The Braves have been very aggressive to this point in free agency. They kicked off their offseason by re-upping with closer Raisel Iglesias on a one-year deal ahead of his age-36 season. From there, they bolstered their bullpen further by bringing in veteran flamethrower Robert Suarez on a three-year deal. In addition to those moves, the offense has been tweaked in some significant ways. Mike Yastrzemski was brought in to shore up the team’s outfield depth following Marcell Ozuna’s departure in free agency. Ha-Seong Kim re-signed with the club to become the everyday shortstop in 2026, and the team even brought in Mauricio Dubon to offer depth in a utility capacity.
Coming off a 76-86 season, it’s understandable for Atlanta to be aggressive as they look to get back into contention and make the most of Ronald Acuna Jr.’s remaining years under club control. Bringing back Iglesias and adding Suarez to a bullpen that already had Dylan Lee and Aaron Bummer in the late-inning mix is sure to give Atlanta one of the more intimidating bullpens in the league, and a full season from Kim should also be very impactful given that the Braves relied on Nick Allen as their shortstop for most of the 2025 season. That could be enough of a facelift for the offense by itself if Austin Riley, Michael Harris II, and Ozzie Albies play closer to their potential than they did last year, but the additions of Yastrzemski and Dubon should be able to to offer more established backup plans than the team had last year to keep the offense afloat.
Strong as the bullpen and offense appear to be at this point, they weren’t the part of the team that most significantly hampered the Braves last year. It’s hard to argue against the team’s biggest weakness last year being the starting rotation, despite the elite talent it boasts on paper. Chris Sale won a Cy Young award in 2024 and spent much of 2025 looking poised to repeat. Spencer Strider was widely considered perhaps the game’s most exciting young arm just a couple of years ago. Spencer Schwellenbach has done nothing but deliver since making his big league debut, and Reynaldo Lopez has been brilliant since returning to the rotation after years in the bullpen.
Unfortunately, each of those pitchers spent significant time on the injured list last year. Lopez made just one start, while Schwellenbach and Sale combined for a measly 37 more. Strider made 24 starts but didn’t look quite like himself in his return from UCL surgery, with a below-average 4.45 ERA and a 24.3% strikeout rate far below his usual norms. That middling production still made Strider one of the more reliable pitchers in the Atlanta rotation for much of the year, as injuries required more and more starts be afforded to depth arms like Bryce Elder, Grant Holmes, and Joey Wentz.
That’s a lot to go wrong for one rotation in a single year. With as much talent loaded into that rotation as the Braves have, it wouldn’t be a shock if their starters were among the best in baseball next year. Sale remains a likely future Hall of Famer who should be elite when healthy. Schwellenbach has a career 3.23 ERA with peripherals to match. Strider could easily regain his Cy Young caliber form as he moves further away from surgery, and Lopez received Cy Young votes himself in 2024 for his work as a starter. At the same time, the health of starting pitchers is less reliable than ever, and assuming any of those players will make 30 starts could prove foolhardy. It hardly seems like a coincidence that Atlanta’s starting rotation lacked consistency in its first year after losing Max Fried, one of the most reliable top-of-the-rotation innings eaters in the entire sport. While depth types like Holmes and Elder remain on the roster to pick up the slack, they certainly weren’t enough last year.
That makes the addition of a quality, reliable starter seem like an obvious choice. The market for starters has been fairly quiet so far outside of a big signing for Dylan Cease back in November, and plenty of options remain on the market. Someone like Framber Valdez or Ranger Suarez could provide a reasonable facsimile to the stability Fried offered for years at the top of the Braves’ rotation, but Atlanta needn’t necessarily aim that high. Even adding an arm like Zac Gallen or Lucas Giolito would go a very long way to providing reliable innings to the rotation, and that sort of deal could be more affordable than the nine-figure contracts players like Valdez and Suarez figure to command.
While signing a starter would make plenty of sense, there’s some opportunity cost to doing so. That’s because right-hander Hurston Waldrep has the chance to be a major x-factor if given the opportunity to start. After a rocky debut in 2024, the team’s top pitching prospect enjoyed a strong run of ten appearances in 2025 where he pitched to a 2.88 ERA across 56 1/3 innings of work. Waldrep won’t turn 24 until March and could be an exciting addition to the rotation if given the chance, but that opportunity may only be available to him if the team doesn’t sign a starter. Of course, the team’s uncertain health outlooks in the rest of the rotation provide a reasonable counterargument to that; Waldrep may not need to wait very long to grab a rotation spot even if he’s pushed out of the team’s starting five on paper.
Perhaps the biggest obstacle to the team bringing in a reliable starter is payroll. Atlanta is currently projected for a $256MM luxury tax payroll, according to RosterResource. That’s a jump of around $40MM relative to last year, though it’s actually around $20MM less than Atlanta put forward in 2024. If the Braves are willing to stay aggressive and spend to that 2024 level, perhaps adding someone like Giolito to the mix could be feasible. Failing that, however, the Braves would likely have to turn to the trade market to add an impactful starter. Doing so would likely mean surrendering young talent (such as Waldrep or infielder Nacho Alvarez Jr.) that the team appears reluctant to part with. Lower-tier starters like Jose Quintana and Zack Littell could be options as well, but it’s an open question whether they’d be substantially more effective than internal options like Waldrep or even Holmes.
How do MLBTR readers think Atlanta will put their rotation together headed into the 2026 season? Will they make a surefire addition like Valdez or Giolito, or will they instead go into the season with more or less the same group they have now? Have your say in the poll below:
If they add someone it will be a surefire improvement or it will be someone like Imai (doubtful but possible until later today).
I think they may just sign a #4-5 type to keep payroll down. Then they have money at the trade deadline if things go well.
If I recall correctly, in an interview not long after signing Yastrzemski, Anthopoulos remarked about if they added a starter it wouldn’t be just a depth piece, but one that would improve the upside of the rotation. (Paraphrasing and not an exact quote)
I doubt by that reasoning he would choose to sign a 4th or a 5th starter type pitcher.
True. And I’m sure that’s the aim, as most of their guys are either inexperienced or depth pieces. But the options are kind of slim for a new rotation guy at this point. Guess we’ll have to see.
Nice response. Cool to hear what he actually said vs just guessing what they might do. Thanks.
The problem is though they will likely need more pitchers they don’t have any sure rotation spots to offer (they already have 4 very high end starters on paper and 2 very promising young pitchers as well as 2 out of options/serviceable pitchers- to say nothing of Grant Holmes). A back end starter (whom they could really use) would see a lot of competition. And a higher end starter just doesn’t seem to make sense considering it would push a very promising young starter out of the rotation.
Imai is out…really hope AA doesn’t ignore the starting rotation again in free agency for like the 5th season in a row. Framber and Ranger are pipe dreams. Are Gallen or Bassit attached to QOs? (that seems to be our latest excuse to not sign FA starting pitcher this off-season)
Gallen is, Bassitt isn’t
Ok thx so Gallen is out. Bassit it is then lol….I was hoping for Zach Eflin in this tier but that ship has sailed too.
The qualifying offer has nothing to do with it. AA isn’t going to give 30+ year old pitchers 4-5-6 year guaranteed deals because the injury risk is so high. AA is not the only successful GM that has this philosophy. Those contracts turn ugly way more often than the end up good.
You just commented below how dumb Imai’s contract is and how AA would never do that. So we can’t get a young pitcher without long term financial commitments, nor can we get an older pitcher with financial commitments? Which one is it exactly?…And yes I agree its actually both hence why the Braves never sign FA pitchers because they’ve created this small little box no pitcher of substance fits in…Derek Lowe 16 years ago was the last one I can remember that didn’t fit in this box.
Both can be true. Imai’s contract guarantees him $54 million if he gets hurt or pitches like crap, but also guarantees him the ability to leave if he pitches great year one. That’s not a good contract for the Braves. A 3-year deal worth $54 million WITHOUT the opt outs is a completely different story. Giving 30+ year old pitchers long term deals has proven time and again to be a bad investment. Both can be true.
They signed Reynaldo Lopez 2 years ago. Trading for starters like Sale is more efficient than wasting money on free agents. Drafting and developing their own—Strider, Schwellenbach, Waldrep, Elder, etc. (young pitchers of substance) is also a much better method of acquiring pitching. Signing free agents to both long term deals and 1 year over pay deals is inefficient and a waste of payroll. Best thing about AA’s time w/Atlanta is that he hasn’t crippled their future w/terrible long term free agent pitcher deals.
And with Imai’s contract specifically, the Astro’s are taking on all the risk while potentially only receiving a fraction of the reward. They’re guaranteeing him 3-years and they eat his salary if he gets hurt or his stuff doesn’t translate to MLB. But if he pitches great immediately, they might only get 1 year of production out of him before he leaves to chase 9-figures.
Jeff…The Sale trade was homerun no one disputes that. But Sale was supposed to be our #3 starter and became our #1 due to, surprise, mass injuries. Lopez was a one year wonder and AA supposedly tried the same route again with Hoffman last off-season. But we also ignore the cheap acquisitions of Cole Hamles, 10-run Tommy Milone, etc. that massively failed…I would have to believe all Braves fans would welcome some above average talent in the starting rotation while still having young talent develop. Braves are better with any of these FA in the rotation and AA will have to eat a potentially bad contract for that to happen.
Hamels was signed for $18M—hardly a “cheap acquisition” and the Braves were lucky he only earned 1/3 of the salary due to the Covid season. He was also signed as a free agent. Isn’t that what you’re wanting? Sale pitched his way to the Cy Young in 2024. “Mass injuries” didn’t help him do that. He was also in the running for the award again last season until he broke 2 ribs diving for a ball he shouldn’t have bothered going after. Tommy Milone was a trade deadline stop gap trade acquisition that they gave up nothing to acquire—Greg Cullen and AJ Graffnino. Hardly a “massive failure.” More like a tiny blip of nothingness that didn’t hurt them during the 60 game Covid season. Malone’s salary that season was only $1M. That’s what Baltimore signed him to a ML deal in July 2020. The Braves acquired him on August 30th, 2020 so they paid a prorated amount of that amount for the 3 measly games he started—-nothing of any significance.
And the astros pay the posting fee on the whole deal. I mean… just money, but not something I think I’d want.
It’s apparent that a lot of the contenders aren’t spending this year. Only small market and the teams that haven’t been spending for years are driving the market.
Is it? Based on what? Many of the expensive players are still juggling offers and this year is likely to be similar to every other year in total average spending.
There have been opinions on MLB Network Radio that also believe this based on the potential salary cap / floor after this upcoming season., There is belief that lower payroll teams will spend more and higher payroll teams will spend less. That, of course, is a very generalized statement and players like Tucker and Bregman aren’t going to Pittsburg or Cincinnati.
Back to the topic, Alex Anthopoulos was also on MLB Network radio basically saying that he’s not in the starting pitching market. Take it for what it’s worth.
I believe what he said was they feel good about the current health and depth, and that they were only going to make an addition if it was someone who could start a playoff game for them.
Biff is correct. They’re surprised how healthy the injured guys are but he has still said since then they would like to add a starter who pushes the rotation order down. Meaning any addition would be an SP2 vs a depth back end starter to cover innings.
$255 million dollar payroll as of now, up $40 million from last year, but ok. Guess they aren’t spending.
Irritating to see pitchers with a qualifying offer listed as Braves possibles. The Braves will not compromise the future by signing a QO-burdened starter, not with the high picks we’ll get this June.
Waldrep and Ritchie are due their chances to fill out the rotation at minimal cost and for years to come. Sale, Schwellenbach, Strider and Lopez is a fine array. Holmes and what we saw from Elder in September qualify them to be carried as swing men.
If another bargain with reliever fallback like the 2023 Lopez signing is out there, then by all means go for it but no extravagent spending please.
Yeah, who wants a player with a proven track record while a team’s championship window is wide open when you can have a handful of lottery tickets? 🙄
Waldrep and Ritchie are more than lottery tickets.
They’re not sure things either. Would I include them in a trade for anything less than an ace? Probably not. But you can’t say, going into 2026, “I can count on this many innings at this level of production” for either of them either. The Braves could absolutely use another reliable (relative to any starter being reliable sans injury) starter.
Last I checked Waldrep went 6-1 last season, sub 3 era.
In a 9 game sample size. Both Folty and Elder had longer stretches of success than that before flaming out. I’m not talking trash on Waldrep. I HOPE the adjustments he made mid-season stick and he turns into productive starter for the Braves for years to come. But banking on him to keep pitching like he did for 10 games last year, when you look at his career minor league numbers, would be a mistake. Go out at get another starter, and if Waldrep pitches so well that he forces his way into the rotation, that’s an excellent promblem to have
Have you actually seen him pitch more than twice? They’ve been counting on him for 2026 all year.
That’s true when a team is at the doorstep. I think the Braves pitching needs to prove they’re healthy and good, then moves like that will be made in July… not right now.
Family Guy mystery box. Why sign a Valdez or Suarez when the 26th pick could be anything – only far less likely to amount to anything
@AG7 it’s not just the pick, but the money that comes with it. That might be more important
Going with Waldrep and Ritchie as starters in your regular rotation(150 IP+) is awfully risky for a team trying to contend. And not really knowing what we’re getting from Strider complicates things further. AA is definitely scouring the league for SP’s… won’t surprise me if a trade gets it done.
No risk, no reward. If you think about it the propensity for those other starters to get hurt recently only adds to the need for potential high end arms getting chances in the rotation. How many starters (above a #4) are going to be attracted to sign (likely a short term deal) to pitch on a team with no guaranteed slots available? The Braves are likely gonna at least keep one of Elder/Wentz as a swingman (both out of options-likely Elder stays). So they are likely to break camp with 6 potential starters on the roster (at least) and their best prospect knocking on the door. I think they should maintain the flexibility to add in season and see what happens. Sure things could go wrong. But when you have a team with lots of Ace quality pitchers with question marks you don’t have much flexibility to sign guys. Am I saying an Elder or Wentz is going to prevent a move? Not if it’s a game changer, but Elder (despite the inconsistencies) is exactly the type of rubber arm innings eater the team desperately needed more of last year.
I’m a Braves fan and I still believe in AA, but he’s made a few missteps as well, including that overly colorful plaid shirt. Tone it down just a little, please and thank you.
i understand caution and get he can’t afford to overpay like the Yanks or Dodgers (except for Kim, but there was a definite need there), but with injury issues and fan expectations he has to make a decent move for a proven starter. Otherwise, even if they make the playoffs this year it’s likely one round and done again.
If Strider Sale Schwellenbach and Lopez are healthy then the 5th and 6th starters coming from Holmes and Waldrep and Elder and Wentz should be enough.
If the Braves want to stash some guys in the minors, fine, but they have a lock down bullpen now and don’t need a big splashy starter. Seems like they have have enough innings there IF the first four are healthy.
If you need more inmings, bring in Bassett. He won’t light the world on fire, but he can give you lots of decent MLB innings and probably won’t break the bank.
If all AA thinks the team needs is reliable innings, then Elder may be the option (yikes). He’ll take the ball 30 times if required — 10 quality starts, 10 shaky starts, and 10 disasters. (It’s possible Hefner could unlock something Kranitz could not, of course.) Unless the Braves want to spend for Imai or more, there may not be anybody else out there for less who can deliver what Elder offers.
I think this is an underrated take. Is bassit better than elder? And why not let the young guys pitch the 5th spot. The Braves have SO much depth there. But I also think they get a starter. I hope we just don’t plug anyone in there.
I think they will sign Imai, I really do. But if they don’t, they will just stick with internal options.
It’s the kind of under-the-radar move they make.
I’ve thought all offseason that Bassett is the guy they would go after. The draft picks they have they clearly don’t want to part with if it’s not in the price point. I’m glad AA locked down the bullpen. If they hit and score runs unlike last year the game is shortened to 6 innings. End of the day, I’m excited for the 27th of March and can’t wait for the 2026 team.
unless Bassit is willing to except a shorter term lower value contract to play for a (potential) contender, he is probably out. AA goes to spring training with question marks and hopes someone with promise gets cut or becomes affordable trade material.
They need one desperately. At least one. They won’t sign anybody though.
Johnny Cueto would be a nice invite. He’s still pitching professionally
Bartolo Colon just set his beer down.
and Kershaw could come out of retirement….
I hope it’s Imai.
If not, then it will likely be someone not attached to the QO
Imai humble opinion, AA will puff puff and Bassitt.
Neither will cost the #26 overall pick (and take away from the draft pool).
A hounding question, but I agree, and a reunion with Hefner could be a factor.
or hope that Valdez or Suarez don’t sign until the draft……
My guess is no more starters unless a trade or short term deal for a pitcher that would start in a playoff game scenario falls into their lap. (Valdez,Suarez,Peralta,Gore)
Sale, Strider schwelly, Lopez, Holmes, Elder, Wentz with Waldrep,Ritchie, Murphy, Fuentes all at AAA and ready in case of injury
It comes down to the confidence that Strider will be better, 1 year after coming back from arm surgery. Schwellenbacher’s elbow injury really isn’t serious. Waldrep was very good. If he has a good spring training he should be in the rotation.
Healthy that is an excellent 1 thru 5 with decent depth in Holmes and Elder. If they think they can’t get 700 inning plus from their starting 5 then they may go get a inning eaters starter.
but is that a World Series rotation? Braves fans expect one. All of these division (and wildcard) winners with only one title is not good enough for the causal fan (and a lot of diehards even).
I would love to see Zach Litell paired with a good pitching coach that could help him unlock his potential.
And they need to add another power bat to replace Ozuna in his prime seasons, which they won’t do nor get a good starter. But they always talk a good game and rely on hope as a strategy.
What? They’re platooning at DH, which gives them a tremendous amount of defensive flexibility, which also allow guys to actually take days off, which could pay major dividends. They addressed shortstop and the bench and the bullpen. They have about 9 guys who could all start (even if they could use a veteran #3 or #4). It’s amazing how even when they actually do go out and spend money in free agency, Braves fans still complain like they have the same owner as the Pirates or Marlins. It’s fascinating to me.
The Braves took care of lots of business early in the off-season. They had a plan, stuck to it, and aggressively addressed most of their needs. There’s plenty of time to pick up a mid-rotation SP, if that’s what AA wants to do.
Agreed. Pretty happy with the offseason so far. We go out and get a reliable starter and we will have checked all my boxes
They ain’t adding anyone. I thought for sure they would go after Imai and that didn’t even happen. I think they are done
Imai’s contract is a joke. An opt out after every year? AA was never going to go for that. In this case, it wasn’t about the money, but the terms of the deal. Still plenty of time to add a starter
They did bring Carlos Carrasco back on a minor league deal. I doubt they spend big on a starter but i could see a Martin Perez or Cal Quantrill type stopgap
@Rsox,
Do you see Walker Buehler as a potential stopgap/dice roll for some team? He obviously struggled with the Red Sox.
Struggled with the Sox but was pretty good with the Phillies. I could see it, but it would have to be for far less than he got last season
As a Dodger fan, I watched several of his starts with the Sox. The walks were certainly out of character. He seemed reluctant to throw his diminished stuff over the plate. It’ll be interesting to see what type of deal he lands. I’m surprised Dustin May got $12MM from the Cards. The price of pitching.
I could see Buehler having to settle for a similar deal as May, maybe, maybe topping out at $15 million but i think it’s closer to the $12 that May got
does seem like an AA move
They had Quantrill last yr and he was awful
No! No they won’t!
There’s too much uncertainty with age (Sale) and injury (everyone else) to not add a reliable veteran arm. You can never have too many starters. I don’t think they need to overspend, I would be more than happy to see them pick up Chris Bassitt or make a trade for a middle rotation type.
Hopefully bot Framber. I want him in SF.
ATL will be the next major team to go through a rebuild.
I’m curious why you think this. Genuinely asking
I mean, they need to. It’s not a debate IF we need a reliable starting pitcher both in performance and in health. Every single person in our rotation has question and even more so than the “every time has questions in the rotation” stuff. Sale for example is the one we know what we will get… but who the heck knows if he’ll have one of those random injuries. Strider looks like he lost real velo after his surgery and schwellenbach (forgive me if I spelled that wrong) is coming back from a broken bone in his elbow they think was due to his increased velo. Who knows if either of those guys will return to form. Lopez has a shoulder issue which is the kiss of death these days, Holmes needs TJ and refuses to get it. HW has a blimp of awesome there at the end of the season. But he was capital letters awful, even in the minors right before that and all of his other experiences. I mean we truly have zero idea what to expect from that crew. If everyone is 100% healthy, it’s potentially the best rotation with depth in all of baseball … but otherwise, there is a heck of a shot that Elder will be our innings eater yet again for far to many years. I think since 2020 he is our innings leader and that’s not a good thing
Strider’s velo did dip, but got back a couple of mph and stayed there after a half-dozen starts. Not uncommon coming back from his injury (and no spring training). PC Hefner has been working with him on his arm angle, which Hefner thinks was the reason for the differ results.
Waldrep worked with Murphy (during his rehab stint) to develop a sinker and cutter that produced that dramatic shift, resulting in him putting it altogether. I’d take his previous MiLB stats with a grain of salt.
There’s maybe a 5% chance Elder will get more than 80 IP this season, as there’s a little more of a shot that he’ll be on the roster. Many think that it’s between him and Wentz for mop-up duties and I don’t think Elder has options left, so he’ll need to make the team out of ST. Maybe Hefner could help him reach a new height in ST, but the point is no one is 100% reliable. At any moment, a guy can go down, whether he’s 36 or 26. Wheeler was one of the game’s best pitchers (and most reliable) since 2020…and look at the question marks with him.
You’re right that Elder has no options left. Neither does Wentz. Good takes on Waldrep and Strider.
How do you know what you will get from Sale? His pre Atlanta stay in Boston wasn’t pretty
When he was injured? When he’s been healthy in Atlanta, he’s pitched like an ace including winning a Cy Young. Not exactly a small sample size.
All the Braves need is true ace , just pay for one !
Maybe Lucas Giolito is someone AA signs? I can see the Braves kicking the tires on a potential deal.
Maybe just me, but I first noticed in each of Schwellenbach and Holmes last start, the increase in velocity,then IL, Hoping Hefner is a “pitching” coach. Wonder whether Kranitz made suggestion either way or it was each of their personal choice? Thoughts?
With their propensity for signing former Rockies pitchers who are slated for an improved year, watch for them to sign FA German Marquez for back-of-the rotation depth.
“Yes. Grant Holmes given a clean bill of health at his last doctors appointment is essentially adding a 5-year contract.” – Terry McGuirk, probably
It was misleading for the author to refer to him as a depth arm last season.
Come on, you hacks. “Strong as the bullpen and offense appear to be” is NOT proper English. You can’t just leave “as” out at the beginning of the sentence because you feel like it. Proper grammar isn’t optional, especially when you’re billing yourself as a “professional writer.”