Braves Sign John Brebbia To Minor League Deal
The Braves have signed right-hander John Brebbia to a minor league deal, according to his transactions tracker at MLB.com. He has been assigned to Triple-A Gwinnett and will give Atlanta some veteran non-roster depth.
Brebbia, 35, was just released by the Tigers last week. Detroit had signed him in the offseason to a one-year deal with a $2.75MM guarantee. Around an injured list stint for a triceps strain, he gave them 18 2/3 innings with a 7.71 earned run average. There was some bad luck in there, with his .339 batting average on balls in play and 56.6% strand rate both to the unfortunate side, but he also had a subpar 11.8% walk rate and middling 21.5% strikeout rate.
That performance prompted Detroit to move on but Atlanta has snatched him up, as they did almost a year ago. Brebbia was released by the White Sox in August of last year, after posting a 6.29 ERA for that club, and wound up on Atlanta’s roster for most of September. He had a solid enough 2.70 ERA, though in a small sample of 6 2/3 innings. He hit free agency after that and signed his aforementioned deal with the Tigers.
Though the past two seasons have been challenging, Brebbia has a lengthy track record of being an effective big league reliever. From 2017 to 2023, he logged 299 2/3 innings for the Cardinals and Giants with a 3.42 ERA, 25.5% strikeout rate and 7.2% walk rate. He earned two saves and 47 holds in that time. Even with his ERA spike last year, he still had strong strikeout and walk rates of 27.7% and 7.9%.
Atlanta’s bullpen has been middling this year. The relief corps as a whole has a 3.70 ERA, which puts them 14th in the majors. Joe Jiménez and Daysbel Hernández are each currently on the injured list. There’s no real risk on a minor league deal so signing Brebbia is a sensible addition.
Photo courtesy of Junfu Han, Imagn Images
Diamondbacks Sign James McCann
The Diamondbacks have signed James McCann to a Major League contract, according to The Athletic’s Ken Rosenthal. McCann’s MLB.com profile page indicated earlier today (hat tip to the Baltimore Banner’s Andy Kostka) that the catcher had been released from his minor league deal with the Braves in order to facilitate the move to Arizona. McCann is represented by the Ballengee Group.
As Rosenthal reported earlier this month, McCann’s Atlanta contract contained a rolling opt-out clause that would trigger if another team offered the catcher a guaranteed deal. The Braves could then either keep McCann by selecting his contract to their active roster, or release him to his next opportunity. Since Sean Murphy and Drake Baldwin are both receiving regular playing time as Atlanta’s catching combo and both Sandy Leon and Jason Delay are providing further depth at Triple-A, it didn’t seem like McCann was going to get much of a shot in Atlanta, despite a .297/.331/.493 slash line in 160 plate appearances in Gwinnett.
However, Gabriel Moreno‘s recent finger fracture suddenly left the D’Backs with a need for experienced catching help. Moreno is expected to be on the injured list for “weeks, not days” in the words of manager Torey Lovullo, leaving Jose Herrera, Aramis Garcia and Triple-A depth options Adrian Del Castillo and Rene Pinto as the makeshift catching corps. This group combined has far less MLB experience than McCann’s 11 seasons and 917 games in the Show, and the 35-year-old McCann will now slide right into at least a part-time role in the Diamondbacks lineup.
McCann’s big league career was highlighted by two big seasons with the White Sox in 2019-20, which included an All-Star selection in 2019. His overall career slash line is a modest .241/.293/.380 over 3307 plate appearances, as McCann has only shown brief flashes of the offensive form he showed in Chicago. McCann spent the last two seasons as Adley Rutschman‘s backup with the Orioles, helping out as a veteran mentor for the up-and-coming star and with the Baltimore pitching staff. The advanced metrics haven’t thought much of McCann’s blocking and framing work, though he is well-regarded for his ability to work with pitchers.
The signing is a fairly low-risk move for a D’Backs team that is hanging in with a 39-38 record, despite a swath of injuries and under-performance from the Arizona pitchers. The Diamondbacks’ impressive offense is helping keep the team afloat, and McCann’s veteran presence might help coax some slightly more respectable results out of an increasingly makeshift rotation and bullpen.
Braves Outright Jose Ruiz
June 22: Ruiz has been assigned outright to Triple-A, according to David O’Brien of The Athletic.
June 19: The Braves are designating reliever José Ruiz for assignment, reports Mark Bowman of MLB.com. That’ll open both the active and 40-man roster spots necessary to promote Didier Fuentes. Atlanta will call up the 20-year-old righty to start tomorrow’s series opener against the Marlins.
Ruiz had a brief stint on the Braves’ roster. Atlanta claimed him off waivers from the Phillies on June 7. He carried an 8.16 earned run average at the time. He worked around a walk to toss a scoreless inning during his team debut. He had a much tougher second appearance, giving up three runs on two hits and walks apiece in one inning during Sunday’s blowout loss to the Rockies. The Braves didn’t use him during their sweep of the Mets.
The 30-year-old Ruiz now owns an 8.82 ERA across 16 1/3 innings for the season. He was a reasonably effective middle reliever for Philadelphia a year ago, turning in a 3.71 ERA with a 24% strikeout rate in 52 appearances. Ruiz’s chase and whiff rates have each taken a step back this year, while his walks have climbed from roughly 8% to an 11.4% clip. He also missed a couple weeks in May due to neck spasms.
Atlanta will likely place him on waivers this weekend. Ruiz is out of options, so another team would need to plug him into the MLB bullpen if they were to place a claim. He’s playing on a $1.225MM arbitration salary. Ruiz crossed the five-year service threshold earlier this season, so he could elect free agency and retain that salary if he goes unclaimed on waivers.
Braves Place Chris Sale On 15-Day IL With Ribcage Fracture
The Braves announced this afternoon that they’ve placed southpaw Chris Sale on the 15-day injured list with what the club has termed a fractured left ribcage. The club recalled left-hander Austin Cox in a corresponding move. As noted by David O’Brien of The Athletic, Sale was injured on Wednesday night when he made a diving play to stop a grounder off the bat of Juan Soto.
It’s a brutal blow for Atlanta to be dealt, particularly following a banner week that saw them sweep the then-division leading Mets and get within five games of an NL Wild Card spot. They’ve won seven of their last ten games, but if they’re going to keep that momentum going in a bid to get back over .500 and more firmly return to playoff contention they’ll now need to do so without Sale for the time being. The reigning NL Cy Young award winner, Sale has built on his brilliant 2024 season with a 2025 campaign that’s been nearly as good. Across 15 starts this year, the 36-year-old has pitched to a brilliant 2.52 ERA with a 2.65 FIP across 89 1/3 innings of work.
He’s struck out a phenomenal 30.8% of his opponents while walking just 7.0%. Those excellent peripherals have left him with a 2.96 SIERA, making him one of just seven qualified starters in baseball this year with a figure under three. Only Logan Webb and Paul Skenes are having better seasons by measure of ERA, and Sale is doing all of that despite terrible batted ball luck: his .329 BABIP allowed is the fourth-highest figure among qualified starters in the majors this year. It’s been another banner year for the southpaw, who has looked rejuvenated in Atlanta after injury-marred seasons with the Red Sox from 2019 to 2023.
Unfortunately, that resurgence is now put on hold by another significant injury. Sale’s timetable for a return to action is not yet known at this point, but it’s worth noting that a stress fracture in Sale’s right ribs cost him the first half of the 2022 season. After being sidelined in mid-March by the injury, Sale did not return to the mound until early July. A similar timeline would put the remainder of the southpaw’s 2025 campaign in danger, but it’s important to note that it’s unclear if Sale’s current rib cage fracture is as severe as the rib issue he dealt with in 2022.
However long the ace’s absence ultimately ends up being, it leaves Atlanta with a rotation mix that’s stretched very thin. The team is already without Reynaldo Lopez for the foreseeable future after he underwent shoulder surgery earlier this year, and AJ Smith-Shawver is done for the season after undergoing Tommy John surgery. Spencer Schwellenbach and Spencer Strider will attempt to hold things down at the front of the rotation in Sale’s absence, while Grant Holmes and Bryce Elder will look to handle mid-rotation duties. Rookie Didier Fuentes currently holds the fifth starter job after making a spot start against the Marlins yesterday, but another starer like Hurston Waldrep, Davis Daniel, or even Ian Anderson could also be called upon to help round out the rotation mix.
Braves To Select Didier Fuentes
The Braves are going to promote right-handed pitching prospect Didier Fuentes, reports Mark Bowman of MLB.com. The youngster will start tomorrow’s game against the Marlins. Corresponding moves will be required to add him to both the 40-man and active rosters.
It’s an extremely aggressive promotion, as Fuentes only just celebrated his 20th birthday two days ago. A fairly unheralded international signing out of Colombia, Fuentes has raised his stock as he has climbed the minor league ladder. Last year, he tossed 75 2/3 innings at the Single-A level with a 2.74 earned run average. He struck out 32.1% of batters faced while only giving out walks at a 6.9% pace.
That got him some prospect love ahead of 2025, with Baseball America giving him the #7 spot in Atlanta’s system coming into the year. They mentioned his mid-90s fastball and slider, while noting he was still working on a splitter to neutralize lefties.
Here in 2025, he has seemingly raised his stock even farther. He has gone from High-A to Double-A and Triple-A, tossing a combined 39 1/3 innings. The 4.81 ERA might not jump off the page but he has a 28.9% strikeout rate and 7.2% walk rate. He’s been hurt by a 58.4% strand rate, which is why his 2.81 FIP suggests he has deserved better this year.
Coming into the year, FanGraphs listed Fuentes as the #11 prospect in the Atlanta system but they now list him as third in the system and #82 in the entire league. Both FanGraphs and Kiley McDaniel of ESPN use Bryan Woo of the Mariners as a comp for Fuentes.
The Atlanta rotation has taken a few hits this year. AJ Smith-Shawver required Tommy John surgery and Reynaldo López has been sidelined by arthroscopic shoulder surgery. At the moment, the starting group consists of Chris Sale, Spencer Strider, Spencer Schwellenbach, Bryce Elder and Grant Holmes. It’s possible that Fuentes will just be making a spot start. The club just began a stretch of playing 13 games in a row, so he can give all the other starters an extra day of rest in the midst of that, while getting his first taste of the majors.
Photo courtesy of Brett Davis, Imagn Images
Anthopoulos On Trading Chris Sale: “Will Not Happen”
The Braves enter play tonight seven games below .500. They’re 12 back of the Mets in the division and 6.5 out in the Wild Card race with five teams to jump. They’ve got their work cut out for them in getting to October for an eighth straight season, but that remains the focus for the front office.
President of baseball operations Alex Anthopoulos spoke with Nick Cellini and Chris Dimino of 680 The Fan this afternoon. The veteran executive made clear he’s operating with a buyer’s mentality six weeks before the trade deadline. He was even more forceful in pushing back against the idea that they’d consider trading away key players — at least barring a terrible stretch of play in July.
Anthopoulos interrupted a question about other clubs potentially attempting to pry defending Cy Young winner Chris Sale out of Atlanta. “No, zero. I’ve seen the speculation. It’s completely ridiculous to me. We are not selling, especially someone that has club control beyond the current year,” he said. “Will not happen. I never make definitive statements unless I’m going to stick to them. Once you make definitive statements and then you go back on them, you’re a liar and you’re done.
Will. Not. Happen. Bold, italicize it, caps. So much so that I’m trying to make a trade now — it’s very hard to make a trade in June — just to signal to everybody that we will not sell. (If) you get to the end of July and things are completely changed, I guess we would reevaluate, but you’d have to be extreme. We’re built to win. Our expectations are to win. Our expectations are to go for it the entire time.”
It’s not common for an executive to rule out trading a player that definitively. It’s even rarer for them to reverse course after making a public statement to that effect. Skeptics will point to Nationals’ GM Mike Rizzo saying the team was “not trading Juan Soto” less than two months before they did exactly that, but the turn of events required Soto rejecting an intervening $440MM extension proposal. Anthopoulos left the door slightly open to selling if the team’s play over the next month and a half made a postseason run all but impossible. Even in that scenario, it’s not clear that they’d be willing to discuss players who are signed beyond this season.
MLBTR examined the Sale situation in a post for Front Office subscribers last week. He’s playing this year on a $22MM salary and is under control via an $18MM option for one more season. They’ll rubber stamp the option unless he suffers a significant injury in the second half. Sale would command upwards of $30MM annually (for at least two and possibly three years) if he were a free agent. After running into some tough batted ball luck in April, he’s been every bit as dominant as he was last season. Sale had not allowed more than two earned runs in any of his past 10 starts coming into tonight’s game against the Mets. He is through another six scoreless innings at the time of this writing.
Even if the Braves miss the postseason in 2025, they’ll certainly go into next year expecting to contend. Having Sale atop the rotation makes that much more reasonable. At the same time, they’d bypass an opportunity at a massive trade haul this summer. Teams would be willing to give up significant young talent for the ability to control Sale for two postseason runs. The Braves still expect to be in that position themselves. If they remain well below .500 on July 31, however, they’d arguably be leaving significant value on the table as an at best long shot contender for one of Sale’s two remaining control years.
Anthopoulos argued that the next few weeks represent a huge opportunity. They’re currently playing the second game of a three-game set against the Mets. They’ll head to Miami this weekend before squaring off against the Mets (for four) and Phillies (for three) next week. They rearranged their rotation to ensure that Sale is lined up for both New York series rather than starting last weekend against the Rockies and taking on the Marlins in a few days.
They’re far enough behind New York and Philly that it’s difficult to see them winning the NL East, but they could theoretically pull back into the race if they go on a tear over the next two weeks. They’ll also take on St. Louis, one of the teams above them in the Wild Card standings, in their final series before the All-Star Break. While those will be tough sets, they have softer matchups against a few teams toward the bottom of the American League standings (the Angels, Orioles and A’s) in the first two weeks of July.
In the meantime, they’re evidently searching for a short-term boost. In this morning’s radio interview (which Atlanta fans will want to give a full listen), Anthopoulos identified the offense as the team’s biggest disappointment to date. Jon Heyman of The New York Post wrote last week that they were pursuing outfield and shortstop help.
Nick Allen is a Gold Glove-caliber shortstop but isn’t going to provide anything offensively. Left field would be the obvious area to upgrade in the outfield. Neither Alex Verdugo nor Eli White have stepped up since Jurickson Profar’s performance-enhancing drug suspension. The Braves will get Profar back in early July, but he’s coming off a nearly three-month layoff and faces questions about the sustainability of last year’s breakout season. He’s also ineligible for postseason play this year, so the Braves probably want a contingency plan for that position regardless of how Profar performs next month.
Jose Azocar Elects Free Agency
Outfielder José Azocar elected free agency after being outrighted by the Braves, according to the MLB.com transaction log. Atlanta designated him for assignment on Monday when Stuart Fairchild returned from the injured list.
Azocar spent a few weeks as the last player off Brian Snitker’s bench. He only played twice, entering as a late-game substitute both times. It’s a similar role that the 29-year-old played for the Mets early in the season. Azocar is a plus runner who can handle all three outfield positions. It’s a light bat, though, and his playing time has dropped in each of the past four seasons. He’s also out of options, so teams cannot send him to Triple-A without running him through waivers — at which point he can refuse the assignment in favor of free agency.
Over parts of four seasons, Azocar is a career .244/.290/.319 hitter over 418 plate appearances. He’s hit a pair of homers while stealing 19 bases in 28 attempts. Most of his playing time came with the Padres between 2022-24. He landed with the Mets on a late-season waiver claim last year but has now cleared waivers on three occasions this season. He’s likely looking at minor league offers, where he owns a career .286/.322/.434 Triple-A batting line.
Braves Activate Stuart Fairchild, DFA Jose Azocar
The Braves announced this morning that they’ve activated outfielder Stuart Fairchild from the injured list. Outfielder Jose Azocar was designated for assignment to make room for Fairchild on the active roster. They also activated infielder Nacho Alvarez from the 60-day injured list and optioned him to Triple-A Gwinnett.
Azocar, 29, departs Atlanta after getting into just two games and making a single plate appearance during his time with the club. Azocar made his big league debut with the Padres back in 2022 and appeared in 214 games at the big league level over the 2022-24 seasons, slashing .243/.287/.322 (74 wRC+) in 397 plate appearances along the way. That lackluster offensive production wasn’t enough to earn him a regular role on the club even in spite of his strong work with the glove in center field, where he accumulated +5 Outs Above Average during his time in San Diego. He’s performed better at the Triple-A level with a career .286/.322/.434 line in parts of five seasons spent at the level, but the outfielder’s speed and defense first profile ultimately made him expendable when San Diego faced a roster crunch late last year.
He was designated for assignment in September, but found himself claimed off waivers by the Mets shortly thereafter. He managed to stick on New York’s 40-man roster all throughout the offseason, but failed to make the Opening Day roster out of Spring Training and was designated for assignment shortly before the season began. He was assigned outright to the minors after clearing waivers, and found himself selected back onto the roster in mid-April after the club lost Jose Siri to the injured list. Azocar stuck on the club’s roster for six weeks but received just 20 total plate appearances across 12 games while being utilized primarily as a defensive replacement.
He hit a respectable enough .278/.350/.278 (88 wRC+) in that limited playing time but was designated for assignment in late May to make room for Jared Young on New York’s active roster. He cleared waivers once again and elected free agency before being scooped up by Atlanta almost immediately. The Braves will now have one week to either work out a trade involving Azocar or attempt to pass him through waivers. Should he go unclaimed, he’ll be able to either accept an outright assignment to the minors or elect free agency.
Azocar’s departure makes room for the return of Fairchild, who was placed on the shelf with a dislocated pinkie finger the same day Atlanta signed Azocar. Fairchild bounced between the Diamondbacks, Mariners, and Giants for a few years before settling with the Reds in 2022. He spent parts of three seasons with Cincinnati and was traded to Atlanta after he didn’t make the cut for the Reds’ Opening Day roster. Fairchild hasn’t hit much for the Braves this year with a .182/.250/.273 line in 36 plate appearances but is a career .247/.345/.407 hitter against lefties, which should make him a solid platoon partner for Alex Verdugo in left field going forward.
Should The Braves Consider Offers On Chris Sale?
The Braves have continued to underperform as the season nears its three-month mark. They clawed back from their 0-7 start to get above .500 in mid-May -- right as they were about to activate Ronald Acuña Jr. and Spencer Strider from the injured list. Optimism was high. Then came a stretch of 14 losses in 17 contests that dropped them to a season-high 10 games below .500 over the weekend. They're coming off a solid series win in Milwaukee, but they face long odds to climb back into a tough NL playoff race. The division is all but gone, and they're nine games back with six teams to jump in the Wild Card picture.
Atlanta's front office isn't going to sell six weeks in advance of the trade deadline. They've invested a lot and this core's prior successes have earned them as much runway as possible to get hot. Jon Heyman of The New York Post wrote last night that the Braves still view themselves as buyers, highlighting shortstop and the outfield as potential targets.
Still, they're running low on time and coming off their worst stretch of the season. The back half of the lineup, late-inning relief mix, and starting pitching depth are all issues. They'll need a significant turnaround in the next 4-6 weeks to avoid selling some short-term pieces. Marcell Ozuna would be an obvious candidate as a rental bat who is raking for a third consecutive season. They could try to offload impending free agent reliever Raisel Iglesias, who has put himself on shaky ground by struggling with the longball. The tougher question is whether the front office should move any key players who are controllable beyond this year -- with Chris Sale leading the way as the team's top option.
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Braves Evaluating Shortstop, Outfield Markets
The Braves have been among the most disappointing teams in MLB. They’re nine games under .500 entering this weekend’s series against the Rockies. They’d lost seven straight before taking two of three in Milwaukee.
On paper, that all points toward Atlanta as likely deadline sellers. Yet the Braves entered this season with a top 10 payroll in MLB and have made the playoffs in seven straight years. They’re not going to wave the white flag unless they feel it’s unavoidable. Jon Heyman of The New York Post wrote last night that the Braves are still positioned as buyers, reporting that the front office is looking for help in the outfield and at shortstop.
If the Braves were to buy, those would each be natural targets. Left field has been an issue since Jurickson Profar was suspended following a positive performance-enhancing drug test. Alex Verdugo is hitting .247/.301/.312 across 166 plate appearances — arguably even worse than last year’s .233/.291/.356 showing as a member of the Yankees. Eli White hasn’t been much better, running a .235/.275/.383 season line. White had carved out semi-regular playing time with a productive April, but he’s hitting .202/.231/.288 in 109 plate appearances dating back to the beginning of May.
While left field is the clearest weakness in the outfield, the Braves have gotten similarly poor production in center. Michael Harris II has had a dismal first half. He carries a .233/.261/.346 line through 275 trips to the plate. Harris is a productive baserunner and an elite defender, so he’s still providing some value, but the Braves need much more from him offensively. He entered this season with a .285/.325/.469 slash over his first three years. The track record and the defense should keep Harris on solid ground as an everyday player, but his down year has essentially placed the entire burden on Ronald Acuña Jr. to get any kind of offensive contributions from the outfield.
Profar has fewer than 20 games remaining on his suspension. He’ll return early next month, though that’ll be clouded with uncertainty about what they can expect from him. Even if he plays well, he wouldn’t be an option if the Braves make an improbable playoff push. Players cannot participate in the postseason during the year in which they were suspended for PED use.
Shortstop has been almost as much of a struggle. Opening Day starter Orlando Arcia is gone, having been released last month (and subsequently signing with Colorado). Nick Allen has taken the everyday role there. He’s an elite defensive infielder who provides very little at the plate. The 5’8″ infielder has yet to hit a home run and owns a .234/.309/.269 mark through 191 trips.
Allen’s all-glove profile would be easier to tolerate if they were getting more from their non-Acuña outfielders. Having multiple positions that don’t contribute offensively is a tougher sell. Atlanta’s .243/.317/.386 team batting line is middling, and they’ve been terrible this month (.216/.296/.360). They’d love to deepen the offense, but they’ve also seen their bullpen melt down far too often and have spotty rotation depth after losing AJ Smith-Shawver to Tommy John surgery. There are a lot of areas to address.
Of course, how aggressively they’ll do so depends in large part on the next six weeks. The front office’s impulse may be to add, but that’d be difficult to pursue if the team is still well below .500 and nine games out of a playoff spot in late July. At that point, they’d have little choice but to entertain offers on impending free agent DH Marcell Ozuna (with a case for listening on ace Chris Sale).