Braves Release Aaron Bummer, Place Drake Baldwin On Injured List
The Braves announced Tuesday that they’ve released left-handed reliever Aaron Bummer and placed catcher Drake Baldwin on the 10-day injured list due to an oblique strain. Atlanta also activated lefty Dylan Dodd from the 10-day IL, recalled righty Victor Mederos from Triple-A, selected the contract of catcher Chadwick Tromp and optioned right-hander JR Ritchie to Triple-A.
The Baldwin injury is a massive setback for an Atlanta club that’s also once again without veteran Sean Murphy (fractured finger). The 25-year-old Baldwin won National League Rookie of the Year honors in 2025 and has thus far played like he has his eyes set on some additional hardware; Baldwin has played at an MVP-caliber pace in 2026, sprinting out of the gate with a .303/.389/.543 batting line. After swatting 19 home runs in 446 plate appearances as a rookie, he’s already clubbed 13 in just 216 trips to the batter’s box in his sophomore season.
By measure of wRC+, Baldwin has been 60% better than average at the plate this season — the eighth-best qualified hitter in the sport. That’s a feat in and of itself, but considering the average catcher is about 12% worse than average at the plate, Baldwin’s immense production is all the more valuable. Couple that with strong blocking skills and average framing grades, and Baldwin has been one of the best all-around players in baseball. Both FanGraphs and Baseball-Reference peg him at 2.2 wins above replacement through just over one quarter of the regular season.
The Braves have yet to put a timetable on Baldwin’s potential absence. Every injury case is different, but even Grade 1 oblique strains can sideline players for upwards of one month. A more severe strain would come with a lengthier absence. Atlanta skipper Walt Weiss will surely provide more details prior to this afternoon’s contest against the Marlins, who pounced the now-optioned Ritchie and the now-released Bummer for a combined 12 earned runs — six apiece — last night.
With Baldwin and Murphy both shelved, Atlanta will go from one of the sport’s most potent catching tandems to perhaps the lightest-hitting backstop tandem in baseball. Tromp joins 37-year-old Sandy León in handling catching duties for the foreseeable future. León hasn’t topped 100 plate appearances in a big league season since 2021 and carries a .176/.245/.268 batting line over his past 930 trips to the plate in the majors. Tromp is a career .221/.230/.390 hitter in 178 major league plate appearances. They’re both solid defenders, and Tromp has some modest pop in his bat, but both can be reasonably projected for an OBP in the .250 range.
As already referenced, Bummer was tagged for six runs last night in what will go down as his final appearance with the Braves. He lasted only one inning. Were that meltdown an isolated instance, the veteran Bummer’s track record would surely have spared him. The entire 2026 season, however, has been a calamitous one for the 32-year-old southpaw.
Bummer has pitched 15 1/3 innings for the Braves this season and been shelled for a 7.63 ERA. He’s given up multiple runs in five of his 19 appearances, and most of the damage has come in the past five weeks. Dating back to April 13, Bummer has been torched for 15 runs (13 earned) on 17 hits and seven walks in 11 1/3 innings. Opponents have belted six home runs in that span, and he’s fanned only 16.9% of his opponents along the way.
Prior to 2026, Bummer gave the Braves two seasons of quality middle relief. He rarely found his way into high-leverage spots but still combined for 109 2/3 innings of 3.69 ERA ball. He set down 25.1% of his opponents on strikes and logged a tidy 7.3% walk rate over those two seasons. It wasn’t star-level performance, but Bummer was a perfectly serviceable bullpen arm.
There were some warning signs last season, however. Bummer’s strikeout rate dipped by several percentage points, while his average four-seamer and average sinker both fell by about two miles per hour. The strikeout and velo declines have worsened in 2026. Bummer sat 94.7 mph on his four-seamer and 94.3 mph on his go-to sinker as recently as 2023. He’s averaging 90.5 mph and 90.2 mph, respectively, on that pair of pitches this season.
Atlanta originally acquired Bummer from the White Sox in a volume trade sending five players back to Chicago: Michael Soroka, Jared Shuster, Nicky Lopez, Braden Shewmake and Riley Gowens. He was signed to a five-year, $16MM contract with club options for the 2025-26 seasons at the time. After a strong debut campaign in Atlanta, the Braves restructured the contract, effectively guaranteeing both option years in advance while trimming $500K from their combined value and pushing the bulk of the salary into the 2026 season. Bummer earned $3.5MM last year and is being paid $9.5MM this season.
The Braves will remain on the hook for the entirety of that contract. Bummer will be free to sign with any team, and a new club would owe him only the prorated league minimum for any time spent on the major league roster. That small sum would be subtracted from what Atlanta owes the veteran southpaw, but they’ll eat the vast majority of the contract regardless of Bummer’s next steps.
Gio Urshela Announces Retirement
Infielder Gio Urshela has announced his retirement as a player in a post on his Instagram page. In the post, he thanks the people who contributed to his career, including his family, friends, fans, baseball organizations, coaches, the people of Colombia and more.
Urshela, now 34, was signed by Cleveland back in 2008. An international amateur out of Colombia, he secured a signing bonus of $300K. He quickly developed a reputation as a plus defender at third base while also dabbling at the other infield positions. His bat was a bit more questionable. He didn’t strike out much in the minors but also didn’t draw many walks and it wasn’t clear how much thump he could produce with his contact approach.
He cracked the majors in 2015. His initial big league opportunities matched his profile. He could pick the ball at third and didn’t strike out a lot but also didn’t produce offensively. He was eventually designated for assignment in 2018 and flipped to the Blue Jays in a cash deal. The Jays put him on waivers later that year and the 29 other clubs all declined a chance to claim him. At that time, he had 499 major league plate appearances and a .225/.274/.315 line.
The Jays traded Urshela to the Yankees for cash late in 2018. He began the following season as non-roster depth for Miguel Andujar, who had just finished a solid rookie campaign, finishing second in American League Rookie of the Year voting behind Shohei Ohtani. Early in the 2019 campaign, Andujar suffered a torn labrum in his right shoulder, an injury that would eventually require season-ending surgery. Though that was unfortunate for Andujar, it turned out to be the opportunity for Urshela to break out.
Urshela took over the third base job in the Bronx that year with a big step forward offensively. He hit 21 home runs and slashed .314/.355/.534 for a 132 wRC+. FanGraphs credited him with 3.1 wins above replacement. He may have hit his personal zenith that year with some help from external forces. His .349 batting average on balls in play was well above average. That was also the juiced-ball year, with home run records set all around the league.
Regardless, Urshela still proved to be a viable major league hitter in subsequent seasons. Over the shortened 2020 season and the 2021 campaign, he hit 20 homers in 159 games and slashed .275/.320/.438 for a 108 wRC+. He was credited with 2.4 fWAR for that span.
Going into 2022, Urshela was part of a big trade. He and catcher Gary Sánchez were flipped to the Twins for third baseman Josh Donaldson, infielder Isiah Kiner-Falefa and catcher Ben Rortvedt. Urshela had a solid campaign in Minnesota, hitting 13 home runs and putting up a .285/.338/.429 line, translating to a 118 wRC+. FanGraphs put another 2.6 WAR on his ledger that year.
Ahead of the 2023 season, Urshela was traded to the Angels for pitching prospect Alejandro Hidalgo. That was unfortunately just before things started to turn sour for Urshela. He hit a respectable .299/.329/.374 for the Halos but went on the injured list in June due to a pelvic fracture. He didn’t require surgery but he missed the second half of that season and was never really able to get back on track after that.
He became a free agent and signed a $1.5MM deal with the Tigers going into 2024. He got into 92 games for Detroit but hit .243/.286/.333 for a wRC+ of 74. He was designated for assignment and released that August. He latched on with Atlanta and finished on a slightly higher note, slashing .265/.287/.424 in 36 games.
That strong finish was enough to get him a $2.15MM deal with the Athletics for 2025. He hit .238/.287/.326 in 59 games for the A’s before getting designated for assignment and released in August. He returned to the Twins on a minor league deal this past offseason. He hit .192/.250/.231 in spring training and was released at the end of camp.
Urshela finishes his career having played in 851 games with 3,028 plate appearances. He only walked in 5.9% of those but also limited his strikeouts to an 18.3% pace. He collected 759 hits, including 147 doubles, nine triples and 73 home runs. He scored 312 times, drove in 352 runs and stole seven bases. His career slash line finishes at .270/.314/.407. That leads to a subpar 97 wRC+ but is dragged down by his slow start and soft finish. From 2019 to 2022, he hit .290/.336/.463 for a 118 wRC+. Both FanGraphs and Baseball Reference credit him with about eight wins above replacement, mostly from that four-year peak. Baseball Reference pegs his career earnings over $25MM.
We at MLB Trade Rumors congratulate Urshela on a fine career and wish him the best for his post-playing days.
Photos courtesy of David Butler II, Jesse Johnson, Nick Wosika, Imagn Images
Braves Sign Austin Gomber To Minor League Deal
The Braves have signed left-hander Austin Gomber to a minor league deal, according to his transactions tracker at MLB.com. Evan Grant of the Dallas Morning News previously reported that the Rangers released Gomber from their own minor league pact. Gomber is a client of THE·TEAM agency.
Gomber, 32, joined the Rangers organization in a non-roster deal in January. He was a candidate to be their fifth starter, though Gomber was sent to Triple-A when the job ultimately went to Kumar Rocker. Gomber’s results at Triple-A haven’t been pretty. In 33 2/3 innings over nine appearances (eight starts), Gomber had a 7.75 ERA while allowing 41 hits and 14 unintentional walks.
That follows a 2025 season defined by injuries and underperformance. Gomber started the year on the injured list with left shoulder soreness and did not return to the Rockies until June 15th. He made 12 starts in the following two months, but the results were a far cry from Gomber’s previous back-of-the-rotation work. In 57 2/3 innings, Gomber had a 7.49 ERA and just a 12.5% strikeout rate.
Although his control was typically excellent, Gomber allowed a staggering 16 home runs in that time, or 2.50 HR/9. That mark was unacceptable even for Coors Field. Gomber was released by the Rockies on August 22nd. He quickly signed a minor league pact with the Cubs, but he did not make it back to the Majors by the end of the year. Gomber elected minor league free agency in November.
That said, Gomber is only two seasons removed from being a serviceable starter. He threw 165 innings over 30 starts for the Rockies in 2024, with an impressive 5.5% walk rate and a 4.75 ERA. The latter figure seems uninspiring on the surface, but it’s roughly league average when adjusting for Coors Field. FanGraphs valued Gomber at 1.3 WAR that year – perfectly fine for a No. 5 starter.
Even though that performance is two years old now, there’s no harm in the Braves taking a flier on Gomber. Atlanta’s rotation leads the Majors with a 2.93 ERA through 45 games, and their 23.6% strikeout rate is tied for eighth with the Pirates. Chris Sale and Bryce Elder have ERAs under 2.00. Spencer Strider returned from the injured list on May 3rd and has done well in three starts (aside from walk issues). Grant Holmes is a fine as a No. 4 starter. JR Ritchie is 22 and only just debuted, so he’ll continue to get chances in the back of the rotation.
Spring injuries to Spencer Schwellenbach and Hurston Waldrep depleted the group’s depth somewhat, but Martin Perez is on hand as a long reliever and has made five starts of at least five innings this year. With Perez as the main depth option for now, Gomber can try to re-establish himself at Triple-A and stay ready for a callup if somebody else gets injured.
Photo courtesy of Arianna Grainey, Imagn Images
Michael Harris Is Better Than Ever
Braves outfielder Michael Harris II picked up four hits on Friday against the Dodgers, pushing his batting average back over .300. The 25-year-old has a career-best 139 wRC+ through 38 games. Harris, already in his fifth big-league season, seems to be making good on the prospect pedigree that had him atop Atlanta’s system before his 2022 debut.
Harris was just 21 years old when he was handed the Braves’ everyday center fielder gig. He performed well in his first taste of the majors, slashing .297/.339/.514 across 441 plate appearances. He fell just one homer shy of a 20/20 campaign. Harris earned NL Rookie of the Year honors, beating out teammate Spencer Strider.
Atlanta signed Harris to an eight-year, $72MM extension in August of that first season. It looked like a good bit of business for both sides. Harris secured a significant payday after just four months as a big leaguer. The Braves locked down a promising young outfielder for the rest of the decade. With Ronald Acuna Jr. and Ozzie Albies also signed to relatively inexpensive long-term deals, the organization had its core in place for the foreseeable future.
Harris took a slight step back in the power department in 2023, but was still 16% better than league average at the plate. He improved his strikeout rate to 18.7%, down from 24.3% as a rookie. Harris regressed again in 2024. His wRC+ slipped below 100 for the first time. After two years hitting above .290, Harris hit .264 in 110 games. He missed a significant chunk of the year with a hamstring injury.
The 2025 campaign was a bounce-back from a health perspective. Harris played a career-high 160 games. The volume helped him finally reach his first 20/20 season. The rate stats were concerning, though. Harris slashed .249/.268/.409 across 641 plate appearances. His walk rate, already among the lowest in the league, fell to 2.5%. Harris chased pitches out of the strike zone more than ever.
The game plan against Harris was pretty clear last year. Pitchers attacked him with four-seamers and sinkers. Harris hammered fastballs as a rookie, but began to struggle against the heat. He posted a career-worst -4 Run Value vs. four-seamers in 2025. Sinkers were an even bigger issue. No hitter performed worse on any pitch than Harris against sinkers, with a league-low -17 Run Value. It was the worst mark since Tigers infielder Jonathan Schoop posted a -18 Run Value against four-seamers in 2022. Unsurprisingly, Harris saw sinkers at a career-high 20.9% clip.
Getting exploited by fastballs is a big problem at the highest level. It can be a career-ending flaw. Harris was on the verge of being a glove-only asset stuck at the bottom of the lineup. He seems to have solved his fastball issues in 2026. He’s hitting .318 against sinkers this season. He’s also obliterating four-seamers, with a .700 SLG and a silly 70.6% hard-hit rate. Harris is doing damage like never before, regardless of pitch type. He ranks in the 99th percentile in hard-hit rate and average exit velocity. Harris has a robust .326 xBA and a hefty .614 xSLG.
Harris has made subtle tweaks to his stance and setup. He’s moved up in the box and closer to the plate. His feet are a couple of inches further apart than last year. He’s also opened his stance by seven degrees compared to 2025. The adjustments, combined with career highs in bat speed (75.1 mph) and fast swing rate (51.4%), have produced a massive 16.5% barrel rate and a career-best 19.2% pulled air rate.
There are still some process flaws here. Harris is once again chasing more than ever. He’s offering at 43.1% of pitches outside of the strike zone, the eighth-highest mark among qualified hitters. Harris’ 51% groundball rate is his highest since 2022. And while he’s hit safely at a solid rate against sinkers, it’s been strictly singles. Those are more nitpicks than major concerns, though.
The quad injury has sapped Harris’ speed, which might cost him a shot at another 20/20 season, but the power looks legit. Health permitting, he should cruise past his career high of 20 home runs. The adjustments he’s made this year suggest he’s back to being an offensive force in a lineup that looks like one of the best in baseball.
Photo courtesy of Brett Davis, Imagn Images
Sean Murphy To Miss Eight Weeks With Finger Fracture
3:35pm: Murphy will miss at least eight weeks due to his fracture, Weiss tells Jesús Cano of The Athletic.
12:08pm: The Braves announced that catcher Sean Murphy has been placed on the 10-day injured list, retroactive to May 11th, with a fractured left middle finger. Fellow catcher Sandy León was signed to a big league deal to replace Murphy on the roster. The club also selected the contract of outfielder José Azócar and optioned infielder Jim Jarvis. They had two 40-man vacancies, which have now been filled by these moves.
Murphy’s injury appears to stem from a catcher’s interference plan in Sunday’s game. Hyeseong Kim swung at a pitch and made contact with Murphy’s glove, as seen in this video from MLB.com. After the game, manager Walt Weiss told Mark Bowman of MLB.com that Murphy would be going for X-rays but would probably be fine. It now seems that a fracture has been discovered, so Murphy will head to the IL.
It’s unclear how long Murphy will be out of action but it’s a frustrating setback nonetheless. Injuries have been a recurring theme for him in recent seasons. He was limited to fewer than 95 games in both 2024 and 2025 due to various ailments. One persistent issue has been hip problems, which eventually led to surgery in September of last year. He was rehabbing from that surgery until about a week ago. Now after just four games, he’s back on the shelf.
While Murphy was on the IL earlier, Atlanta used a catching tandem of Drake Baldwin and Jonah Heim. When Murphy was reinstated earlier this month, Heim was designated for assignment and then traded to the Athletics. Atlanta still has Baldwin but now has no Heim and will be without Murphy for a while, so they had to get a bit creative in finding a new backup.
León, 37, is a glove-first veteran journeyman. He began this year with Triple-A Gwinnett but slashed .118/.268/.118 in ten games and was released. He then signed with the Saraperos de Saltillo in the Mexican League. He got into ten games for that club, hitting .143/.273/.143, before Atlanta came calling again.
It’s not likely that León will provide much with the bat. He has a career line of .207/.275/.311. From 2017 to the present, it’s an even slimmer .187/.256/.289 line. But he has nonetheless been able to carve out a lengthy career due to his strong reputation when it comes to the other facets of being a catcher, namely his defense.
He’ll back up Baldwin while Murphy is on the shelf. The club also has Jair Camargo and Chadwick Tromp in the system on minor league deals. They may keep their eyes out for external options. For instance, Austin Wynns was designated for assignment by the A’s last week and is still in DFA limbo.
Azócar, 30, was added to the roster for a few days earlier this month. Atlanta bumped him off when they called up Jarvis about a week ago. Azócar cleared waivers but quickly returned to the club on a new minor league deal and is now back on the big league roster. Since Jarvis is being sent out, it’s effectively a reversal of the transaction from last week.
Presumably, that quick change is due to developments elsewhere in the position player mix. Yesterday, the club reinstated infielder Ha-Seong Kim from the IL. In a corresponding move, outfielder Eli White hit the concussion IL. Kim’s return meant that they effectively had three bench infielders in Jorge Mateo, Kyle Farmer and Jarvis. Meanwhile, White’s IL placement left them shorthanded in the outfield.
Azócar has only hit .243/.288/.318 in his career but is a strong defender and baserunner. With Ronald Acuña Jr. on the IL, Atlanta should have a regular outfield of Mike Yastrzemski, Michael Harris II and Mauricio Dubón, with Azócar backing up that group. Azócar is out of options, which could potentially lead to him being designated for assignment again when guys come off the IL.
Photo courtesy of Kirby Lee, Imagn Images
Braves, Jose Azocar Agree To Minor League Deal
The Braves and outfielder Jose Azocar are reuniting on a new minor league deal, per the team’s transaction log at MLB.com. He’d previously been designated for assignment by Atlanta and briefly elected free agency after clearing waivers.
Azocar, 30 today, went hitless in his only two plate appearances with Atlanta (and in his lone Braves plate appearance last season as well). He’s a career .243/.288/.318 hitter in 420 big league plate appearances. Azocar has swiped 20 bags and popped two homers in the majors. Most of his big league time has come with the Padres, though he also appeared in a dozen games with the Mets last year.
Azocar is out to a fine start in Triple-A this year. He’s taken 113 plate appearances with Atlanta’s Gwinnett affiliate and slashed .270/.348/.420 with a couple homers, eight steals, a 10.6% walk rate and a 16.8% strikeout rate. Those slash stats are near mirror images of Azocar’s career marks in Triple-A. He’s played parts of six seasons at the top minor league level and notched a .276/.321/.416 batting line in 1203 plate appearances.
While he’s never been a huge threat with the bat, Azocar possesses plus speed (88th percentile in 2025, per Statcast) and is a quality defender in all three outfield spots. He’s spent 459 big league innings in center, 370 in right and 238 in left. Defensive Runs Saved and Outs Above Average both peg him as at least average in all three slots, with Azocar’s center field work standing as his most effective to date.
The Braves placed Eli White — another speedy, glove-first, righty-swinging outfielder — on the injured list earlier this morning. However, his IL placement coincided with Ha-Seong Kim‘s return from the injured list, which is going to mean less infield work for Mauricio Dubón and Jorge Mateo, both of whom can play the outfield. With that pair supporting the trio of Mike Yastrzemski, Michael Harris II and Ronald Acuña Jr., there’s no need for another speed-and-defense outfielder on the bench. If the Braves incur more injuries in the outfield, however, Azocar could get another look, given that the Braves don’t have any minor league outfielders on the 40-man roster.
Braves Activate Ha-Seong Kim For Season Debut
The Braves announced this morning that shortstop Ha-Seong Kim has been activated from the injured list. He’s been out all season thus far after suffering a torn tendon in his hand when he fell on some ice in the offseason. Atlanta is off today, but Kim will make his 2026 debut in tomorrow’s game. Outfielder Eli White has been placed on the 7-day concussion list in a corresponding move. White made an outstanding catch to rob the Dodgers’ Max Muncy of a bases-clearing double yesterday but crashed face-first into the right field wall upon making the grab (video link).
The 30-year-old Kim is in his first full season with Atlanta. He finished the 2025 season in a Braves uniform after coming over via an August waiver claim out of the Rays organization. Kim hit .253/.316/.368 in 98 plate appearances down the stretch and did enough to convince the club’s front office to reinvest in a one-year, $20MM deal as a free agent this winter. Kim signed that deal in mid-December, reportedly spurning a four-year, $48MM offer from the A’s in order to bet on himself. He suffered the hand injury a month later.
Kim originally jumped from the Korea Baseball Organization to MLB on a four-year, $28MM deal with the Padres, spanning the 2021-24 seasons. He played all over the infield during his time in San Diego but was primarily a shortstop. Kim has plus speed, a strong glove and a roughly league-average bat. He slashed .242/.326/.380 in 540 games as a Padre (101 wRC+).
Kim’s high floor and solid-if-unspectacular performance in the batter’s box might have netted him a long-term deal in his first trip through free agency were it not for a late shoulder injury in 2024 that required surgery. He signed for two years and $29MM with the Rays but had an opt-out after year one. The Rays waived him in August in hopes of saving some cash, and Atlanta obliged, picking up the remaining $2MM or so on last year’s salary. They’d also have been on the hook for his 2026 salary had Kim forgone the opt-out. Instead, he triggered that clause, returned to free agency, and came out ahead with regard to that option. Clearly, based on the reported A’s offer, he had a good bit more earning power. However, if he has a strong five months to close out the year, he should be able to comfortably top that $28MM he left on the table.
Braves shortstops rank 21st in MLB with a .266/.305/.378 batting line and 92 wRC+ on the season. Nearly all that production has come from Jorge Mateo, but his .309/.345/.455 slash comes in spite of a 32.8% strikeout rate and has been propped up by a colossal .441 average on balls in play that he can’t sustain over a larger sample. Mauricio Dubón has slashed a sharp .271/.331/.410, but he’s struggled while playing shortstop and been more productive when he’s in the lineup as an outfielder. That likely comes down to pure happenstance, however.
Kim’s return will cut into the playing time for both Mateo and Dubón — the former in particular. Mateo hasn’t played anywhere on the field besides shortstop this season. Dubón has logged 134 innings in the outfield (64 in left, 70 in center), 205 at short and another six at the hot corner.
Bobby Cox Passes Away
The Braves announced that longtime manager Bobby Cox passed away at age 84. Cox led the Braves to the 1995 World Series title, and his 2504 wins rank fourth on the all-time list for managerial victories. As per the team’s official release to media….
“Bobby was a favorite among all in the baseball community, especially those who played for him. His wealth of knowledge on player development and the intricacies of managing the game were rewarded with the sport’s ultimate prize in 2014 – enshrinement into the Baseball Hall of Fame.
And while Bobby’s passion for the game was unparalleled, his love of baseball was exceeded only by his love for his family. It is with the heaviest of hearts that we send our sincerest condolences to his beloved wife, Pam, and their loving children and grandchildren.”
Before starting his journey to Cooperstown as a manager, Cox spent 12 seasons as a player, spending time in the farm systems of the Dodgers, Cubs, Yankees, and Braves. He broke into the majors for 220 games with the Yankees over the 1968-69 seasons, and the end of his playing career transitioned right into the start of his post-playing career — Cox appeared in four games with the Yankees’ A-ball affiliate in Fort Lauderdale in 1971 while also becoming the team’s manager. After six years of managing in the minors, Cox was the Yankees’ first base coach in 1977 when the team captured the World Series, earning Cox his first championship ring.
The Braves came calling with Cox’s first MLB managerial assignment, but Cox’s initial stint in Atlanta resulted in just one winning record over four seasons from 1978-81. Fired following the 1981 campaign, Cox landed in Toronto as the Blue Jays’ new manager, helping lead the recent expansion team to its first run of success. The peak was the AL East title in 1985, and yet after the Jays fell just shy of their first AL pennant, Cox opted to return to Atlanta, this time as the club’s general manager.
Cox’s five years as GM is an often overlooked chapter of his long tenure in Atlanta, in part because John Schuerholz took over following the 1990 season and was himself eventually elected to the Hall of Fame for his outstanding track record as an executive. But, while the Braves continued to sit below .500 during the 1986-90 seasons, Cox’s front office saw the team draft and acquire many of the players that would become franchise staples during the Braves’ forthcoming glory years.
Cox returned to the dugout partway through the 1990 season, and relinquished GM duties to Schuerholtz to focus solely on managing. With many of the pieces now in place, the Braves went from last place in the NL East in 1990 to NL champions in both 1991 and 1992.
As the media release simply put it, Cox’s “Braves managerial legacy will never be matched.” The 1991 campaign marked the beginning of 14 NL East titles over the next 15 seasons. The only interruption in this astonishing streak was the 1994 season, as the Braves were in second place behind the Expos when the players’ strike prematurely ended the season in August.
The World Series appearances in 91-92 were followed by three more pennants in 1995, 1996, and 1999. Championship glory came in 1995 when Atlanta outlasted Cleveland in six games, highlighted by a 1-0 win in the clinching Game Six that was powered by eight one-hit innings from Tom Glavine.
Atlanta’s NL East title streak finally ended in 2006 when the team went 79-83. Cox’s final five seasons as manager saw the Braves still post three winning records, and they made one final playoff appearance as a wild card team in 2010, falling in the NLDS to the eventual world champion Giants. Cox announced prior to the season that 2010 would be his final year in the dugout, and he remained involved with the Braves in an official and unofficial advisory role for years before health issues arose in the later years of his life.
Beyond his 2504-2001 managerial record, Cox also set an all-time benchmark that is unlikely to be topped — 162 career ejections, the most of any manager in history. Cox’s fiery personality and willingness to stand up for his teams made him both a beloved manager and even a mentor to many of his players, and the clubhouse cohesion (along with tremendous talent, of course) was a key factor in the Braves’ sustained success.
Between Cox’s passing and the passing of longtime Braves owner Ted Turner earlier this week, Atlanta has lost two baseball icons within a matter of days. Their legacies are intertwined amongst one of the greatest runs of sustained success in baseball history, and even after Cox and Turner were no longer directly involved with the organization, a clear path can be drawn between Cox’s teams and the successful Braves teams of recent years.
We at MLB Trade Rumors send our condolences to Cox’s family, friends, and many fans.
José Azocar Elects Free Agency
Outfielder José Azocar elected free agency after clearing outright waivers, according to the MLB.com transaction tracker. The Braves had designated him for assignment on Wednesday when they called up rookie infielder Jim Jarvis.
Azocar signed a minor league deal with Atlanta shortly before the New Year. It was his second stint in the organization after he’d spent a couple weeks on the MLB bench last season. Azocar only played in two games last year. He began this season at Triple-A Gwinnett, hitting .270/.348/.420 with a pair of home runs in 113 plate appearances.
Atlanta called Azocar up last week when Ronald Acuña Jr. landed on the injured list. He started Sunday’s game in right field and went hitless in two at-bats. He came off the bench as a pinch-runner a day later and stole a base. That was the extent of this year’s MLB stint.
Azocar has now appeared in parts of five big league seasons. He’s a .243/.288/.318 hitter over 420 career trips, most of which came during his first two seasons (2021-22) with the Padres. The 29-year-old (30 next week) carries a .276/.321/.416 line over parts of six Triple-A campaigns. He’s a good runner who can play anywhere in the outfield. Azocar should sign a minor league contract somewhere in the coming days, and a return to Atlanta would hardly be a surprise.
Braves Re-Sign Carlos Carrasco To Minor League Deal
Carlos Carrasco‘s latest trip to free agency was predictably brief. He’s back with the Braves on a new minor league deal and has been assigned to Triple-A Gwinnett, per the team’s MLB.com transaction log. Carrasco was designated for assignment this week and elected free agency yesterday after clearing waivers.
The 39-year-old veteran has pitched well with Atlanta this season, both in the majors and in Triple-A. The two parties are clearly showing an openness to Carrasco operating as something of a 41st man on the roster — being summoned to the majors when a need for some length in the bullpen or a spot start arises and then running through waivers and re-signing in near-immediate fashion. Carrasco could always simply accept an outright assignment, but hammering out a new minor league deal could include slightly more favorable terms, new opt-out dates that weren’t present in the prior deal, and other perks.
The end result is the same. Carrasco’s back with Atlanta and figures to be one of the first names called if and when they need a fresh arm. If he continues to pitch as well as he has, there’s a chance he’ll be claimed by another club one of these times, but that’d be just as favorable an outcome for him, as he’d then remain on a big league roster and continue to collect a big league salary. So long as Carrasco is on board with the DFA carousel gambit — and it’s clear he is, or he wouldn’t keep immediately re-signing there — then the setup is a win-win for both team and player.
Carrasco has pitched 2 1/3 shutout frames in a pair of big league appearances this year. He’s also made four starts for Gwinnett and pitched to a 1.71 ERA with an 18-to-5 K/BB ratio (20.7 K%, 5.7 BB%) in 21 innings. The Braves originally connected with Carrasco last July after he was designated for assignment by the Yankees and traded to Atlanta for cash. He cleared waivers with Atlanta last August and re-signed, then re-signed again in the offseason. He’s now re-signed under similar circumstances twice this season, bringing him to a total of four minor league deals with the Braves since last August.