play, he can’t. Suzuki has had a good career & Kurt isn’t soft as a bag of rabbits like Tyler
You clearly didn’t watch him play in 2016.
You can have him tiger I couldn’t wait until he was done here. Enjoy his productivity next year Pierzynski is a real catcher. Hahn will trade you Ender & Swanson for Quintana deal?
I’m convinced you’ve never watched either guy play. A.J. Pierzynski is the worst defensive catcher I have ever seen and last year couldn’t hit his way out of a wet paper sack. Good riddence!! A.J. makes Mike Piazza look like Johnny Bench.
Theres so much wrong in this comment. When did anyone say to sign a big time free agent? You have to develop catchers and the Braves have failed miserably to develop anyone close to being a big league catcher. And that starts before McCann. I forgot that you must have a new catcher each year when you rebuild, or did you mean u just cant have a good catcher during a rebuild. Ok
From 1995-2013 the Braves had one of the best catching situations in all of baseball with Javy Lopez, Johnny Estrada and Brian McCann. I clearly have no idea how you can say the Braves are terrible at developing catchers.
I think its a good move but I don’t see a long term answer for the Braves behind the plate. I think its a good signing but no long term catcher, I have been asking bout Kade Scivicque and how hes coming along but it doesn’t look good and Alex Jackson looks like hes gonna be a poor mans Bryce Harper.
A poor mans Bryce Harper? Please explain
He is a brave, so he will of course hit his 99th percentile outcome
I love you Chesteraarthur.
Jackson has a LONG way to go before ever being considered a poor man’s Bryce Harper…
A poor man’s Bruce Harper is something northish of Kyle Calhoun maybe?? We should definitely debate this lol
I’d like a debate on who Kyle Calhoun is.
Maybe he’s Kole’s twin brother?
I say a poor man’s Bryce Harper is a player that has great seasons every 5 years instead of every 3 like Bryce.
Maybe if he spelt his name differently lol Kole likes to autocorrect apparently
I’m not a huge fan of this move as Suzuki doesn’t look much better than either Recker or Gosewisch (although obviously Suzuki has a lot longer track record of being somewhat successful with the bat for a catcher). Who knows, perhaps the Braves have a taker lined up for Recker. I just wish the Braves would have signed Castro for a 2 year deal, but obviously can’t blame Castro at all for taking a better contract with the Twins.
I wonder if they view him as a threat off the bench. Is it possible they go with 3 catchers this year?
While this isn’t terrible, I would have preferred to have just stuck with Recker as the backup.
Do we have a catcher who can catch a knuckleball pitcher?
As long as the catcher follows the Bob Uecker theory of knuckleball catching: wait till it stops rolling then pick it up.
potential and upside! Can trade him for some top prospects at the deadline
No trade value…was the hottest hitting catcher other than Lucroy at the deadline, plenty of suitors and not the Rangers nor the mets not even the Indians pivotted in his direction (I understand the Rangers got Lucroy but they almost didn’t)
I think he was being sarcastic.
Only the finest top prospects for Kurt Suzuki
Moncada and Giolito, Urias and Alvarez, those type of packages for sure
Maybe not top, but an organization’s #20-#25 probably
Some team might get a bargain with Wieters. But it’s going to take some convincing
Not mad at the signing but if they were gonna go this route why not Salty ?????
Another Former Brave..
Should’ve stayed with Recker. Or someone NOT near the bottom in pitch framing.
Wieters biggest problem at this point is that he’s represented by Scott Boras who never surrenders. He’ll hope somebody’s starting C gets injured during Spring Training.
This is a good point
Except how is it a problem? Wieters gets money and a starting spot if they wait and someone gets hurt early. That seems pretty ideal for both Boras and Wieters.
Except most teams are already at budget, so it will have to be an “out for the season” type injury on a team with money. I’d rather play the lottery, better odds.
If nothing else, the Braves now have a ton of depth at a traditionally weak position. None of them are something to be excited about, but depth is important
Yes! One team out for wieters. C’mon halos it’s your chance to sign him before the nats do.
prefer not too, unless it’s a really really cheap deal
This is who I wanted them to sign bout time
In regards to Bat Flipping, Vince Lombardi once said “Paraphrasing” when you get in the end zone act like you’ve been there before.
But Jose Bautista had never hit a go-ahead, playoff series clinching home run before.
Perfect example of Coppy/Wren signing..they are no different. They pretend they want to win, yet continue to go the cheap route to get below average replacement players.
There were no free agent catchers that were gonna make the braves contenders. This seems like an unnecessary signing, but he at least offers some veteran presents.
80 grade ‘veteran presents’ usage there.
But they play the game the right way, enough said right there
I am confused by this so what happens when they sign Dickey’s lap dog Thole? Man I’m glad that situation is over in Toronto.
Well obviously not going to change the opinions of people here who have probably never seen Suzuki play & yet immediately want to dismiss him as a Christian Bethencourt clone, I say just watch him play this year then come back & tell me he wasn’t worth signing. I’ll be waiting…
I thought if they were going to give a major league contract to a guy that it woulda been either a lefty swinging bat like Avila or switch hitter like Salty. But this signing is not the end of the world. But again if we were gonna go this route why not just bring in Thole to catch for Dickey then. As far as Recker goes he is not very good at all. Not even mediocre and Flowers will need more days off than the average starting catcher. At this point I think he should be used more as a David Ross when he was with us type guy. Castro woulda been the perfect compliment but I don’t blame Coppy for balking on the contract. Hopefully they can use some of this SP depth to pry away a young prospect catcher almost ready. Time will tell.
Tuffy Gosewich is now with the Mariners. I don’t think the Braves have the ability to trade him
That was left over from the original post … fixed to update the situation.
Wieters is going back to Baltimore he’ll take a cheap deal to return and try again next season.. That’ll give Baltimore the best catching tandem in the majors…….. And the orioles brass really like him
Atlanta has a chance to be sneaky good this year, the only weak spot I feel like is Garcia at 3rd. Was thinking since the Padres locked up Solarte for a few more years and have Spangenberg/Asuaje
This app always cuts my comments off it’s annoying. But what I was continuing to say was that a Ryan Schimpf for Touki trade would be nice for both teams. Thoughts?
The only weak spot is 3b? What about lf, rf, 2b, c, and SP 4 + 5?
Nick Markakias, Matt Kemp, Sean Rodriguez, Kurt Suzuki/ Tyler Flowers, Jaime Garcia and either Wisler or Blair isn’t terrible. I mean I’m not saying they are going to win the East but your sprinkle Inciarte, Swanson, Freeman and Teheran with those veterans they have
They could contend earlier than people expect them too.
Most of those players are below average to replacement level
those players being Nick Markakias, Matt Kemp, Sean Rodriguez, Kurt Suzuki/ Tyler Flowers, Jaime Garcia and either Wisler or Blair
That is not even near a competitive lineup at all but certainly improving for the braves
Our bat prospect our way behind our pitching prospects and our best bat is about to start getting expensive as is our only post season arm. Peterson ruiz lien carmago and we trade an inciarte 2.0 for an arm? Gohara is legit, but so was newk last year. Our of needs a difference maker as does 3rd and catcher. Davidson riley and demerrite have to all develop their ceilings fast to be competitive b4 2019