The Braves announced a series of roster transactions, including the news that Josh Tomlin’s 2022 club option has been declined. Left-hander Grant Dayton has been released, and outfielder Terrance Gore has been outrighted to Triple-A. Joining the 40-man roster are outfielder Travis Demeritte and right-hander Alan Rangel, whose contracts were selected from Triple-A. Ronald Acuna Jr. and Mike Soroka were also reinstated from the 60-day injured list as procedural moves.
Tomlin has spent the last three years with Atlanta, signing a pair of minor league contracts for the 2019 and 2020 seasons and then inking a one-year Major League deal last winter that paid him $1.25MM in guaranteed salary. That money took the form of a $1MM salary for the season and then a $250K buyout of the team’s $1.25MM club option for the 2022 campaign. The Braves therefore had a $1MM decision to make on Tomlin, and opted to not bring Tomlin back after a rough season for the 37-year-old.
Tomlin posted a 6.57 ERA over 49 1/3 relief innings last year, and was the victim of some bad luck — an ungainly .358 BABIP and a .346 xwOBA was well below his .377 wOBA. That said, even his xwOBA was only in the 15th percentile of all pitchers, and Tomlin allowed more than his usual amount of hard contact. With a very low strikeout rate and whiff rate, this lack of missed bats caught up to Tomlin in a big way. On the plus side, Tomlin still delivered his usual excellent walk rate and spin rates on both his fastball and his curve.
Though a neck strain sidelined Tomlin for much of September, he likely wouldn’t have made the Braves’ postseason roster anyway. The declined option doesn’t necessarily spell the end of his tenure with the club, as Atlanta could look to retain Tomlin via another minor league deal and see if the veteran has anything left in the tank during Spring Training.
Dayton has also been with Atlanta over the last three seasons, and was projected to earn $1.2MM this winter in his final year of arbitration eligibility. The release allows the southpaw to get an early jump on a new job in free agency, rather than wait a few more weeks until the non-tender deadline (and the Braves also free up a roster spot in advance of the 40-man deadline on November 19).
Dayton pitched only 13 innings in 2021, as a shoulder injury kept him on the injured list for much of the last four months of the season. Injuries have plagued Dayton for the last four years, as he missed all of 2018 recovering from Tommy John surgery and he missed a big piece of the 2019 season due to a fractured toe. The southpaw was pretty effective when he was able to pitch in 2019-20, though this year had a 6.23 ERA over his 13 frames.
Gore was signed to a minor league deal last winter and didn’t see any action for the Braves during the regular season, but was on the team’s roster for both the NLDS and the World Series. Gore appeared in one game during the playoffs, pinch-running and being left stranded at first base in the Braves’ 3-0 win over the Brewers in Game 2 of the NLDS. If he wishes, the 30-year-old Gore can decline the outright assignment and look for another contract elsewhere, and contenders might be interested in signing Gore for karma purposes alone. The veteran pinch-running specialist has been a part of the last two World Series championship teams, and has three Series rings in total over his career, despite appearing in only 102 regular-season games from 2014-20.
World champions baby!
So they finally cut Grant Dayton and Josh Tomlin. I was pretty certain Tomlin was going to go but Dayton used to be a pretty high prospect and his contract was cheap. He also had multiple years of control left. Dayton was out of options though so if he was healthy they had to keep him on the roster. I guess it’s better to cut him now rather than do it later when you would still have to pay him. I wouldn’t be surprised if Tomlin eventually becomes a pitching coach. AJ Minter credits Tomlin with teaching him how to get his stuff back and turning his career around last season. I hope he gets a shot to be a pitching coach somewhere before his baseball days are totally over. The man figured out how to have a pretty long major league career with a fastball that barely hits 80 mph. He must know something about the art of pitching to last that long with such little natural talent.
Lol
The Braves actually got better with their losses the past couple of days. Pederson opted out and Dayton and Tomlin were cut. Those 3 combined for -1 WAR this year. Pederson had 0. Dayton had -.3. Tomlin had -.7. The World Champs just saved over $10 million and actually added a win to their regular season total at the same time. I’m still a little surprised Joc opted out of the $7.5 million extra he would have made. Since when is 0.0 WAR worth more than $7.5 million?
@the Mets, I agree about Joc. Clearly he thinks he can get more than one year in FA. Yet, by the numbers and observation, he’s just not that great. If he’s lucky enough to get two + years, it won’t be for $10MM AAV, that’s for sure
I guess I need to pay more attention to the Braves minor league players. I don’t think I’d heard of Rangel before. Seems they are stacked with pitchers.
You totally should! There’s a lot to be excited about. They have a lot of fun pitching prospects like Strider, Elder, and Tarnok. I’m not sure Rangel is much to be excited about though… if you’re really interested, the Braves’ SB Nation site (Talking Chop) is pure gold in terms of minor league coverage (as well as Braves coverage).
thanks for tip….
@8ManLineupNoPitcherNoDH “Acunaisoverrated”, “BumgarnerequalsNLCS” “MoveAlbiesdownbenchDuvall”. is that you?
Nah, that guy goes by TrumpChop+BarkleyGuarantee or something like that
No. That’s not him. The name looks similar in form but 8manlineup has been around awhile with that exact name. You’re forgetting the other guys “best” 2 names. His 2nd best name was FireSnitker. His absolute best name was AcunaSTILLsucks. By best I mean dumbest.
Terrance Gore has more WS rings than career RBIs
Three rings, one RBI. Crazy game, is baseball.
did he get one last year?
He was on the 2020 Dodgers.
Two years and 13 days of service time, I believe, and three rings. Baseball history is steep in superstition. He’ll get offers.
@Cey Hey, you’re right, he will get offers!! Crazy numbers
Rings are worth more than he is. Cost benefit analysis wise.
WOW
15 career hits, 7 career walks
40 stolen bases!
Freeman stays where he is – he is a cornerstone to the Braves org. like Chipper Jones & Hank Aaron,
maybe the most incredible stat I’ve ever seen! amazing
SIGN FREDDIE FREEMAN!!!!
Angels are on it, chief
The Angels are dumb enough to sign another bat in lieu of a pitcher.
Correctomondo – Angels need arms, not older bats
Freeman won’t do that. The road sign in that direction says “Career ends hear”.
>=}
“Hear” all about it, but the road ends “here”.
@Manny- correction excepted. =)
Nah… I think freeman will stay with braves
After becoming good friends with Chipper Jones Freeman is dead set on spending his entire career with one organization if possible. When he retires he doesn’t want to be viewed at as just one of those good players who bounced around on different teams. He wants to be looked at the same way as Chipper, Jeter and Rivera are looked at. There are a lot of great players out there but very few have ever spent their entire career with one organization. Those guys are viewed very differently than players who moved around. Even Glavine told him to do it. Glavine has said many times that leaving Atlanta to go to the Mets for a few extra million was the worst mistake he’s ever made in his life. Not because it was the Mets or anything. He would have felt that way if he went to any team. He told Freddie he now realizes how special and rare it is to have a hall of fame career and do it all with one organization. The Braves would have to make Freeman a really insulting offer for him to leave. It may take longer to extend him than most think because of the CBA expiring. Even so, considering it’s pretty much a known fact that the Braves are the one team that doesn’t really even have to come that close to making the top offer to be able to sign Freeman they have to be the landslide favorites. He’s either coming back to Atlanta or going to someone who makes the mistake of REALLY overpaying him. Even if a contact like that were to pop up he would still likely stay in Atlanta. If the Braves offered Freddie $150M he would sign right now. The Braves would have to go well below that while some other team offers him at least $200M for him to leave. My guess is the Braves could sign Freeman even for just $130M. If some other team is willing to outbid the Braves by $70M they would be making a mistake but that’s probably what would have to happen if Freddie were to leave.
Excellent stuff. For teams other than the Braves, the time and energy spent courting Freeman can be better spent on other players. Meanwhile, those players you realistically have a shot at either sign or are traded elsewhere. Why do that to yourself?
I do agree. Freddie is a god here in Atlanta. But he deserves it. He’s a great player. And he has roots here. O yo way I see him going to another team is exactly what you said, either an insult of an offer or he gets stupid money with someone overpaying like a mug. I’d give him 95% chance of him staying. Hell, they could sign him just off the extras money they got from the World Series and playoffs.
And screw manfred.
I dont think freeman spent all that time in Atl, going through a rebuild and getting closer and closer to a ring just to sign with a club that has a history of sucking, underachieving, has no pitching and loves to sign old, past their prime players to long term high dollar deals.
he will want to go to a potential WS winning team. and he wants to stay in Atl
I don’t get how gore stays employed. Total robbery
Why is it robbery? While most of us settled for working for the man at an early age, he’s pursuing his dream despite having limited on-field success. I was thinking about that last night while watching an opening-act musician doing the same, even though the odds of him “making it” are stacked against him. We need more people like that. In my opinion, they have something inside them that the rest of us wish we had. Those are the people I tend to root for. Life’s dreamers.
Before COVID, there was a little place near my house that hosted really small-time acts and singer-sonwriters, mostly Folk/Americana. Admission was free. It ran on tips and donations, They came in and played the room, and sold CD’s if they had any, and the crowd donated/tipped whatever they wanted. Some people might call the acts has beens, wannabes or never wases, but they gave an authentic show. I went as often as I could, and usually gave a gas card as well, so they could fill up to go to their next gig. There’s nothing like it. I hope they start up again.
bhambrave. I’m in my 60s now. In 2019, my wife and I attended 18 shows. A lot for our age and we figured it was time to cut back. Then the pandemic came along and took it away from us against our will. Now that live music has returned, I am supporting it with all my might because it’s something worth supporting. I am a Bandcamp fiend who purchased nearly 300 albums in 2020, which I thought was an outstanding year for music given the circumstances. And I buy merch at shows and tip to help with gas and other things. I was never a band t-shirt person but proudly do it now. Not to be young beyond my years, but because music — new music — is a passion that I’ll never let go by the wayside. It’s healthy to have current interests as we get older. While I have lots of old favorites, I don’t often sit around listening to old records. The way I see it, that stuff has been internalized and helped get me to where I am now. I am grateful for the people who are doing it not and draw a ton of inspiration from their efforts. And every now and then, you stumble across something that knocks you out. It’s amazing when that happens.
Agree with all that. I have a new appreciation for people willing to put themselves out there. Life is short and getting shorter. I listen to music now that I didn’t know existed two years ago. I can’t imagine listening to “classic rock” any more.
You can only listen to the same stuff so many times. The Dodger innings I missed in 2021 were mainly due to music events. For all the negative stuff out there, these are interesting times to live in and most of it is good. It’s just a matter of perspective. I haven’t returned to my job and am leaning toward not doing so because I want to do other stuff. There’s so much to learn about and discover, regardless of how old a person is. Granted, I am still a two-trick pony (music and baseball). However, I’m probably be done going to games, which dates back to pre-pandemic. It just doesn’t have the same pull it once did. Have you returned to the ballpark?
What Gore does have is a particular set of skills, skills he has acquired over a very long career, skills that make him a nightmare for people like you…
That why he’s ….”Taken”
Tomlin was a serviceable middle reliever. Pirates calling? Gore could steal a base in a close game, but that never materialized. Albies trying to steal 2nd changed game 6, along with solers hr.
What benefit does Atlanta get by pulling them each off the 60 day list??
IL ends when the season does. It is a requirement intended to give an opportunity to potential Rule 5 draftees who might otherwise get buried on a 40-man roster.
Thanks all, learned something new today.
Teams are required to take players off of the 60 day IL by a certain date and either put them on the 40 man roster or outright them. They can’t keep players on the 60 day list over the off-season.
The IL ends when the season ends.
I’m doing a mock MLB expansion draft: Yankees protect 3 of these 6: Gallo, Loaisiga, Montgomery, Urshela, Stanton, Luis Gil- who do they protect?
they’d protect the pitchers. nobody is touching Stanton with that contract, Gallo doesn’t really have excess value with his salary and ursh is hardly irreplaceable
Loasiga, Montgomery, and GIl.
The “great” Terrance Gore has more World Series rings than Ted Williams, Ken Griffey Jr. and Barry Bonds. Love goin back and forth with people who judge someone’s career based solely on rings…be it World Series, Super Bowl, NBA Finals etc.
Pablo “Panda” Sandoval and submarine pitcher Javier Lopez both have four.
Nope. Panda sold one of his in exchange for a lifetime pass to Golden Corral. .
Does the panda get a ring with the braves this year as well? Not too sure how that works since he was traded at the deadline.
@SeibuLionsNPB
All of these people are perfectly eligible to earn a World Series ring should their team conquer as championship winners:
MLB players and coaches
Scouts
Bullpen catchers
Front office
Medical staff
Ball boys / girls
Announcers / play-by-play / color guys
Interns
Groundskeepers
…and potentially everyone else employed by the organization
It is really up to the ownership.
Dude can’t play a lick, plus he’s 5’3″and weighs 97 pounds. What a friggin joke.
Better than you could
At least Gore has positive WAR for his career. There’s a lot of guys who played for thousands of plate appearances and put up negative WAR.
Still want to see Terrance bat against Rays’ pitcher Matt Bush. And then appeal the outcome on a ball-strike call.
It would need to be adjudicated before someone brighter than the 2000 SCOTUS…someone like Bart Simpson, perhaps.
Excuse me, must go hang my chads…..
If you go hang your chads, be careful of your wick
“Now playing out in left field, Bob Tillman”.
Resign Duval, and Soler.
Also resign Rosario, And use Soler for the bench or DH if there is one. I dont think Ozuna will be playing this year.
AA said Braves payroll will climb from 2021 to 2022 today https://twitter.com/ballysportsso/status/1457428173054951429?s=21