The Braves have signed infielder Eddy Alvarez to a minor league contract, as reflected on his transaction log at MLB.com. Alvarez, 35 at the end of the month, joins his seventh organization for what will be his 12th professional season.
After seven years in the minor leagues with the White Sox and Marlins, Alvarez made his big league debut for Miami in 2020. He has since appeared in 63 MLB games for the Marlins, Dodgers, and Mets between 2020-24, slashing .170/.257/.244 with one home run and four stolen bases. Primarily an infielder with experience at second base, third base, and shortstop, he also played a handful of games in the outfield with the Dodgers in 2022.
In between his MLB stints with the Dodgers and Mets, Alvarez played in the Brewers (2023) and Red Sox (2023-24) farm systems. He signed a minor league deal with the Brewers ahead of the 2023 season, and despite a strong performance at Triple-A, Milwaukee never called him up, prompting him to opt out of his contract in July. He quickly signed a new minor league pact with the Red Sox, only to suffer a season-ending injury after just one game at Triple-A Worcester.
Alvarez’s 2024 campaign with Worcester was more successful, and although he never earned a promotion to the Red Sox, he played well enough to catch the Mets’ eye in September. New York acquired him from Boston for cash and selected his contract the following day. His appearance for the Mets as a pinch-runner on September 9 marked his first MLB action in more than two years. He ended up sticking on the big league roster for the rest of the regular season, although he was ineligible for postseason play because he joined the organization in September.
Alvarez will now look to return to the majors with the Braves in 2025. His chances of cracking the Opening Day roster are slim, but considering Atlanta’s lack of infield depth, he certainly has a shot to join the active roster at some point if he performs well enough at Triple-A.
Braves are the kings of the minor league contract this winter! Get that WS parade planned
Org depth. Braves leaned heavily on these types of singings too keep them in the playoff hunt last year.
Dumpster divers of the year, along with the Orioles.
Yeah, no other teams make minor league moves
Yes but those teams also make Major league moves.
Breaking News: Minor league player signed to minor league team; Major league team instantly vaults into last place
Orioles at least signed Morton….. from the Braves lmao
Honestly, when it comes to dumpster diving, searching up “cooperhill mlbtraderumors.com” and finding your comments takes the #1 spot on what dumpster diving truly is.
Is AA really going to go into 2025 with the current MLB roster?
Yes imo unfortunately, who’s left at this point that will make a big enough impact they’re willing to creep back into luxury tax penalties?…Don’t get me wrong there are still several players I would love to have added but it’s clear they’re avoiding it at all costs.
Your roster is littered with injured players still. Acuna was garbage the year returning from his last knee surgery. I think they are just being realistic for the upcoming season.
Yes not good by Acuna standards but I wouldn’t say garbage necessarily but I get what you’re saying…Problem is each season we waste of the ‘core getting locked up’ as everyone likes to say, is another season older and more injury prone. We’re going to have the same conversation next year as well. AA never spends on FA nor have the Braves actually done so in almost 15yrs or more. Same old song and dance.
I definitely meant for his standards. I would take him in a heartbeat but can’t expect much of him this year.
Bargain Bin Braves destined for 4th place in the NL East.
Don’t you get sick of being a moron on Battery Power? Gotta do it here too?
Braves have an infield set except for their inconsistent ss. Could use another LF and sp but who doesn’t. Just sign Sasaki and winning is there.
“Just sign Sasaki” yup, that easy
How many players can say they’ve medaled in both the Winter and Summer Olympics? He got his first medal in 2014 in short-track speed skating and his second with USA baseball in 2021.
1. Sign Quintana or Max to similar deals as Morton/JV (or cheaper)
2. Sign Winker as LF option for ~$2.5MIL
3. Sign Turnbull as a 5/6 starter for ~$2.5MIL. Can use with Strider out at the beginning of the year and whoever else later on.
4. Sign Iglesias for ~$2MIL. for Arcia competition at SS.
So ~$22MIL for: a good starter (when healthy), a spot starter, LF, & SS
We don’t need both Quintana and Turnbull. I would prefer Hoffman, but Turnbull could be just as serviceable for a shorter contract.
Don’t like the Winker signing, he’s a slightly worse version of Kelenic without the upside.
Iglesias sounds good, but not sure Turnbull signs for that little salary.
My guess is Turnbull will require 9-10M if it’s a 1 year, you could probably get him for 15-16 for 2 years.
I say both SPs because: 1) I am not sure how long Strider will actually be out 2) Sale has an injury history 3) I don’t fully trust Lopez yet & 4) I haven’t seen enough from the farm to feel comfortable relying on one of them for an extended period of time. So you can start the season with: Sale, Lopez, Schwellenbach, Quintana, & Turnbull. Then when Strider is back move Turnbull to the BP if one of the other starters isn’t hurt/underperforming.
I agree Kelenic has the upside and is better defensively, but Winker has been about league average defensively and is undoubtedly the better hitter to me. He had two bad seasons once he left CIN, but those appear to be outliers imo. Plus, if you put him in an OF with Harris & Acuna, he probably is closer to above average defensively because he has less ground to cover. At worse, he is a very dependable 4th OF.
Not sure with Turnbull’s injury history if he’d get that much. He has been effective when healthy, but he has only pitched over 70ish innings once in the MLB if I remember correctly. I’d be willing to take a small gamble (maybe up to $5MIL) that he pitches close to 110 innings, and you could possibly take that from what Quintana makes (he made $13MIL the last 2 seasons as opposed to the $15MIL JV and Morton signed for).
For Hoffman, I just have not seen anything from him as a starter that would make me want him for the multiyear $13MIL per that he has said he wants (same contract as Holmes is what I have heard he is targeting). I think his stuff has played up since moving to the BP but am wary that it transitions with a move back to the rotation.
The only one taking that offer might be Quintana. Why do you think the Braves can lowball everyone all the time and players just take it.
Max is coming off another injured season and is close in age to JV & Morton. Not sure he is going to land a multiyear contract or much more than the $15MIL the other 2 just got.
As for the other 4, they all were paid less than the numbers I suggested last year.: Iglesias $1,5MIL, Quintana $13MIL, Turnbull $2MIL, & Winker $2MIL They’d all be making more this year than last, and have just as good of a chance of starting for a playoff caliber team. So why are you considering those lowball offers?
Another irrelevant AA signing..
Obviously these type of moves need to happen and are important for depth, but as a fan, they become frustrating when the major league team has obvious major gaps and holes that need to be addressed and the team doesn’t appear to be doing anything to address those holes. And that’s concerning when you’re in a window and without filling those gaps your team is just shy of being as strong as it potentially can be.