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Braves, Nick Markakis Agree To New Deal

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The Braves have agreed to re-sign outfielder Nick Markakis to a one-year deal worth $4MM, Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic tweets. Atlanta held a $6MM option on Markakis with a $2MM buyout, and it seems they’ve handled that option in the exact same manner they handled an identical option over catcher Tyler Flowers. Atlanta bought out both options and re-signed the veterans to one-year deals, thus giving each player the full value of his $6MM option while only counting $4MM in salary toward the 2020 payroll.

It’s a somewhat odd accounting measure for a team that doesn’t figure to approach the luxury tax in 2020, though perhaps they’ve simply been given a clear budget for the 2020 payroll by Liberty Media and found an easy means of freeing up some funds for next season. Whatever the reasoning, the end result is that both veterans will be back with the team on affordable short-term deals for the 2020 campaign.

Markakis, 36 later this month, has been a fixture in the Braves’ lineup for the past five seasons but saw a reduced role in 2019. That’s likely to be the case in 2020, particularly given the veteran’s recent struggles against left-handed pitching. While Markakis’ .285/.356/.402 batting line on the season was a bit better than league average, nearly all of the damage he did came against right-handed pitching. In 113 plate appearances against lefties, Markakis batted just .245/.310/.343 — a far cry from the .298/.371/.446 he recorded in 356 plate appearances against righties.

Atlanta has right-handed-hitting Adam Duvall on hand to serve as a platoon partner for Markakis, should they choose to go that route. Ender Inciarte and Ronald Acuna Jr., meanwhile, are currently in line to hold down the remainder of the outfield time. Of course, that plan could and arguably should change this winter. Inciarte is a clear trade candidate, and the Braves could certainly look to add an offensive upgrade either in center field or at one of the corners (with Acuna then sliding into center field. Top prospect Cristian Pache is looming in the upper minors, too, and could make up for any defensive value lost by moving Inciarte.

At the moment, the Braves have about $54MM committed to the 2020 payroll, though that factor doesn’t include a projected $28.4MM in arbitration raises, nor does it include Julio Teheran’s potential salary. The right-hander has a $12MM option or a $1MM buyout that must be decided upon today. If Teheran is picked up and the entire arb class is retained, the Atlanta payroll would sit around $109MM (including a current slate of pre-arbitration players to round out the roster). That would check in south of last season’s $115MM Opening Day payroll and further south of 2017’s record $122.5MM mark. Of course, Teheran isn’t a lock to be picked up, Inciarte (and/or others) could be traded, and theoretical non-tenders could also impact the team’s bottom line.

The Braves have plenty of needs to address this offseason. Beyond their fluid outfield situation, the Braves need a starting catcher and have multiple avenues by which they could look to explore their pitching staff. A massive payroll spike might not be in the offing, but general manager Alex Anthopoulos is no stranger to putting together creative trade packages even in the face of fiscal limitations.

Braves, Tyler Flowers Agree To New Deal

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The Braves have agreed to re-sign catcher Tyler Flowers after paying a $2MM buyout on his $6MM club option, MLB.com’s Mark Bowman reports (on Twitter). Declining Flowers’ option was a purely on-paper move, as he’ll be brought back on a $4MM deal for the upcoming season. It’s a strange technicality, to be sure, particularly since the Braves don’t figure to approach the luxury tax threshold in 2020. But the restructuring of the deal now means that only $4MM of Flowers’ salary counts against the 2020 payroll — as opposed to the $6MM that would’ve counted had Atlanta simply exercised his option.

Flowers, 34 in January, didn’t have his best season at the plate but remains a highly regarded pitch framer. And while his .229/.319/.413 batting line checked in at 12 to 14 percent below that of a league-average hitter, per metrics like wRC+ (88) and OPS+ (86), it was still better than that of the league-average catcher (85 wRC+). The Atlanta organization will surely be on the lookout for catching help this offseason — their other catcher in 2019, Brian McCann, already announced his retirement — but having Flowers on hand as a quality, framing-oriented backup with some pop in his bat makes plenty of sense given the affordable nature of the contract.

Looking to other defensive components behind the plate, Flowers had his share of struggles. His 16 passed balls allowed led the league, so it’s no surprise to see that he rated near the bottom of the league in terms of pitch blocking over at Baseball Prospectus. His 19 percent caught-stealing rate was also a ways below the 26 percent league average. All that said, however, Flowers’ elite framing ranked fourth in the game, per Baseball Prospectus, who rated him as the game’s ninth-most-valuable defender in spite of those blocking and throwing woes. Flowers also drew a positive mark with four Defensive Runs Saved — his ninth straight season with a positive DRS rating.

Braves To Decline Option On Billy Hamilton

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The Braves will decline their end of the $7.5MM mutual option on outfielder Billy Hamilton’s services for 2020, according to MLB Network’s Jon Heyman (Twitter link).  Hamilton will instead receive a $1MM buyout.

Hamilton was a late-season pickup by the Braves, claimed off waivers from the Royals in mid-August when Atlanta was suffering from a spate of outfield injuries.  Hamilton ended up appearing in 26 regular season games (with a .692 OPS over 48 PA) for the Braves and two postseason games, coming off the bench twice in the NLDS.  Since Hamilton was acquired purely out of necessity and $7.5MM is a hefty price for a player of Hamilton’s limited hitting ability, there was never any doubt that Atlanta would decline the mutual option, though the Braves are in the market for some outfield help this winter.

Over 353 total plate appearances for the Royals and Braves, Hamilton batted only .218/.289/.275, with a 50 OPS+ and 50 wRC+.  After seven years in the big leagues, Hamilton is little more than a speed-and-defense specialist at this point, though to his credit he is still one of the sport’s very best baserunners and defensive outfielders.  The 29-year-old’s skillset is sure to land him a bench job somewhere, though his days of being an everyday player are likely at an end barring a late-career turn-around at the plate.

Organizational Notes: Falvey, Red Sox, Washington, Padres, Royals

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Some front office and dugout items from around the game…

  • Twins chief baseball officer Derek Falvey turned down a request to interview for the top baseball operations job with the Red Sox, La Velle E. Neal III of the Minneapolis Star Tribune reports.  There wasn’t much public news about Boston’s search prior to the hiring of Chaim Bloom as the new CBO earlier this week, though there had been rumors that the Sox might have interest in Massachusetts native Falvey, and Neal indeed writes that Falvey was “high on their list of candidates.”  Reports from earlier this month suggested that Falvey and the Twins could be close to a contract extension, in the wake of Minnesota’s 101-win season.
  • Braves third base coach Ron Washington was the runner-up in the Padres’ managerial search and also won’t be taking on a bench coach job with San Diego, Dennis Lin of The Athletic reports (subscription required).  There had been speculation that Washington could provide a veteran counsel to first-time manager Jayce Tingler, though it appears that Washington will remain in his current job in Atlanta.
  • Lin’s piece also details the risk GM A.J. Preller is taking in hiring another first-time skipper in what seems like a must-win year for the Padres.  Going into such a pivotal season, however, Preller “preferred to take his chances with a candidate he clearly knows and has long held in high regard.”  Lin also notes that Preller originally tried to hire Tingler away from the Rangers when Preller first became San Diego’s general manager back in 2014.
  • The general consensus has been that the Royals would wait to hire their new manager until John Sherman officially took ownership of the franchise, though GM Dayton Moore tells Lynn Worthy of the Kansas City Star that this isn’t the case.  “We have been given full autonomy to hire the next manager of the Kansas City Royals when we feel that we are ready and the process is complete.  That could be today, tomorrow or sometime prior to the winter meetings,” Moore said, noting that Sherman has already been involved in the search process.”  Since Moore described the front office as still being “in the middle of a very thorough process,” however, a new managerial hire doesn’t yet seem near.  Royals special advisor and former Cardinals manager Mike Matheny has been widely seen as the favorite for the job, and to date, the only other publicly known candidates are also internal names, though the club has spoken to some external candidates.

Michael Saunders Retires, Will Manage Braves’ Minor League Affiliate

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Veteran outfielder Michael Saunders has announced his retirement as a player, telling Sportsnet’s Shi Davidi that he’ll hang up his spikes after suiting up next month for Team Canada as it attempts to qualify for the 2020 Olympics. Saunders did not play professionally in 2019 — his first season of inactivity since he kicked off his minor-league career in 2005.

With the end of his playing career now firmly in sight, Saunders is moving onto the next phase of his baseball journey. The 32-year-old revealed that the Braves have named him the manager of their Rookie-level affiliate in the Appalachian League.

Originally selected in the 11th round of the 2004 draft, Saunders moved steadily up the ranks of the Mariners farm system and debuted in the majors in 2009 at 22 years of age. Saunders struggled to gain traction until 2012, when he kicked off a three-year run over which he slashed .248/.320/.423 (111 OPS+) in 1,284 plate appearances.

After being swapped to the Blue Jays, Saunders endured an injury-crushed 2015 campaign before turning in his best full season in the majors in the ensuing year. Over 558 plate appearances in 2016, Saunders launched 24 home runs and turned in a strong .253/.338/.478 batting line.

Unfortunately, the bulk of the damage he did in 2016 came in the first half of the year. That earned Saunders an All-Star nod but also meant that he hit the open market with a questionable outlook, ultimately landing a $9MM guarantee from the Phillies on a one-year deal with a club option. He ended up falling well shy of expectations and was cut loose mid-season.

Saunders appeared briefly again with the Blue Jays late in 2017 but hasn’t been back in the majors since. He signed minors deals with the Pirates, Royals, Orioles, White Sox, and Rockies — appearing at the top affiliates of the Baltimore and Chicago organizations in 2018 — but was unable to generate positive momentum.

Ultimately, Saunders wraps up his playing career with at least some time in nine MLB campaigns. Over 2,747 career plate appearances, he carried a .232/.305/.397 batting line. MLBTR wishes Saunders well in his new pursuit.

Evan Gattis Not Actively Seeking Playing Opportunities

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Evan Gattis has stayed out of the spotlight for quite some time, with nary a word printed about whether the former catcher/designated hitter was pursuing a new contract until the Astros invited him to be a part of the first-pitch ceremony prior to tonight’s Game 1 of the World Series. (MLBTR reached out to Gattis’ camp earlier this season to inquire but did not receive a reply.) He’ll catch tonight’s first pitch from former teammate Brian McCann, who retired following Atlanta’s ousting from this year’s playoffs.

Gattis broke the silence surrounding his status today when he spoke with FOX 26’s Mark Berman today about his 2019 absence from baseball (Twitter link). Gattis has not formally retired, but he also doesn’t sound like he’s seeking out any new opportunities.

“I really don’t have an answer,” said Gattis. “I don’t even know if I could play, but right now I don’t want to. [Baseball] was a huge part of my life, but I was ready.”

At this point, if Gattis wished to make a return to baseball, he’d surely need to settle for a minor league pact, though the slugger didn’t seem to have any problem with that notion. “If I really want to play,” Gattis told Berman, “I’ll go play, whether it be in Double-A, Triple-A or the big leagues. But it has been such a big transition, much like before I came back to play in baseball again.” Gattis, for those unfamiliar with his remarkable journey, battled depression and drug use after walking away from baseball following high school (as chronicled by USA Today’s Bob Nightengale back in 2013).

Now 33 years of age, Gattis last suited up in 2018 when he appeared in 128 games for Houston and batted .226/.284/.452 with 25 home runs in 451 trips to the plate. He won a World Series ring with the ’Stros a year prior and spent parts of four seasons with the club (plus another two in Atlanta), becoming a fan favorite of many along the way. In all, he’s a career .248/.300/.476 hitter in 706 MLB games (2662 plate appearances).

Position Players Recently Electing Free Agency

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Since the conclusion of the regular season, a number of players have elected free agency. That right accrues to certain players who are outrighted off of a 40-man roster during or after the season — namely, those that have at least three years of MLB service and/or have previously been outrighted. Such players that accepted outright assignments during the season have the right to elect free agency instead at season’s end, provided they aren’t added back to the 40-man in the meantime.

Here are the position players that have recently taken to the open market, along with their now-former teams (via the International League and PCL transactions pages):

Freddie Freeman Undergoes Elbow Surgery

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Braves first baseman Freddie Freeman has undergone surgery on his right (non-throwing) elbow, per a club announcement. He was operated on by Mets team medical director and frequent baseball surgeon Dr. David Altchek.

The team provided a nicely detailed account of the procedure, which evidently did not involve any significant structural repairs. Altchek is said to have “cleaned out” the joint, including “removing three fragmented loose bodies and cleaning up multiple bone spur formations.”

Freeman is expected to be ready to roll by the time Spring Training comes around in mid-February. That’s obviously good news, as the 30-year-old remains a key cog after nine full seasons in the majors. He’s under contract for two more campaigns at $22MM apiece.

The Atlanta organization will hope that the medical work will resolve the elbow discomfort that seemingly plagued Freeman late in the 2019 season. The ever-productive first bagger suffered a bit of a late power outage, hitting .264/.365/.389 in the month of September. And he was just four-for-20 with a walk in his 22 plate appearances in the NLDS.

Alex Anthopoulos On Donaldson, Riley, Offseason

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Offseason planning is underway for the Braves, whom the Cardinals routed, 13-1, in Game 5 of the teams’ NLDS matchup Wednesday. One of the most important questions now facing the Braves is whether they’ll be able to re-sign standout third baseman Josh Donaldson. The soon-to-be 34-year-old is weeks from returning to free agency after posting an excellent bounce-back season in Atlanta, which inked him to a $23MM guarantee last winter.

During the Braves’ NL East-winning regular season, both general manager Alex Anthopoulos and and Donaldson expressed an openness to keeping their union alive beyond this year. Anthopoulos again spoke on Donaldson’s future Thursday, telling reporters (including Gabe Burns of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution and David O’Brien of The Athletic) that talks on a new deal haven’t begun yet. However, Anthopoulos is of the belief that “we positioned ourselves, if all things are equal from a contractual standpoint – I haven’t had this discussion with him or his agent – but I believe this would be where he wants to be. I know he enjoyed it here.”

Of course, whether all things will end up being equal from a contractual standpoint is far from a given. Anthopolous noted that “it’s just too hard” to handicap the Braves’ chances of retaining Donaldson, as he’s set to venture back to the market as one of the elite position players available. Donaldson surely won’t get there without first receiving an ~$18MM qualifying offer from the Braves, which won’t do his market any favors. His age and the fact that injuries have hampered him in the past (including from 2017-18) will also work against him.

On the other hand, Donaldson’s a former AL MVP who remains a star. And if he was able to score a lofty $23MM salary last year off his worst season in recent memory, it stands to reason he’ll do even better this time after a return to form. Donaldson slashed .259/.379/.521 with 37 home runs and 4.9 fWAR in 659 plate appearances this season, thereby making a case for a two- to three-year contract worth in the range of $23MM per annum. That would be a substantial and risky commitment, of course, though Donaldson should draw plenty of interest from third base-needy teams that can’t or won’t go to what could be $200MM-plus lengths for Nationals pending free agent Anthony Rendon.

If the Braves don’t end up with Donaldson, Rendon or any other starting-caliber option, they could theoretically plug Austin Riley in at the hot corner next season. The 22-year-old Riley’s a natural third baseman who, thanks to Donaldson’s presence, spent his first major league season in the outfield. Riley, one of the game’s highest-ranked prospects when the Braves promoted him in mid-May, began his career with a flourish. But his offensive bubble burst as the year progressed, leaving him a .226/.279/.471 hitter with a bloated 36.4 percent strikeout rate in his first 297 trips to the plate. The Braves kept Riley off their NLDS roster, and they’re not heading into the offseason with the belief that he’s a slam dunk to start anywhere next year.

“As we sit here today, do I see us cementing him and giving him a position going into next year, where the job is his, whether it’s outfield or third base? Unlikely at this point,” said Anthopoulos. “That being said, do we believe in him long term? Absolutely.”

Anthopoulos went on to note that Riley still has minor league options, giving the team the ability to send him down if he doesn’t win a job in the spring. Even if Atlanta re-signs Donaldson to continue handling third, the club’s unwillingness to guarantee Riley a spot could have an effect on its offseason outfield plans.

Aside from the all-world Ronald Acuna Jr., the Braves are currently lacking high-impact options in the grass. Stud prospects Cristian Pache and Drew Waters are getting closer to the bigs, though, which could persuade Atlanta against a big-ticket acquisition. Regardless, the Braves will have to decide whether to exercise right fielder Nick Markakis’ $6MM option or buy him out for $2MM after he underwhelmed in 2019. Billy Hamilton looks like a $1MM buyout waiting to happen, as the Braves won’t want to pay him $7.5MM. Ender Inciarte still has two guaranteed years left on his contract, and he’ll earn an affordable $7MM in 2020, though he’s coming off an injury-plagued campaign. Meanwhile, the 31-year-old Adam Duvall’s projected to make a not-insignificant $3.8MM in ’20 despite having spent most of the season in the minors.

The Braves haven’t won a playoff series in 18 years, a streak they’ll hope to be in position to break next fall. Until then, Anthopoulos’ goal is to “get better in all areas — offense, defense, bullpen, rotation — and we plan on doing that. We just don’t know how the offseason … what opportunities will present themselves.”

Brian McCann Announces Retirement

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Seven-time All-Star catcher Brian McCann is planning to retire this offseason, he announced to reporters following the conclusion of today’s NLDS loss to the Cardinals (Twitter link, with video, via FOX Sports Southwest). “It’s time to go,” said McCann when asked about his decision. “Fifteen years of catching — it’s sad, but it’s time. I knew about a month and a half ago.”

Brian McCann | Mark J. Rebilas-USA TODAY Sports

After spending three seasons with the Yankees and two with the Astros, the 35-year-old McCann returned to the Braves on a one-year deal this past offseason. It was homecoming in more ways than one, as the Athens, Ga. native and Duluth High School grad was the Braves’ second-round pick back in 2002. The opportunity to return to his hometown and suit up for one more ride with the next generation of Braves stars was a significant factor in his decision to sign with Atlanta in the winter, McCann added.

“That’s a big reason I wanted to come back,” he said. “I wanted to be a part of this again — put this uniform back on, play in front of my family every night. That was a big reason. … Fifteen years is a long time, catching every day. And I got to do it in my hometown.”

Following that 2002 draft, McCann quickly ascended to top prospect status and made his big league debut with the Braves in 2005. He’d ultimately go on to wear a Braves uniform for 10 of his 15 excellent MLB seasons. A six-time Silver Slugger winner, McCann enjoyed 10 seasons in which he tallied 20 or more home runs throughout his big league career. He’ll hang ’em up with a lifetime .262/.337/.452 batting line, 282 home runs, 1018 RBIs, 742 runs scored and 294 doubles.

McCann never won a Gold Glove but was considered a quality defender for much of his career, finishing at 297 of 1194 in throwing out base thieves (25 percent) and with a total of 26 Defensive Runs Saved. He never did much damage during the postseason but did manage a few key home runs, and he of course took home a World Series ring as the primary catcher for the 2017 World Series Champion Astros.

Former teammates have already begun to heap praise onto McCann — perceived by many onlookers as a gruff enforcer but widely beloved by the players with whom he shared a clubhouse. Lance McCullers Jr. (link) and Chipper Jones (link) are among those to offer heartfelt praise for the 15-year veteran’s contributions to their clubs.

McCann earned more than $128MM in salary over the course of his career and will be remembered as one of the finest and most durable catchers of his generation. His 282 career home runs trail only Mike Piazza, Johnny Bench, Carlton Fisk, Yogi Berra, Gary Carter, Lance Parrish and Ivan Rodriguez among catchers — all of whom other than Parrish have been enshrined in the Hall of Fame. Best wishes to “B-Mac” in his post-playing days.

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