December 16: De La Cruz will be paid at an $860K rate for time spent in the majors, according to The Associated Press. He’ll make $180K for his time in the minor leagues.
December 15: The Braves announced that outfielder Bryan De La Cruz has been signed to a non-guaranteed deal for the 2025 season. De La Cruz’s deal is specifically a split contract, not a minor league deal. The contract is an early birthday present for De La Cruz, who turns 28 years old tomorrow.
No stranger to the NL East, De La Cruz broke into the majors with the Marlins in 2021 and spent parts of the next four seasons in the Miami outfield. A part-time role turned into essentially everyday duty by the end of the 2022 campaign, and De La Cruz hit .263/.311/.420 with 37 homers over 1200 plate appearances for the Fish during the 2021-23 seasons.
Unfortunately, the production trended downward, from a 111 wRC+ in 219 PA in De La Cruz’s rookie season to a 99 in 2022, then a 90 in 2023, and down to a 77 wRC+ in 2024. De La Cruz hit 21 homers this past season but only with a .233/.271/.384 slash line in 622 combined PA with the Marlins and Pirates. The bulk of the struggles came after Pittsburgh acquired De La Cruz at the trade deadline, as De La Cruz hit only .200/.220/.294 in 168 PA with his new team.
The dropoff was so drastic that the Pirates opted to non-tender De La Cruz rather than pay him a projected $4MM salary in the first of three arbitration-eligible seasons. Given those three years of control and the fact that the Bucs gave up two prospects for De La Cruz at the deadline, it would’ve been understandable if the Pirates had kept De La Cruz around for another look, yet the $4MM price tag and his sub-replacement level play made the non-tender a justifiable call.
De La Cruz has essentially been a power-only player to this point in his career, and he has had consistently solid hard-contact numbers. However, making contact has been a struggle since De La Cruz has a 25% career strikeout rate, and he doesn’t often take walks. De La Cruz has experience at all three outfield positions and he has a good throwing arm but is considered a middling defender at best.
The non-guaranteed nature of the contract means that the Braves lose nothing by seeing what De La Cruz can do in Spring Training. If he can get himself on track at the plate and more consistently translate his power into steady production, the Braves suddenly have a controllable outfielder in the fold through the 2027 season. De La Cruz has two minor league option years remaining, adding more flexibility to Atlanta’s decision-making about whether or not to deploy him on the active roster.
The Braves’ need for outfield help is no secret. Ronald Acuna Jr.’s recovery from a torn ACL could stretch well into May, Jarred Kelenic wasn’t particularly productive in his first season in Atlanta, and Jorge Soler (though mostly a DH) was traded to the Giants in a salary dump right at the outset of the offseason. De La Cruz could ideally pair with Kelenic in a platoon in left field once Acuna is back, and perhaps might be viewed as a starter capable of holding the fort in right field in Acuna’s absence. That said, De La Cruz’s contract certainly won’t preclude the Braves from continuing to seek out a more clear-cut starting outfield option in the coming months.
When a guy has 1600 at bats and a negative career WAR someone isn’t doing something right.
Maybe smart GMs actually look beyond one dubious stat.
Just a thought.
Braves signing a bunch of guys to have on hand in case of injury served them well last year.
The power and run production is there. He’s just inconsistent.
He just can’t play defense or run the bases.
Soto can’t play defense or run the bases either. Apparently it doesn’t matter to some teams.
Soto is really really really good at hitting.
De La Cruz……isnt……….
He was pretty consistent for the Pirates – he sucked every time he took the field. Maybe he was trying to escape.
@bita. The difference is 763.5 million. Just let that sink in. Wait why is this a bad deal? you’re arguing for no reason with no substance behind it, Besides the drug residue covering your brain.
Soto knows the strike zone, and draws a lot of walks.
DLC does
neither
@TheMan3. I can’t even say comparing Soto to dlc is like comparing apples to oranges. I guess it only makes sense because they’re both Dominican and about the same age.
Second, he is just bad. WAR. OPS+. wRC+. OBP. OPS. 21 HR in 622 PA is nothing to write home about when you strike out 31% of the time, walk 2% of the time, and get on base at a plodding .270 clip.
Soto had a -1 DRS last year and 4 DRS over past 3 years. He’s about average in RF.
Dont need to run the bases when you hit dingers
Thanks for this post. Best laugh all day.
A Braves fan by any chance? Signing a bunch of crap did nothing fact help them last year. AA is the most overrated GM/President in MLB with a long line of media sycophants continually kidding his butt. Third place and no playoffs again.
As a Marlins fan that saw him play over a few years, his defense declined once he grew into his body. As a bat, he’s nothing special, but he’s a guy that can help a team win. The Braves got a low-risk/high-reward guy in DLC. And with their team, DLC being able to play without the same pressures he had in Miami and Pittsburgh, this may end up being a move people look at later on as a big get. DLC was a key part to the Marlins 2023 playoff season.
As for the guys blabbing about his WAR, I’d take DLC back in a heartbeat. Anyone that has seen him play as much as us Marlins fans have, will tell you that his WAR is another case in which WAR doesn’t match what you see on the field when you actually watch the game.
@Inside Out: Not sure what your other screen names are, but since I’ve never engaged in conversation w/this screen name I’m wondering why you have me muted. Probably because I’ve disputed your garbage posts like this one. “….and no playoffs again.” ??? Your ignorance is showing. The last time the Braves failed to make the playoffs was 2017.
I don’t care what he costs. He’s proven he isn’t any good.
@getrealgone2. Apparently I’m dense too. Just realized BITA. Stands for black pink in the area, and yes he’s a troll.
I see what you did there lol
@inside out. Can you show a example where I did? It’s a non guaranteed deal, and them/they goes on every article saying this is a overpay. The braves sucks or any team for that matter did a horrible signing with nothing to back it up. That’s the definition of a troll. Minor league signings are low risk moves that everyone team does so get over it.
@Rex: Yep. That’s him Rex. He’s trying to get away from his 2 other screen identities—blackpink and KPopinthe are.
@BITA: You make interesting points on baseball sometimes, but you don’t seem to be able to take disagreements w/your opinions very well. Too much childish name calling. Maybe they blocked your account because the mods felt you deserved a ban. Odd that when you had to change your screen name that Kpop disappeared.
BITA: And yet here you are calling someone a dipwad. Is that really necessary?
Rex is an Angels fan that got his feelings hurt and I muted because he was getting weirdly personal. I haven’t talked to him in months yet here he is talking about me. That’s a fact.
I called you a dipwad because you are one. You made anassumption that was false when you simply could have asked me about it.
The KPop guys name is now Sammy and he’s trolling me about my dead fiancee in another post on this site. Again facts.
I will mute you here shortly. I don’t need to talk to you.
@nashvillejeff. I stopped muting, because I can tell how they comment. Hoping mlbtr pays him for having 10 accounts saying nonsense.
@BITA: You’ve threatened to mute me several times. Go ahead. I never speak to you on here until you start w/your angry little boy insult act. You’re incapable of polite conversation. You prove that to be true every day. Mute away..
@bita. So you do something similar, and continue to say stupid things with nothing to back it up. Like the person that stole your name. I bet you didn’t think someone would figure it out. It’s a non guaranteed signing. That’s how teams build.
@Rex: I don’t mute anyone either Rex. Easier to just ignore them.
@BITA. So you just admitted to making several names so you get 80 replies for attention, and change you name because everyone mutes you. I started to click other articles to realize you troll every fan base. How was i weirdly personal example please? You always back pedal saying you don’t care. Why do you post?
@nashvillejeff. Feels like it’s the movie spilt he talks to himself with his personality disorder. Pretending like we don’t know
@Rex: Yep. At least he’s consistent w/his comments—if not his screen names, lol.
@sammy. Quit talking/playing with yourself sammy
bITA & SammyITA are the same user arguing back and forth.
Sad, strange, and sad.
He’s got some pop, so teams are naturally interested. He just doesn’t walk enough and his defense is pretty awful. He’s best suited as a DH/PH, but so many guys are…
This I can agree with.
Yeah he’d have some decent streaks that made fantasy guys think he was a good waiver pickup… until the streaks ended. Once he got to the Pirates there was nothing there.
Elly he is not
@ham77, oddly, last year they both struck out at about the same rate., about 30% of the time..
The ship sailed to sign a real outfielder when they got Kelenic. They’re not going to bring someone competent in now. Kelenic will be there until his contract is up.
Best we can hope for is they trade or sign for a SS but I wouldn’t count on that one either.
In an ideal world though all they had to do was sign Anthony Santander but even that was asking for too much from this organization.
Bargain Bin Braves
You do know they were something like 8th in payroll last year, right?
Top 6 in payroll, yet we have more talent leaving than coming back in for several seasons now…How is this argument still being brought up as it somehow justifies that?
In fairness to AA, if Acuna, Albies and Riley were healthy for a whole season, Atlanta would have been a much better team.
But Acuna wasn’t productive when he was healthy to start the year. It’s like someone put a hex on the Braves as everyone on their team’s numbers except Ozuna seemed to nosedive.
And the payroll will keep going up. That’s what happens when you sign everyone to extensions and limit your long term flexibility.Now they have injury issues they are having a hard time replacing those injured players with good players.If they are all 100% healthy then they are as good as anyone but the odds of that happening are practically zero.
@metsin4: The odds of any team being “100% healthy” are zero.
100% but most other teams don’t have half their roster signed to long term deals. It hurts the Braves more than most teams.
Did you really just say Lindor was passed his prime? He finished 2nd in the MVP voting. Boomer core? Alvarez is 22, Vientos is 25 and Soto is 26. Don’t hold your breath on that Braves dynasty.
And even if they are 100% healthy, it doesn’t mean they are guaranteed to produce the same or better numbers every year.
The definition of a bargain.
@metsin4. He essentially replaces soler for 11.5 less. Braves have to do these kind of moves. Guessing if he makes the roster it’s probably 1.5 guaranteed.
Except Soler can hit and had a WAR 2.5 points higher.
This is merely to have some major league competition for the 4th outfield spot in spring training. Dude isn’t expected to put them over the top. They are gonna give Kelenic another chance to be an everyday outfielder. Pitching is the only thing AA is gonna spend money on.
When you get negative production is it really a bargain?
Anyone else not receiving notifications lately? My notification settings are set as they always are
I haven’t been getting notifications since October. I emailed Tim about it. He responded with the app having a bug for Android phones. No timetable for repair though.
I haven’t been getting notifications for days. Been trying to fix it but I guess it’s effecting everyone. iPhone user here
I haven’t got notifications in years actually. Updated, un-installed and re-installed etc. and nothing. Forgot it was even an option lol….The App is definitely not Android friendly and believe they said they have no plans to enhance it due to costs
I’m on a laptop. No problem getting notifications. There was a site wide problem last month for a few days, but it was cleaned up.
I don’t use the app at all. I just access the site from my web browser on my Android. No problems with notifications at all.
I deleted the app.
De La Cruz has options, so the Braves can keep him at Gwinnett. Purely a depth move
Unless Kelenic improves at the plate, de la Cruz may be a better lineup option, then use kelenic as a late inning defensive replacement
Kelenic turns 26 in July, so it’s unlikely that there’s any significant improvement on the horizon.
Colloquially it used to be that age 27 was considered “entering their prime” and I can remember several 25ish big leaguers that turned into monsters after 25 but before 28, Rizzo and Yelich chief among them. So it seems to me a little shortsighted to expect no significant improvements from a 25-year old with major prospect pedigree who has shown flashes in MLB. Not saying he turns into 2016 Rizzo or 2018 Yelich, but major improvement in the next year+ is certainly possible, if not probable, for Kelenic.
Maybe, but I wouldn’t lay odds on it. Rizzo and Yelich were exceptions that prove the rule that it’s uncommon.
Most MLB hitters’ peak performances still occur in their age 27 – 29 seasons, so it is statistically quite common to see a player make significant improvements after age 25.
Agree Yelich and Rizzo were exceptional and no one expects a top 5 MVP finish from Kelenic anytime soon, but those guys are just uncommonly high-end outcomes for an overall quite common occurrence.
Long story short, if it’s ever gonna happen for Kelenic, it’s gonna be this year or next. If he turned 28 in July, I’m with ya, Barron, but not willing to count him out yet at 25 and the Bravos shouldn’t either.
Rizzo and Yelich were very productive in their early 20s.
More productive than Kelenic has been, certainly. But the larger point is they reached new heights as they moved into that 26-29 pocket of time which Jarred is about to enter. It’s too early to give up on him is all, especially with the prospect pedigree and brief flashes he’s shown at the MLB level.
He was showing a bit of promise last year but really tanked last year after he was traded to the pirates. He’s not exactly a good pickup, doesn’t get on base at all but does have a bit of pop and for whatever reason seems to hit really well against the Braves, so might as well remove that element. But low cost low risk move here. Perhaps he turns into something and a decent bench piece? If not, really no skin off the Braves back
“He was showing a bit of promise last year but really tanked last year after he was traded to the Pirates.”
There’s your answer! I can’t wait to see if BDLC ends up improving with competent help from the Braves.
My guess is they think he wasn’t developed well enough, and after looking at film, think they can do something about that.
Happens a lot, but they have a good track record.
Who?
Kelenic
Whit Merrifield, who they dumped?
Soler, who they dumped, twice?
Ramon Laureano who they dumped?
Cano?
Guillorme?
Sean Murphy?
Orlando Arcia?
Duvall?
And on
And on
Braves hatred from Mets troll Lindor. On and on and on…………..
Whit killed it for the Braves, Duvall did also, Murphy has had one good one bad season, Laureano was a saver for us last year, and Soler is forever a Braves legend because of what they did with him. So yea, with the guys that you mentioned, they did ok with them, so if you’re gonna talk trash, perhaps pick better examples to come at us with
What exactly did Laureano save for the Braves last year? They were playing golf while the postseason went on uncontaminated by that ridiculous chopping.
I was wondering when they’d counter the Mets signing Soto. Good signing Bravos… you’re right back in it.
It came a year late, but finally they find their replacement for Freeman’s bat in the lineup
Nothing but crickets from AA this off-season and now this?? I was hoping that he was spending all of this time trying to find a competent Manager to guide this team. Snit’s FLIP-A-COIN Bullpen management shows that he has no clue what he is doing. Time for a change! Bring in Mark DeRosa or A.J. Pierzynski! …Now waiting for all of the Snitker defenders! Why doesn’t Snitker have a Snickers commercial? (Snickering Silence!)
When he eats one he turns into Bobby Cox?
I wo’t be defending him. Haven’t yet. I appreciate his service to the Braves, but they won the World Series in spite of him.
He still makes decisions based on out-dated ‘assumed’ splits. Or maybe it’s his stat guys telling him, but I get so tired of him running outr pitchers with reverse splits in natural splits moments. He seems to still think every single RHP fares better againsdt RHB’s and same for left. I guess I will come to his defense in one way .. almost half the teams in the majors pull the same stupid stuff.
I have also never been a fan of his constant lineup tinkering. Put your best hitters up top and let them figure things out while getting AB’s. Sliding one back to 6th or 7th ‘until they get going’ is just detrimental given the Braves are top heavy and you are alos limiting chances for those that are slumping.
Granted, it’s easy to be an armchair manager, but with Snit it’s a daily frustration sort of thing.
I fully agree. The Braves have just done some minor tinkering here and there thinking they can get the engine running again with a few adjustments. The engine in fact needs a full overhaul. Get rid of the Old Turtle (Snitker). The real brains belonged to Ron Washington. Give Walt Weiss a shot or better yet give a hard nosed hard corp guy like Terry Pendleton a chance. Next trade Albies and Acuna near the trade deadline (assuming they have stayed healthy and are playing well) and restock the farm system. There is NO way that the Braves are going to pay what it will take to resign or extend Acuna or probably even Albies. The Braves are most likely not going to compete for even the second NL wild card spot this season, I give the division again to the stinking Phillies. The two wild card spots will go to the NL Central and NL West as will the play in spot. Brewers, Cubs, Reds, Padres, Diamondbacks and Giants will be too much for the Braves to compete against for the wildcard spots. The Braves have some good young pitchers coming and are good at first, third, center and catcher. Give Nacho time at second, Kelenic full time in left, Baldwin some time at catcher and see what they can do. As for right after trading Acuna they can ask for an almost major league ready right fielder as part of the trades. I would hate to see Acuna go (even though he is a hot dog and injury prone) but as I said after that Soto contact if Acuna even wants half that amount the Braves will be out on signing him. Far better to get a potential haul of prospects rather than a draft pick.
You had me up until, Kelenic full time.
How long do have to see him swing and miss at off speed pitches?
I said give Kelenic a chance. I detest platoons. Give him a full time shot. He is still young. If he fails that is just the way it goes. The Braves should have kept Joc instead of Rosario after 2021 anyhow.
I didn’t even like him at 3rd base, his constant tinkering with the lineup drives me insane. and Luke Jackson must be his son in law or otherwise have some dirt on Snitker to get in the game as much as he did (after we were forced to take him back) promote Walt Weiss I say
The tinkering with the lineup thing sounds like me talking about David Bell.
ATL will probably sign or trade for a pitcher to help their rotation before spring training.
And add an OF
the most underrated comment !!! kudos 100% facts
Soler went from Braves to Angels.
For a sec, I thought Soler was going back to the Giants..editing is an awesome thing to do..
I was looking to see if someone made this comment.
Mark is asleep at the wheel with player trades, it seems.
regardless of his D, getting a potential 20-25 HR bat with a non-guarantee is a good move for the braves.
and people talk about the Ks but his rate is not that bad vs many other players who play FT
Good move at a low cost. I have always been sort of a fan of this guy even though he was on the Marlins. Definitely worth a flyer and could be a better option than Kelenic in LF.
Minimum risk, possible great reward. Good pick up
For the braves this suuuucksss, but at least is not a 100% sure bet he’ll be in the lineup.
Someone should proofread these things before they’re posted.
Soler wasn’t traded to the Giants, we got him FROM the Giants (for some reason) then we traded him TO the Angels in a salary dump, then dumped the player we got for him
anyway back to the point of the story, I like the signing as well, actually hoped to get De La Cruz at the deadline when I heard he was available, so to end up getting him without giving up anything is pretty sweet. Some were surprised by Laureano being allowed to walk, but he had a couple of fly balls this summer that were so badly misjudged it was just dumbfounding, complete misses rarely seen from an MLB outfielder. At least one miss cost us the game.
I still think AA does a great job. If DeLaCruz has a great ST, he will be in the mix for bench, backup DH/OF. If not, he is depth who can try to regain his Fish form.
As a Pirates fan, I watched him underachieve her last season
That said, I’m sure he’ll hit 35 homers and knock in 100+ runs this season. It just figures
Well that is a total meh signing. Hopefully AA has more planned or might as well just do a fire sale. Pretty sad if yet once again with a strong group just one World Series championship….
Blame Liberty Media’s focus on profit and Snitker being clueless if the Braves only win one championship this go around.
I think what a lot of Braves fans are frustrated about is that they keep saying that luxury tax isn’t a problem, we can shop on any aisle…. In reality they see Soler and d’arnaud were salary dumps and they are not going to pass the tax and just keep stacking these light hitting, bad d outfielders with eventually re-signing Morton as the “splash”.
I think not picking up Charlie Morton and Travis d’Arnaud are as much about getting younger. Jorge Soler is a DH forced to play the field. DeLaCruz is a project, not the future.
And thats the thing, if Ozuna doesn’t have the season he had last season the Braves decline his option and Soler is the DH next year. Having both on the roster is redundant and the Braves found a way to get out from under Soler’s contract without having to eat it all
They could luck out and he has a similar season to the one Laureano had for them last year
Laureano can play decent defense most of the time.
Then other times he was lost
can’t field, can’t hit.
Dude has some power but doesn’t make contact. 170Ks 30BBs in 2024. and that was his bounce back.
Someone teaches him to take a few more walks and make more contact watch out. if you think you might be able to get that result, decent pick up on the cheap.
Good luck Bryan.
Stretched to nothing, Mr. Decruz?
To all the amateur general managers and baseball experts in the comments how many times have we seen a player picked up that wasn’t performing or almost out of baseball only to go to a new team and thrive. The dodgers have had good luck with over the years with max
Munch and Chris Taylor. The twins non tendered david Ortiz; not saying this guy will play at the level.
High reward; low risk signings are what teams need to make a full 162 games
And yet he passed on Fried and so far has not signed any other starter.
This can apply to two dozen teams’ GMs. At 218M, he’s right for passing on Fried. Whomever he is.
Tried to reply to another user, but it placed my comment here. Talking about the Braves GM.
An actual movie Dombrowski is likely angry he didn’t make.
I thought the Pirates made a great buy low move when the acquired Bryan De La Cruz. However, he wasn’t even MLB caliber in PIT. Even though I admire defensive players and De La Cruz was the worst defensive LF in 2023, I still think someone can unlock his potential but his defense has lost games and must improve.
I also think Jarred Kelenic will break out this season.
Can someone please explain how DLC isn’t eligible for salary arbitration, now that he is a Brave? (The reason the Pirates non-tendered him is because he was to make approximately $4m in arbitration.) He *is* on the Braves’ 40-man roster, right?
Doesn’t his “right to arbitration” follow him to a new team? Or, does being non-tendered, by any team, obliterate his right to arbitration… forever?
Could the Braves have signed him (to this deal) had the Pirates TRADED him to ATL?
Any information, or a link to an explainer, is appreciated.
Thx.
His right to arbitration was canceled for this year after being non-tendered. He is still arb-eligible next season
It’s like ever since the Braves pieced that outfield together for their recent WS win, they’ve been trying to work that same magic ever since. They’ve needed another full time starting outfielder for several years now on a good competing team and yet they dumpster dive like Jed does for his bullpen.