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Offseason In Review: Atlanta Braves

By | at March 25, 2026 2:53pm CDT

The Braves’ offseason began with a managerial change. They brought back their shortstop, added a pair of high-leverage relievers, and upgraded their outfield. A series of Spring Training injuries has magnified their lack of activity on the rotation market, leaving questions about whether they did enough to avoid a repeat of their frustrating 2025 season.

Major League Signings

2026 commitments: $65.75MM
Total future commitments: $113MM

Trades and Claims

Option Decisions

Extensions

  • Signed LHP Chris Sale to one-year, $27MM deal covering 2027 season (deal includes $30MM club option for ’28)

Notable Minor League Signings

Notable Losses

Despite a strong finish, the Braves finished the 2025 campaign 10 games below .500. They missed the playoffs for the first time in seven years, falling to fourth place in the NL East. That disappointing year came with questions about a managerial change. Brian Snitker was in the final year of his contract and turning 70 in October. President of baseball operations Alex Anthopoulos had been adamant the team would welcome Snitker back if he wanted to continue, but the skipper was less committal.

Snitker announced at season’s end that he would not return to the dugout. He’ll remain with the team as a special advisor, a fitting transition for an organizational lifer whose time managing in the farm system dates to the early 1980s. For the first time in nearly a decade, the Braves have a new leader in the MLB dugout.

As is often the case with Atlanta’s player personnel moves, they were tight-lipped about their managerial search process. It’s unclear how many external candidates were under serious consideration. The Braves opted for continuity, elevating bench coach Walt Weiss to the position in early November. Weiss has been on the staff since the 2018 season and has four seasons of managerial experience. He led the Rockies between 2013-16, with Colorado winning between 66 and 75 games in those years.

Although Weiss was an internal hire, the Braves changed most of the coaching staff. Former Orioles interim manager Tony Mansolino takes the bench coach role. They parted with longtime pitching coach Rick Kranitz, bringing in former Mets pitching coach Jeremy Hefner as his replacement. Hitting coach Tim Hyers returns for a second season.

Atlanta’s roster maneuvering began with a few notable option decisions. The team made easy calls to exercise their options on Chris Sale ($18MM) and Ozzie Albies ($7MM). Shortstop Ha-Seong Kim declined his $16MM player option, which had seemed increasingly likely as he generated a fair amount of buzz after Atlanta claimed him off waivers from the Rays. The Braves declined their $7MM option on setup man Pierce Johnson, who had struggled down the stretch. More surprisingly, they also bought out Tyler Kinley on what had seemed a reasonable $5.5MM option.

Anthopoulos said the team wanted to preserve as much financial flexibility as possible at the beginning of the offseason. They needed to do something at shortstop. Closer Raisel Iglesias was hitting free agency. Injuries had exposed a lack of rotation depth in 2025.

While acknowledging the need to acquire multiple relievers, Anthopoulos said in November that the priorities were shortstop and starting pitching (relayed by David O’Brien). “We’re going to focus on those spots. We’ll see where those lead us, what the acquisition costs are and all that, and then we’ll turn our attention to the bullpen,” he said from the GM Meetings.

That may well have been the plan, but it’s not how things played out. The free agent relief market moved much more quickly than the hitters or starting pitchers. Atlanta was as aggressive as any team in that arena. They started by re-signing Iglesias on a one-year, $16MM deal. The 36-year-old closer had overcome an early season home run spike to post a solid 3.21 ERA with an excellent strikeout and walk profile over 70 appearances.

The Braves would make a bigger bullpen splash three weeks later. They brought in two-time All-Star Robert Suarez on a three-year, $45MM contract in early December. Suarez has high-end velocity and has posted consecutive sub-3.00 ERA seasons. He led the National League with 40 saves, though the Braves confirmed that he’ll move into a setup role in deference to the incumbent Iglesias.

It’s a significant investment for a reliever’s age 35-37 seasons. Atlanta committed a combined $29MM to their 2026 payroll in their late-innings duo. They were clearly motivated to make a splash at the back of the bullpen. Jorge Castillo of ESPN reported that the Braves made a five-year offer to top free agent closer Edwin Díaz before they signed Suarez. Díaz opted for a three-year deal with the Dodgers instead (presumably at a much higher annual rate) and Atlanta moved quickly to the former Padres closer.

The Braves built out the bullpen with a handful of smaller free agent pickups. They brought Kinley back on a $4.25MM guarantee with a ’27 club option, confirming they made the right call to decline his slightly higher priced option for 2026.

Atlanta non-tendered and re-signed middle reliever Joel Payamps for $2.25MM. Danny Young and Ian Hamilton joined the organization on a split contract and non-guaranteed deal, respectively. Young will miss the majority of the season as he rehabs last May’s Tommy John surgery; Hamilton has already been outrighted off the 40-man roster.

The Braves should have one of the league’s stronger bullpens. Iglesias and Suarez are an elite one-two pairing. Dylan Lee and Aaron Bummer offer Weiss a pair of quality left-handers, while Kinley and Payamps slot nicely into the middle innings. Daysbel Hernández is behind as he rehabs last year’s shoulder injury but should get a middle relief spot once he’s healthy. Out-of-options waiver pickup Osvaldo Bido nabs the final bullpen job for the time being.

Atlanta’s relief corps took one notable injury hit over the winter. Former setup man Joe Jiménez is dealing with another seemingly significant left knee issue. He missed the entire 2025 season after undergoing surgery the prior offseason. Jiménez required a cleanup procedure to repair cartilage damage last November. He was placed on the 60-day injured list at the start of camp, and it’s unclear when (or if) the Braves anticipate him pitching this year.

Although the bullpen was fixed, the Braves had yet to fully address either the rotation or shortstop as the Winter Meetings concluded. The latter position was essentially a waiting game on whether Kim would re-sign. Atlanta never seemed interested in spending on Bo Bichette. Kim was the only other starting shortstop available in free agency. The trade market at the position was similarly barren.

The Braves gave themselves some cover as they awaited Kim’s decision. They lined up a trade with the Astros that sent last year’s starting shortstop Nick Allen to Houston for Mauricio Dubón. Allen is a superlative defender but probably has the lightest bat of any non-catcher in the league.

Dubón is a Gold Glove utility player who should be a capable defensive shortstop. He’s a below-average hitter but certainly provides more at the plate than Allen did last year. The Braves paid $4.7MM in the difference between the infielders’ respective arbitration salaries. Dubón will be a free agent next offseason.

Dubón raised the floor at shortstop while having the versatility to play a multi-positional role if the Braves brought Kim back. They were tied to free agent utility infielder Willi Castro as well, but they ended up landing their preferred target in the middle of December. Kim returned on a one-year, $20MM deal. He reportedly declined a four-year, $48MM offer from the Athletics to take the higher salary in a familiar setting. Kim picked up an extra $4MM over the player option value, while the Braves solidified shortstop.

That was the plan, at least. It’s on hold after Kim slipped on ice in his native South Korea and tore a tendon in his right middle finger. He flew back to Atlanta to undergo surgery that’ll sideline him for the first four to six weeks of the season. It magnified the importance of the Dubón pickup, as he’s penciled back in as the everyday shortstop to begin the year.

Immediately after the Kim injury, the Braves signed Jorge Mateo to a big league deal for marginally more than the league minimum. He’ll work as a backup shortstop who could be pushed off the roster once Kim is healthy. While shortstop is in flux, the rest of the infield is settled. Matt Olson and Albies will play every day on the right side. Austin Riley is back from last year’s core surgery to man third base.

Catcher Sean Murphy also underwent an operation at the end of the 2025 season — a labrum repair in his right hip, in his case. Murphy has apparently played through hip pain for years. He’s starting the season on the injured list. The Braves have one of the sport’s best young catchers in Rookie of the Year Drake Baldwin. Murphy’s absence opens some at-bats at designated hitter. Atlanta could ease his workload even if he’s back from the injured list before the end of May.

That freed up enough playing time that the Braves felt comfortable adding left fielder Mike Yastrzemski on a two-year, $23MM deal. A multi-year contract came as a surprise for a player who turns 36 in August. Yastrzemski has a long track record as a slightly above-average regular. He’s coming off a big finish to the 2025 season after being traded from the Giants to the Royals at the deadline.

Yastrzemski joins Michael Harris II and Ronald Acuña Jr. as the projected starting outfield. Righty-hitting Eli White can work as a short side platoon player to take some at-bats from Yastrzemski against lefty pitching. That was supposed to move Jurickson Profar to the primary DH role.

That plan was also scuttled, as Spring Training brought the news that Profar had again tested positive for a performance-enhancing substance. It’s his second straight year serving a PED ban. This one comes with a 162-game suspension, so he’ll miss the entire season and forfeit his $15MM salary. He’s under contract for a matching amount next year in the final season of what has become a massive headache of a free agent signing. It’s unclear if the Braves intend to keep him around or will eat the money and move on.

First baseman Dominic Smith, who signed a minor league contract over the winter, is set to open the season as the DH against right-handed pitching. Smith had a solid half-season for the Giants last year (.284/.333/.417 in 63 games) and hit pretty well this spring. The Braves re-signed him to a split contract at the end of camp, giving him a 40-man roster spot. He’ll be paid at a $1.25MM rate while he’s on the MLB team.

Atlanta did the same with veteran infielder Kyle Farmer, who’ll provide a right-handed bat off the bench. Farmer hasn’t hit much over the past two seasons and is coming off a very difficult season, batting .227/.280/.365 across 300 plate appearances for the Rockies. He’s also making $1.25MM for time in the majors on a split deal.

Smith and Farmer each have the service time to refuse minor league assignments, but their respective contracts presumably come with solid minor league salaries that could incentivize them to accept a future assignment to Triple-A Gwinnett. Farmer beat out-of-options infielder Brett Wisely for the last bench spot.

The Braves still needed a backup catcher for the first month and a half of the season. Jonah Heim, non-tendered by the Rangers in November, will fill that role. He signed a $1.5MM contract on the heels of a second straight rough season. Heim was an above-average regular and the starter on Texas’ 2023 World Series team. He has hit .217/.269/.334 with declining defensive grades over the past two years.

For all the activity on the position player and bullpen fronts, the Braves did curiously little in the rotation. Their biggest starting pitching move was a minor league deal for veteran lefty Martín Pérez. Anthopoulos said in February that the team was comfortable with their depth and felt they’d only benefit from adding a playoff-caliber starter. That’s a much different message from his comments in November.

It’s true that the intervening three months raised the team’s confidence in Grant Holmes, who finished last season with a UCL sprain but has successfully rehabbed without surgery to date. They’re surely encouraged by the development of prospects JR Ritchie and Didier Fuentes (the latter of whom will open the season in the big league bullpen after a dominant spring).

At the same time, it’s difficult to justify completely eschewing the rotation market given the injury histories of their returning starters. Zac Gallen, Justin Verlander, Chris Bassitt, Zack Littell and the still unsigned Lucas Giolito were among the starters who lingered in free agency into February. Gallen was the only one among that group who was attached to a qualifying offer. They all signed one-year deals (or are virtually certain to do so, in Giolito’s case). Did the Braves not consider any of them an upgrade over Joey Wentz, Bryce Elder or José Suarez?

It seems likelier that payroll was the obstacle, though they haven’t reallocated any of the $15MM they’re not paying to Profar. If that’s the case, it raises questions about whether they’d have been better served adding a starter than committing as much money as they did to the back of the bullpen — or whether Kim is a significant enough upgrade over Dubón that it made sense to pay him $20MM (even if the finger injury itself was obviously unforeseeable).

The already flimsy rotation depth has taken a number of hits this spring. Spencer Schwellenbach and Hurston Waldrep each underwent surgeries to remove loose bodies from their elbows. They’ll miss most or all of the first half. Spencer Strider has an oblique strain that’ll cost him at least a few weeks. That would have drawn Wentz into the rotation, but he tore his ACL in a collision covering first base and will miss the whole season. They already knew that AJ Smith-Shawver wouldn’t be a factor after last June’s Tommy John procedure.

Sale is back at the top of the rotation. He has his own significant injury history, but he’s currently healthy and a Cy Young caliber arm when he’s on the mound. It’s pivotal that Holmes’ elbow holds up, as he’s the #2 starter for the time being.

Reynaldo López is seemingly the third starter. He made one appearance last year before undergoing season-ending shoulder surgery. A fastball that usually sits in the 95-96 mph range averaged 91.3 mph this spring. The velocity might tick up a little bit as he gets into the season but probably isn’t climbing by four miles per hour. Even if he’s currently healthy, it’s unlikely he’s throwing 140+ innings.

Elder and Suarez are fringe roster types. The Braves placed the latter on waivers a couple months ago, losing him to the Orioles only to claim him back a few weeks later. They’re now each in the season-opening rotation. They’re going to need Ritchie and Fuentes to excel as rookies. The former will begin the year in Triple-A but should be up before long. Fuentes is going to start in relief with a plan to option him a few weeks into the season to build up as a starter in the minors. That’s a sensible course of action, but he’s a 20-year-old who pitched a total of 70 innings last year. He’s not logging a full rotation workload.

They’ll need to stay afloat for a couple months to benefit from midseason injury returns and potential deadline pickups. It’s certainly not out of the question, but there’s limited margin for error in a division that features the Phillies and Mets.

The Braves did make one notable move on the rotation front, albeit one that has no real impact on the 2026 picture. They hammered out an extension with Sale this spring, paying him a $27MM salary for the ’27 season while adding a $30MM club option for 2028. It’s a sensible move to extend a relationship that has worked extremely well for both sides. It also removes the already long shot possibility that the Braves might have traded Sale at the deadline if they weren’t performing up to expectations.

They’re certainly hoping they’ll play well enough to approach deadline season as buyers either way. Few teams match the high-end talent the Braves possess. A team with Acuña, Baldwin, Olson, and Riley plus an excellent bullpen can certainly be dangerous. This is among the most top-heavy rosters in MLB, though, putting a lot of pressure on the team’s pitching development to overcome the injuries.

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