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Braves Sign Jake Lamb

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Feb. 23: The Braves announced their one-year deal with Lamb. While it is technically a Major League deal, it’s also a non-guaranteed deal, per the team. That means Lamb could yet be cut in Spring Training for only a portion of his salary. MLB Network’s Jon Heyman reports that salary to be $1MM.

Feb. 21: The Braves are in agreement on a contract with corner infielder Jake Lamb, reports Mark Bowman of MLB.com (Twitter link). It’s expected to be a major league pact, per Joel Sherman of the New York Post (via Twitter). The deal is pending a physical. Lamb is a client of CAA Sports.

Lamb once looked like a building block for the Diamondbacks, with whom he began his career. Between 2016-17, he hit .248/.345/.498 with 59 home runs, earning an All-Star berth in the latter season. Unfortunately, the left-handed slugger was plagued by a shoulder issue that eventually required surgery in 2018, knocking him off course. Over the past three seasons, Lamb has just a .205/.309/.351 line with 15 homers across 563 plate appearances. That led Arizona to release him last September.

To his credit, Lamb hooked on with the Athletics after being cut loose by the Diamondbacks and hit very well down the stretch. That production came over just thirteen games on the heels of two-plus seasons of subpar performance, though, so it seems unlikely he’s completely regained his footing at the plate.

The Braves needn’t get his return to peak form for this to make for a worthwhile addition, though. Lamb won’t see much action at first base, thanks to the presence of reigning NL MVP Freddie Freeman, but third base was a problem area last season. The combination of Austin Riley, Johan Camargo and the since-departed Adeiny Hechavarría struggled to varying degrees at the plate. Lamb isn’t a sure thing to produce himself, but he’ll bring a left-handed bat with some power to the mix, which could pair well with the right-handed hitting Riley. Non-roster invitees Jason Kipnis and Ehire Adrianza will try to work their way onto the roster during spring training, as well.

Braves Rumors: Rosenthal, Gardner

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  • The Brewers were among the teams that tried to sign reliever Trevor Rosenthal before he inked a one-year, $11MM guarantee with the Athletics, Jon Heyman of MLB Network tweets. The Braves were also known to be in the mix, and they made the right-hander a back-loaded offer for two years, according to Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic. Trevor Rosenthal ultimately chose the A’s back-loaded proposal (they’ll pay him through 2023).
  • Outfielder Brett Gardner re-signed with the Yankees for a $5.15MM guarantee, but at least a few other teams considered prying him out of New York. The Braves, Angels and Blue Jays all showed interest in Gardner during his long stay in free agency, per Heyman. However, Gardner’s goal was to remain a member of the Yankees. A 2005 third-round pick who made his big league debut in 2008, Gardner is easily the Yankees’ longest-tenured player.

Braves Claim Phillip Ervin Off Waivers From Cubs

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The Braves announced that outfielder Phillip Ervin has been claimed off waivers from the Cubs.  Ervin was designated for assignment by Chicago yesterday.

Ervin joins his fourth organization in less than six months, after being designated for assignment by the Reds in August and then picked up on successive waiver claims by the Mariners and Cubs.  Ervin had previously spent his entire career with Cincinnati after the Reds selected him with the 27th overall pick of the 2013 draft.

The 28-year-old hit .262/.326/.438 over 571 plate appearances from 2017-19, with most of the damage coming against left-handed pitching.  Ervin’s production badly fell off last season, as hit hit only .149/.292/.189 over 89 PA with the Reds and Mariners.  This led Seattle to expose him to the DFA wire to create roster space for Keynan Middleton, and after Chicago made a claim, the Cubs DFA’ed Ervin themselves when Jake Marisnick was signed.

Ronald Acuna Jr. and Marcell Ozuna will play every day in the Atlanta outfield, with Acuna’s ability to play either center or right field opening the door for a number of possibilities for the third slot.  Highly-touted youngster Cristian Pache might have the first crack at the center field job, while Ervin joins Ender Inciarte as a backup option who can play all three outfield positions.  Abraham Almonte and utilityman Johan Camargo are also in the mix for outfield at-bats.  Ervin is out of minor league options, so he may be facing another trip to DFA waivers if he doesn’t land a job on the Braves’ active roster.

Braves Had Interest In Trevor Rosenthal

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The Braves had interest in Trevor Rosenthal before the reliever signed with the A’s, MLB Network’s Jon Heyman writes (Twitter link).  With Rosenthal now off the market, Atlanta is still looking for right-handed relief help, and Heyman wonders if the Braves could turn to a familiar face in Shane Greene.  Apart from some consideration from the Twins earlier this month, there hasn’t been much buzz about Greene this offseason, despite his 2.39 ERA over 90 1/3 innings since the start of the 2019 season.  Greene doesn’t have a big fastball and his peripherals haven’t been overly impressive, however, which could explain why he still available heading into his age-32 season.  Atlanta did recently add veteran righty Nate Jones to their bullpen mix on a minor league deal.

Braves Outright Travis Demeritte To Triple-A

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  • The Braves announced that outfielder Travis Demeritte has cleared waivers and been assigned outright to Triple-A Gwinnett. The move opens a 40-man roster spot, which figures to go to infielder Jake Lamb once his one-year deal is finalized. This is Demeritte’s second stint the Braves, as Atlanta traded Demeritte to the Tigers in 2019 but brought him back via waivers last week. The 26-year-old will remain in the Atlanta organization as non-roster depth. Over 219 plate appearances in Detroit the past two seasons, Demeritte hit just .217/.284/.323 with three home runs.

2021 Arbitration Hearing Results & Post-Deadline Agreements

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January 15 was the deadline for teams and arbitration-eligible players to officially submit salary figures for the 2021, and by the time the day was done, only 13 players didn’t reach agreement on a contract.  The majority of teams now adhere to the “file or trial” strategy, meaning that no further negotiations on a one-year deal will take place between the arbitration deadline and a hearing with an arbiter, which theoretically puts pressure on players to get a deal done if they are wary about taking their case to a third party.

“File and trial” tactics didn’t stop the Astros and Carlos Correa from agreeing to a one-year deal for just the 2021 season, which is also Correa’s last year before gaining free agent eligibility.  We also saw three multi-year deals reached, all from the greater Los Angeles area — the Dodgers reached two-year deals with Walker Buehler and Austin Barnes, while the Angels inked a two-year pact with Shohei Ohtani.

This left nine unresolved cases that went all the way to a hearing (held over Zoom) between an arbiter, the player, his representative(s), and front office personnel arguing the team’s side.  The teams won five of the nine hearings, continuing the very narrow edge teams have held over players in arb cases in recent years — over the last 99 arbitration hearings, teams hold a 51-48 record over players.

For the full list of every salary for every arbitration-eligible player this offseason, check out the MLB Trade Rumors Arb Tracker.  Sticking to the 13 players with unresolved cases from January 15, here’s the rundown…

Avoided Arbitration, One-Year Contract

Avoided Arbitration, Multi-Year Contract

Arbitration Hearings, Won By Player

Arbitration Hearings, Won By Team

Braves Win Arbitration Case Against Dansby Swanson

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The Braves have won their arbitration case against shortstop Dansby Swanson, Jon Heyman of MLB Network reports. Swanson will earn $6MM, not the $6.7MM he requested, according to Heyman.

The 2021 campaign will be the penultimate season of arbitration control for Swanson, whom the Braves acquired from the Diamondbacks in a December 2015 blockbuster. Swanson was the first overall pick in the draft during the previous summer, but he never played for the D-backs. Since debuting with Atlanta in 2016, Swanson has put together a .249/.321/.396 line with 50 home runs and 31 stolen bases in 2,038 plate appearances. The 27-year-old has been a mixed bag at short, where he has totaled 18 Defensive Runs Saved and recorded a minus-4.4 Ultimate Zone Rating.

Last season was likely the best yet for Swanson, who batted .274/.345/.464 with 10 homers and five steals in 264 PA. He complemented his above-average offensive performance with 10 DRS and a 0.2 UZR.

Braves Sign Jason Kipnis To Minors Contract

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Jason Kipnis has signed a deal with the Braves, as the veteran infielder announced himself via his Twitter feed.  The MLB Network’s Jon Heyman tweets that the contract is a minor league pact with an invitation to the Braves’ Spring Training camp.

After signing a minor league deal with the Cubs last season, Kipnis ended up getting regular work at second base, getting a bit more playing time than young platoon partner Nico Hoerner.  Albeit in the smaller sample size of only 135 plate appearances, Kipnis delivered his best offensive performance in four seasons, hitting .237/.341/.404 with three home runs, good for a slightly above-average 101 OPS+ and 103 wRC+.  On the down side, Kipnis didn’t make much hard contact and his strikeout rate ballooned to a career-high 30.4%.

Much of Kipnis’ production last season came against right-handed pitching, so he could move on from platooning with Hoerner to platooning with another promising youngster in Atlanta’s Austin Riley at third base.  The wrinkle is that third base would be a new position for Kipnis, who has never played the hot corner in the big leagues and last played third base for four games of Arizona Fall League action back in 2010.

Ozzie Albies naturally has second base locked down in Atlanta, but since Kipnis has experience playing center field with the Indians in 2019, the Braves could deploy him as a backup outfielder.  Rookie Cristian Pache (another right-handed bat) is slated for regular center field duty, and Kipnis could occasionally spell Pache against some right-handed starters.

A two-time All-Star back in his prime years in Cleveland, Kipnis began to decline as he entered his 30’s, hitting just .236/.305/.403 over 1485 PA from 2017-19.  Now entering his age-34 campaign, Kipnis will look to provide some experience and multi-positional versatility off the Braves’ bench.

Mike Soroka Wins Arbitration Case With Braves

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Right-hander Mike Soroka has won his arbitration case with the Braves, MLB.com’s Mark Feinsand reports (Twitter link).  Soroka will receive $2.8MM for the 2021 season, as opposed to the $2.1MM that was offered by Atlanta.

Soroka pitched only 13 2/3 innings in 2020 before suffering a season-ending right Achilles tear, though his overall track record through his short career was enough to sway the arbiter in his favor.  The 28th overall pick of the 2015 draft, Soroka has a 2.86 ERA and 50.9% grounder rate over 214 innings in the majors, despite a fairly middling-to-below average strikeout rate (19.6K%), a solid but unspectacular 6.3 walk rate, and a fastball that has averaged only 92.5mph at the MLB level.

What the 23-year-old does have, however, is a four-pitch arsenal that he frequently mixes up, and “the strategic means to circumvent opponents” in the words of Fangraphs’ Michael Augustine.  Soroka doesn’t allow much hard contact and, especially in the homer-heavy modern game, he does a spectacular job of avoiding the long ball.  Since the start of the 2018 season, Soroka has the second-lowest HR/9 (0.63) of any pitcher in baseball with at least 210 innings pitched.

Soroka also earned enough service time over his first three MLB seasons to count as a Super Two player, and so this winter marks the first of four (rather than the usual three) arbitration-eligible seasons for the Canadian right-hander.  He just turned 23 last August, so he is on pace to hit free agency as a 27-year-old following the 2024 season.  Surely Atlanta had some interest in locking Soroka up to a long-term extension already, so the arbiter’s decision will only increase that desire to get a bit of extra cost certainty since Soroka’s price tag will keep going up over his three remaining arb years.  MLBTR’s Matt Swartz projected Soroka for a salary of roughly $1.8-$1.9MM in 2021.

The Braves still have another arbitration hearing to go, as they are awaiting a decision on their case with Dansby Swanson.  Atlanta was looking to pay the shortstop $6MM in his second of three arbitration years, while Swanson countered with a $6.7MM figure.

Latest On Justin Turner

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Justin Turner’s market had already reportedly narrowed to four teams, and the field could now be even thinner for the former All-Star.  The Dodgers and Brewers have each made multi-year contract offers to Turner, MLB Network’s Jon Heyman reports (Twitter link), and while the third baseman could potentially have other longer-term offers on the table, Turner seems “less likely” to sign with other rumored suitors like the Braves, Mets, or Blue Jays.

If Turner’s final four is now down to a final two, the Dodgers are still in the lead, according to both Heyman and FanSided’s Robert Murray (via Twitter).  There has been a widespread expectation for much of the winter that Turner would eventually re-sign with Los Angeles, though some wrinkles were added by Turner’s initial ask of a four-year contract, and the Dodgers already projected to spend far beyond the $215MM luxury tax threshold.  As per Roster Resource, the Dodgers’ tax number for 2021 is over $240MM (thanks in large part to the Trevor Bauer signing), and spending beyond $250MM would trigger the maximum tax penalty — a 42.5% surtax on overages, and the Dodgers’ first 2021 draft pick would be dropped back in the draft order by 10 spots.

Of course, the Dodgers could have no issue taking the extra one-year tax hit in order to bolster their chances at another World Series title, or to retain a star player who has spent the last seven seasons in Dodger blue.  Still, the lack of common ground to date between Turner and the Dodgers has opened the door for a team like Milwaukee, as Murray writes that the Brewers made a “competitive” offer.  It seems unlikely that any team would be willing to give four guaranteed years to the 36-year-old Turner, but speculatively, the Brewers might gain an edge over L.A. by offering three years depending on the nature of the Dodgers’ offer.

As for the other teams linked to Turner, earlier reports suggested that the Mets weren’t getting far in contract talks.  The chances of Turner going to Atlanta or Toronto seemed to dim after those teams made other high-priced signings — the Braves and Marcell Ozuna, and the Blue Jays with George Springer and Marcus Semien.

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