Braves Select Jhancarlos Lara, Designate Jonathan Ornelas
The Braves announced Friday that they’ve selected the contract of righty Jhancarlos Lara from Triple-A Gwinnett and designated infielder Jonathan Ornelas for assignment to open a spot on the 40-man roster. Right-hander Dane Dunning was optioned to Gwinnett to clear a spot on the active roster.
Lara, 22, has posted ugly minor league numbers this year but continues to intrigue scouts due to the quality of his raw stuff. He’s sitting 98.5 mph with his four-seamer in Triple-A and couples the pitch with a slider/cutter that ranges from the upper-80s to low-90s and generates plenty of whiffs. As is so often the case with power arms of this nature, command is an ongoing struggle for the 6’3″, 195-pound Lara.
In 68 2/3 innings between Double-A and Triple-A this season, Lara has yielded a gruesome 7.73 earned run average. He’s actually been better at the higher of those two levels, working to a moderately better 6.53 ERA. Lara fanned over one-third of his opponents in Gwinnett but has issued walks at a brutal 19.8% clip at each of this year’s minor league stops.
Despite the poor command, Lara still sits 20th among Braves prospects at Baseball America, 21st at MLB.com and 25th at FanGraphs. Atlanta would’ve had to add him to the 40-man roster this offseason to protect him from the Rule 5 Draft anyhow, so he’ll get an early promotion to the majors and get his first taste of big league opposition. Lara is, obviously, still very much a work in progress, but now that he’s on the 40-man roster, the Braves have at least three years to coax even passable command out of him. He’ll head into the 2026 season with a full slate of three minor league option years available to the major league club.
The 25-year-old Ornelas came to the Braves in a cash swap with the Rangers back in May. He’d been designated for assignment in Texas as well. The righty-swinging utilityman went 2-for-4 with a pair of singles in his only two games with Atlanta. He’s spent the rest of his time since that May trade down in Gwinnett, where he’s slashed .193/.279/.325 in 333 trips to the plate.
Ornelas is just 11-for-53 in a tiny sample of 58 big league plate appearances, leading to an overall .208/.263/.245 batting line in the majors. He posted decent numbers in the lower minors but has struggled each year since being bumped to Triple-A. However, he’s a plus runner who can play quality defense at shortstop, third base and second base — and he’s gotten some reps in center field over the past few seasons as well.
Now that he’s been designated for assignment, Ornelas will head to outright waivers or be released. He’s in his final minor league option year, which will hurt his chances of being picked up by another club, as he’d need to break camp on the big league roster next spring or else be designated for assignment once again.
Braves Claim Brett Wisely
The Braves announced Thursday that they’ve claimed infielder Brett Wisely off waivers from the Giants and optioned him to Triple-A Gwinnett. Lefty Aaron Bummer was transferred from the 15-day IL to the 60-day IL in order to create space on the 40-man roster. San Francisco designated Wisely for assignment earlier in the week.
Wisely, 26, was a 15th-round pick by the Rays back in 2019. He landed with the Giants in a 2022 swap that sent outfield prospect Tristan Peters back to Tampa Bay. Neither player has made a huge impact with the team to which he was traded, but Wisely has spent far more time in the majors than the 25-year-old Peters, who made his MLB debut last month and went hitless in four games before being optioned back to Triple-A.
Wisely has logged major league time in each of the past three seasons, appearing in 164 games for the Giants. He’s tallied 457 plate appearances and posted a tepid .217/.263/.324 slash with seven homers, 22 doubles, a triple, five steals, a 25.2% strikeout rate and a 5.7% walk rate.
It’s clearly not an impressive batting line — wRC+ measures him 36% worse than a league-average offensive performer — but Wisely has provided the Giants with both versatile and skilled defensive play. He’s spent the bulk of his time at second base (682 innings) but also has ample experience at shortstop (269 innings) with cameos at third base and in center field. He’s graded out positively at every position he’s played in the eyes of both Defensive Runs Saved and Statcast’s Outs Above Average. And while Wisely isn’t a prolific thief on the basepaths, he does possess slightly above-average speed, sitting in the 55th percentile of big leaguers, per Statcast (and the 62nd percentile last year).
This is the last of three minor league option years for Wisely. He’s controllable all the way through 2030 but will have to stick on an Opening Day roster next season or else be designated for assignment and exposed to waivers prior to being sent to the minors. He’s far from a lock to last all the way into next year’s spring training on the 40-man roster with Atlanta, but if he does stick around that long, he’ll vie for a bench spot in what’s currently a wide-open competition.
The Braves claimed Ha-Seong Kim off waivers at the end of August, taking on the veteran shortstop’s $16MM player option in doing so. If Kim picks up that option, he’ll be the everyday shortstop in 2026. If not, Atlanta will enter the offseason with Nick Allen — a defensive standout but one of MLB’s lightest hitters — atop the depth chart at short. Atlanta would almost certainly be in the market for an upgrade, potentially pushing Allen into a bench role. Other candidates for reserve spots with the Braves would include Nacho Alvarez Jr. and former top prospect Vidal Brujan. Both Allen and Brujan are out of minor league options as well.
Suffice it to say, there’ll likely be a fair bit of turnover among that group, but for the time being, Wisely provides some depth at multiple positions and a versatile defender with slightly more bat than either Allen or Brujan can offer. In parts of four Triple-A seasons, Wisely is a .274/.371/.433 hitter.
MLBTR Podcast: The Struggling Mets, Bryce Eldridge, And Trey Yesavage
The latest episode of the MLB Trade Rumors Podcast is now live on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and wherever you get your podcasts! Make sure you subscribe as well! You can also use the player at this link to listen, if you don’t use Spotify or Apple for podcasts.
This week, host Darragh McDonald is joined by Steve Adams of MLB Trade Rumors to discuss…
- The Mets moving Sean Manaea to the bullpen and optioning Kodai Senga (1:50)
- The Diamondbacks, Reds and Giants, who are trying to chase down the Mets (13:40)
- The Giants promoting Bryce Eldridge (19:40)
- The Blue Jays promoting Trey Yesavage (25:30)
Plus, we answer your questions, including…
- Will the Astros trade Christian Walker in the offseason and move Isaac Paredes over to first base? (38:45)
- Will the Braves make any shocking trades of their core this offseason? (47:40)
- Will the Red Sox nab a postseason spot and can they make a deep postseason run? (55:00)
Check out our past episodes!
- Talking Mariners With Jerry Dipoto – listen here
- A Conversation With Pirates GM Ben Cherington — Also The O’s, Zack Wheeler, And The Rangers – listen here
- The Pohlads Aren’t Selling The Twins, Nathaniel Lowe, And Service Time Manipulation – listen here
The podcast intro and outro song “So Long” is provided courtesy of the band Showoff. Check out their Facebook page here!
Photo courtesy of Benny Sieu, Imagn Images
Braves Claim Carson Ragsdale
The Braves have claimed righty Carson Ragsdale off waivers from the Orioles, per an announcement from the O’s. Atlanta has not yet announced the move, but David O’Brien of The Athletic reports that outfielder Jake Fraley is being transferred to the 60-day IL to clear a 40-man roster spot. Baltimore designated Ragsdale for assignment on Monday.
Baltimore originally claimed Ragsdale off waivers from San Francisco following the trade deadline. The 27-year-old is a longtime Giants farmhand but never pitched in the majors until a brief three-inning cup of coffee with the O’s. He was tagged for eight runs on nine hits and a walk with two punchouts during that initial MLB audition.
A 2020 fourth-round pick by the Phillies (who traded him to the Giants for Sam Coonrod), Ragsdale has solid numbers throughout his minor league tenure but appeared to hit a roadblock in Triple-A this season, logging a sub-par 4.87 ERA with a 19.7% strikeout rate and 12% walk rate that are both worse than average. That said, he posted a 2.93 ERA in High-A and a 3.49 mark in Double-A before stumbling in Triple-A. He’s averaged 92.6 mph on his four-seamer this year and paired that pitch with a splitter and a curveball that sits in the high 70s. Ragsdale has a pair of minor league option years remaining beyond the current season.
For the Braves, Ragsdale adds some optionable depth to a rotation mix that’s been absolutely hammered by injuries this season. Spencer Strider began the year on the injured list rehabbing from last year’s UCL surgery, and he’s looked shaky in his return while also missing time due to a hamstring injury. Chris Sale was out for two months due to fractured ribs. Reynaldo Lopez made just one start before undergoing shoulder surgery. Young righty AJ Smith-Shawver underwent Tommy John surgery in June. Spencer Schwellenbach suffered a fractured elbow just a couple weeks later. Righty Grant Holmes suffered a partial tear of his UCL in late July. He’s attempting to rehab without surgery (knowing that late-July/early-August surgery would’ve wiped out his entire 2026 campaign anyhow).
There’s no guarantee that Ragsdale will last the entire offseason on Atlanta’s 40-man roster, but with so many of those pitching injuries extending into next season, it’s understandable that they’d take a late look at an optionable depth arm who won’t turn 28 until late next May. Bolstering the rotation will be a point of focus for Atlanta this offseason, but stockpiling depth in this fashion will be plenty important in its own right.
Braves Select Jose Suarez
The Braves announced Tuesday that they’ve selected the contract of lefty José Suarez from Triple-A Gwinnett. Catcher Sean Murphy, who underwent season-ending hip surgery recently, was moved to the 60-day IL to open a spot on the 40-man roster. Atlanta also recalled righty Nathan Wiles from Gwinnett and optioned righties Connor Seabold and Alexis Díaz to Triple-A in a series of corresponding moves.
Suarez will make a spot start in Game 1 of today’s doubleheader in Washington. He’ll be opposed by Nationals righty Jake Irvin, who has struggled to a 5.70 ERA over 30 starts. There’s a much more exciting pitching matchup with Chris Sale and MacKenzie Gore squaring off in the nightcap.
Atlanta acquired Suarez from the Angels in a swap for Ian Anderson at the end of Spring Training. The 27-year-old southpaw began the season in Brian Snitker’s bullpen. He tossed 7 1/3 innings over three appearances, allowing three runs (two earned) with seven walks and five strikeouts. Atlanta designated him for assignment and ran him through outright waivers at the end of April.
Suarez has spent most of the season on the minor league injured list. He has been limited to nine appearances (eight starts) with Gwinnett, where he has pitched to a 3.53 ERA over 43 1/3 frames. Suarez has punched out 28% of opponents with a sub-5% walk rate. That earns him at least his first MLB start of the season, and it’s possible he’ll stick on the big league roster in long relief for the last two weeks. Suarez will be controllable through arbitration if he finishes the season on the 40-man roster, though he’d likely be non-tendered.
Braves Select Luke Williams, Place Jake Fraley On Injured List
The Braves announced a pair of roster moves this morning. Outfielder Jake Fraley was placed on the 10-day injured list with a strained right oblique muscle in a move backdated to September 11. To replace Fraley on the roster, Atlanta has selected the contract of infielder Luke Williams. The team already had a vacancy on its 40-man roster, so no additional corresponding move was necessary to accommodate Williams.
Fraley, 30, began his career as a second-round pick with the Rays back in 2016. He was swapped to Seattle in the Mike Zunino trade in 2018 and spent parts of three seasons with the big league Mariners before being shipped to the Reds as part of the return for Jesse Winker and Eugenio Suarez prior to the 2022 season. Fraley had blossomed into a solid enough platoon bat by that point, and in 373 games from 2021 to 2024 he hit a respectable .254/.340/.416. He finished just shy of a 20/20 season in both 2023 and ’24, with 18 homers and 21 steals in the former campaign followed by a 19-homer, 20-steal effort in the latter.
Taken together, that all paints a picture of Fraley as a perfectly solid contributor to an MLB club. He suffered a bit of a slump this year, however, and hit just .232/.332/.387 for the Reds this year with numbers that got progressively worse as the season continued. That led to Cincinnati designating him for assignment, and the Braves jumped at the opportunity to claim him off waivers given their struggles to find adequate production in the outfield this year.
Fraley’s role ended up being a fairly minor one, however, as Jurickson Profar‘s return from his early-season suspension and Michael Harris II‘s late-season resurgence at the plate largely pushed him out of the conversation for regular playing time. He’s made just nine appearances for Atlanta this year, hitting .304/.333/.348 across 24 trips to the plate. He’ll now miss at least the next week due to this oblique strain, though with the Braves out of the postseason and minimal time left in the regular season it’s possible his 2025 campaign has now come to an end.
Replacing Fraley on the active roster is Williams, who played in 38 games for the Braves earlier this year before being outrighted to the minors. Now in his fifth MLB season, Williams bounced between the Phillies, Giants, Dodgers, and Marlins before settling with Atlanta in a depth role for the 2023 season. He’s a career .213/.271/.281 hitter who offers virtually no value with the bat, but does possess a solid, versatile glove that allows him to play quality defense all over the diamond as needed. Williams will join Eli White, Vidal Brujan, and Nick Allen in the bench mix as the Braves head into the final weeks of the season.
MLBTR Podcast: Talking Mariners With Jerry Dipoto
The latest episode of the MLB Trade Rumors Podcast is now live on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and wherever you get your podcasts! Make sure you subscribe as well! You can also use the player at this link to listen, if you don’t use Spotify or Apple for podcasts.
This week, host Darragh McDonald is joined by Mariners president of baseball operations Jerry Dipoto to discuss…
- Seattle’s lack of spending on free agent position players (2:30)
- The unique challenges of getting players to want to come to Seattle (4:40)
- The club’s interest in re-signing Josh Naylor (8:15)
- Do optics matter when making a move such as bringing back Eugenio Suárez or Jorge Polanco? (9:20)
- The club’s ability to add talent at the deadline (13:25)
- Does the expanded playoff field make it harder to trade prospects for major league talent? (16:30)
Plus, Tim Dierkes of MLB Trade Rumors joins the show to discuss…
- Anthony Rizzo retiring with the Cubs (20:40)
- Sean Murphy undergoing hip surgery and how the Braves look going into the offseason (24:45)
- The Lourdes Gurriel Jr. injury and the outlook for the Diamondbacks prior to the winter (31:35)
And we answer your questions, including…
- What would it look like if the White Sox locked up their young core by giving extensions to Colson Montgomery, Kyle Teel, Edgar Quero and Shane Smith? (42:25)
- Which version of Pete Crow-Armstrong will the Cubs get going forward, his red-hot first half or recent struggles? (51:40)
Check out our past episodes!
- Aroldis Chapman, And Offseason Possibilities For The Braves, Rangers, Pirates And Marlins – listen here
- A Conversation With Pirates GM Ben Cherington — Also The O’s, Zack Wheeler, And The Rangers – listen here
- The Pohlads Aren’t Selling The Twins, Nathaniel Lowe, And Service Time Manipulation – listen here
The podcast intro and outro song “So Long” is provided courtesy of the band Showoff. Check out their Facebook page here!
Photo courtesy of Mark J. Rebilas, Imagn Images
John Brebbia Elects Free Agency
Right-hander John Brebbia elected free agency rather than accept an outright assignment to Triple-A Gwinnett, according to his transactions tracker at MLB.com. That indicates he cleared waivers after being designated for assignment by the Braves earlier this week.
Brebbia, 35, is undeniably having a bad season. He has tossed 23 1/3 innings between Detroit and Atlanta, allowing 7.71 earned runs per nine. His 22.6% strikeout rate is close to average but his 10.4% walk rate is a bit high. It’s surely not quite as bad as the ERA would indicate. His .338 batting average on balls in play and 56.8% strand rate are both to the unfortunate side. His 5.76 FIP and 4.21 SIERA aren’t amazing figures but they do suggest that the ERA isn’t a perfect reflection of his work this year.
Regardless, he hasn’t been able to stick on a roster for long. The Tigers signed him to a one-year, $2.75MM deal in the offseason. He wasn’t released until mid-June but he also missed close to a month due to a right triceps strain. Atlanta scooped him up on a minor league deal after Detroit let him go. He was back in the majors in late August but lasted barely a week on Atlanta’s roster.
Players with at least five years of service time have the right to reject outright assignments and keep their salary commitments in place. Brebbia is well over that line and has exercised his right. Since the Tigers released him, they are on the hook for the majority of what remains to be paid out of his salary. Any other club could sign Brebbia and would only have to pay him the prorated portion of the league minimum for any time spent on the roster.
As mentioned, he has not been in good form this year but the track record is decent. He came into this year with 355 big league innings, a 3.80 ERA, 25.9% strikeout rate and 7.3% walk rate. This year’s major league results haven’t been at that level but he showed potential on the farm. Between signing that minor league deal with Atlanta and getting selected to the majors, he tossed 19 Triple-A innings with a 1.89 ERA, 26.9% strikeout rate and 3.8% walk rate.
It’s possible there are clubs who can see past this year’s struggles in the majors, though there’s still limited short-term appeal. Though Brebbia is cheap and has a good résumé, the regular season has barely two weeks remaining and he wouldn’t be postseason eligible for any club he signs with now. Perhaps he will latch on somewhere for the next few weeks but it’s also possible he goes into offseason mode a bit early.
Photo courtesy of Junfu Han, Imagn Images
Braves Outright Luke Williams
Infielder/outfielder Luke Williams has been sent outright to Triple-A Gwinnett, according to his transactions tracker at MLB.com. That indicates he cleared waivers after being designated for assignment last week. He has the right to elect free agency though the log doesn’t indicate he has done so.
Williams, 29, had spent parts of 2023 and all of 2024 as a versatile depth piece for Atlanta. However, he exhausted his final option season in 2024, which squeezed him to the edge of the roster. He was passed through waivers and outrighted in March of 2025, just before the season began.
He was called back up in early May and spent over three months on the active roster, but without much playing time. He got into 44 games but only stepped to the plate 33 times, mostly being used as a pinch runner or defensive replacement, in addition to some mop-up work on the mound. He stole five bases but slashed just .133/.182/.200 when he did get to hold the bat.
He landed on the injured list in late August due to an oblique strain. Shortly after being reinstated, he was designated for assignment to open a roster spot. He could have elected free agency this week but will seemingly stay with Gwinnett. According to the log, his outright actually occurred on September 6th. Since he hasn’t elected free agency in the intervening four days, it seems fair to conclude he won’t do so.
If he’s not added back to the roster by the end of the season, he’ll have another chance to elect free agency at that time. He has just a .213/.271/.281 line in his big league career but has a decent Triple-A slash of .257/.339/.418 going back to the start of 2022. He can steal a few bases and has experience at every position on the diamond apart from catcher.
Photo courtesy of Brett Davis, Imagn Images
Anthopoulos: Rotation To Be Offseason “Point Of Emphasis” For Braves
Braves general manager Alex Anthopoulos met with reporters (including David O’Brien of The Athletic) on Monday. MLBTR already covered some of those comments on Ha-Seong Kim, Sean Murphy and Brian Snitker this morning. Anthopoulos also spoke about the rotation, which figures to be an offseason priority.
The Braves didn’t make any rotation moves of note last winter. Atlanta’s only significant offseason expenditure was the three-year Jurickson Profar signing. Anthopoulos pointed out that Grant Holmes pitched well before suffering a season-ending elbow injury. Atlanta entered the season with a strong top four of Chris Sale, Spencer Strider (once he completed his rehab from last year’s elbow surgery), Spencer Schwellenbach and AJ Smith-Shawver. That would be a good group if everyone had stayed healthy, but that’s obviously not how things played out.
Atlanta will need to do a much better job stockpiling depth beyond their top five if they expect to compete in 2026. Anthopoulos acknowledged as much, saying the rotation “definitely will be a point of emphasis for us this winter.” Smith-Shawver is already out for most or all of next season after undergoing Tommy John surgery in June. Holmes has a partially torn ulnar collateral ligament in his elbow. He’s hoping to avoid surgery but admitted last month that he won’t really know whether that’s viable until he begins ramping up a throwing program early in the offseason. Even if Holmes is able to avoid the knife, his elbow health will be something of a question mark next spring.
López made one start before undergoing shoulder surgery that’ll probably end his season. Schwellenach is coming back from a broken elbow. Sale missed two months with a fractured ribcage, and while that can be written off as a freak occurrence, he’s going into his age-37 campaign. Strider has had a terrible second half and now spots a 4.86 ERA in 20 starts. Hurston Waldrep has looked great since being called up from Triple-A Gwinnett last month, but he’s nine games into his MLB career.
Anthopoulos said the Braves aren’t currently thinking about pushing López back into relief. “I have no idea how the offseason goes, but this was an All-Star starter with a sub-2 ERA (in 2024),” the GM said. “That’s not what I’m projecting for him going forward, but even if you think there’s a regression into the 3s, that’s still an outstanding starter, who’s proven — as a young starter with the White Sox, back-to-back years of 33 and 34 starts, logging innings over 180 twice. … Our thought is definitely him as (a) starter. But what if we have a bunch of starter trades that present themselves and so on? It would be a great problem to have.”
There’s still a decent amount of in-house talent. The Braves need more stability in the middle to the back of the staff. Atlanta has given multiple starts to the likes of Joey Wentz, Carlos Carrasco, Erick Fedde, Cal Quantrill, Davis Daniel and 20-year-old Didier Fuentes this season. Bryce Elder has taken the ball 25 times and leads the club in both starts and innings. That’s clearly not going to cut it. It’d be a surprise if the Braves don’t add at least one pitcher who is guaranteed to be in the Opening Day rotation. They could use two starters, especially if Holmes’ rehab doesn’t pan out, and a swingman who could also provide length for one of the league’s thinner bullpens.
The Braves have Marcell Ozuna and Raisel Iglesias ($16MM apiece) coming off the books this winter. Kim would make the same amount if he exercises his player option. Strider’s salary jumps from $4MM to $20MM, accounting for the other $16MM. They’ll have a light arbitration class with a number of non-tender candidates, but their slate of guaranteed commitments could limit their financial flexibility. The front office has been far more inclined to operate through the trade market than via big free agency splashes.