The Braves will have infielder Aaron Schunk in camp as a non-roster invitee, reports Gabe Burns of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. That indicates the CAA Sports client and the club have agreed to a minor league deal.
Schunk, 28, changes organizations for the first time in his career. He was drafted by the Rockies in 2019, selected in the second round, and has been with that club a few weeks ago. With Colorado, he got into 55 big league games over the past two seasons. He stepped to the plate 131 times but struck out in 31.3% of those plate appearances and only drew a walk 3.1% of the time as he put up a tepid .222/.246/.302 line.
His minor league offense has been better but not outstanding. In 1,170 Triple-A plate appearances, he has a .291/.348/.468 line. That looks good at first blush all those trips to the plate took place in the hitter-friendly Pacific Coast League, where that kind of production translates to an 89 wRC+. That indicates he was actually 11% worse than league average. The Rockies outrighted him off the roster in October and he elected free agency.
Defensively, his reputation is pretty strong. He is considered an above average third baseman and has also spent a lot of time at the middle infield spots. The left side of Atlanta’s infield has some uncertainty. Austin Riley has finished the past two seasons on the injured list. He underwent core surgery in August of 2025 and spent the final few weeks of the campaign on the IL. At shortstop, they just signed Ha-Seong Kim to take over there. He returned from shoulder surgery in 2025 but battled other injuries and only got into 48 games.
Atlanta has Mauricio Dubón on the bench to provide backup at those two spots, as well as others. Second baseman Ozzie Albies is also a bit of a question mark after two straight down seasons at the plate. Vidal Bruján and Brett Wisely are also on the roster but both are out of options and could be on the roster bubble. Nacho Alvarez Jr. is on the 40-man but Atlanta would presumably prefer to have him getting regular playing time in the minors.
If Schunk is eventually able to earn a 40-man spot, he still has an option, meaning he could be shuttled to Triple-A and back. He has less than a year of service time, meaning he could also be cheaply retained for years to come if that becomes a consideration.
Photo courtesy of Patrick Gorski, Imagn Images
Smells like a good decision.
Or good weed
Get a room, Braves and Rockies. Sheesh. Guess AA thinks he has a market inefficiency here!
He’s from Atlanta just like crunk rap group Crime Mob which had the hit “Knuck if you Buck”. Schunk fits right it.