Braves Outright David Fletcher

6:09pm: Justin Toscano of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution reports (on X) that Fletcher’s deal contains an advance consent form that allows Atlanta to send him to the minors. Even though he has surpassed the five-year service threshold, he would forfeit what remains of his salary if he elects free agency. He’ll therefore report to Gwinnett and try to play his way back to the majors.

1:50pm: The Braves announced Thursday that veteran infielder David Fletcher went unclaimed on waivers and has been assigned outright to Triple-A. Fletcher entered the season with 4.168 years of service time, meaning he needed only four days to reach the five-year mark. He accomplished that during his eight-day stretch on the 40-man roster, meaning he now has the five years of service needed to reject an outright assignment and retain his salary. He’s being paid a guaranteed $6MM this season and is still owed $6.5MM in 2025 and at least a $1.5MM buyout on a 2026 club option.

Fletcher, 29, appeared in five games with the Braves and tallied nine plate appearances, going 2-for-8 with a pair of singles. His subtraction from the 40-man roster likely signals the looming return of second baseman Ozzie Albies, who’s been on the injured list with a fractured toe but is expected to return to the active roster for this weekend’s series.

Fletcher came to the Braves amid a series of convoluted offseason trades that saw them effectively purchase Jarred Kelenic from the Mariners. Atlanta took on the underwater contracts of both Evan White and Marco Gonzales to get Kelenic, sending back righty Jackson Kowar (on whom they’d taken a flier in a trade with the Royals) and former second-round pick Cole Phillips, who’s yet to pitch since being drafted due to injury. Gonzales was traded to the Pirates, with the Braves absorbing three quarters of his $12MM salary. White was traded to the Halos for Fletcher and Max Stassi (on an underwater contract himself) in another financially-motivated swap; Stassi was then quickly flipped to the White Sox for a player to be named later. Atlanta covered all but the league minimum on Stassi’s remaining salary (a net of about $6.26MM for the Braves).

After all that, it’s possible Fletcher will now simply move on. The Braves initially appeared set to use the versatile, defensive-minded veteran as their primary utility infielder. However, Atlanta wound up instead signing Luis Guillorme to fill that role later in the offseason. Guillorme will now slide back into a bench role after filling in for Albies at second base, leaving Fletcher without a clear path to playing time. If he does reject the assignment, other teams in need of infield help could take a look at Fletcher and would only owe him the prorated league minimum for any time spent on the roster. That sum would be subtracted from what the Braves owe him.

Fletcher signed a five-year, $26MM extension with the Angels on the heels of a .298/.356/.395 showing from 2019-20 — a productive stretch at the plate during which he fanned at a tiny 10.1% clip and played superb defense between three infield spots (second base, third base, shortstop). He’s since floundered at the dish, however, batting just .259/.295/.326 in 999 plate appearances. Fletcher’s bat-to-ball skills have actually improved (8.6% strikeout rate), but his quality of contact has plummeted and rendered him an unimpactful player in the batter’s box.