Headlines

Go To Pro Hockey Rumors
Go To Hoops Rumors

Braves Rumors

Braves Acquire Scott Blewett

By | at

The Braves acquired right-hander Scott Blewett from the Orioles in a trade for cash considerations, as announced by both teams.  Blewett was designated for assignment by Baltimore yesterday.

This is the second time in less than a week that Blewett has changed teams after being designated for assignment.  Blewett began the season with the Twins and made two appearances before he was DFA’d and then claimed off waivers by the Orioles.  Two more appearances followed in an O’s uniform before Blewett was designated again.

The roster shuffling is nothing new for Blewett, who had been DFA’d and outrighted several times in his career even before this month’s transactions.  His chances of sticking with the Braves are complicated by the fact that he is out of minor league options, so the Twins and Orioles had no choice but to first designate the right-hander before trying to send him down to the farm.

All these moves belie the fact that Blewett has actually pitched pretty well during his relatively brief time in the big leagues.  Over parts of four seasons with the Royals, Twins, and Orioles, Blewett has a 1.93 ERA, 23.1% strikeout rate, and 9.4% walk rate in 37 1/3 career relief innings.  His 2.16 SIERA is only a shade higher than his ERA, and an inflated 85.4% strand rate is countered by a .317 BABIP.

While Blewett isn’t a hard thrower and he gives up a lot of solid contact, there’s enough there that multiple teams keep showing interest in the 29-year-old’s services.  He’ll become the latest new face in a Braves bullpen that has been a bit of a revolving door, as the club brought several veterans to camp on minor league deals in a search for inexpensive relief depth, and both Rafael Montero and Jose Suarez were acquired in trades (from the Astros and Angels respectively) within the last month.

Braves Recall Alex Verdugo, Option Bryan De La Cruz

By | at

The Braves announced that they have recalled outfielder Alex Verdugo from Triple-A Gwinnett. Fellow outfielder Bryan De La Cruz was optioned down to Gwinnett as the corresponding move.

Verdugo, 29 next month, is a veteran with at least five years of major league service time. That means he can’t be optioned to the minors without his consent. However, he agreed to accept an optional assignment due to his lingering free agency. He remained unsigned until the second half of March, eventually getting a $1.5MM deal from Atlanta. Since he had missed spring training, he agreed to head down to the farm for a while, effectively as a delayed spring training.

His inability to get a deal to his liking earlier in the offseason was surely due to his poor platform season. He had hit .282/.338/.430 from 2018 to 2023, production which translated to a 106 wRC+. That means he was only 6% above league average but that was still decent production, especially considering he’s a solid outfield defender. But with the Yankees in 2024, he hit just .233/.291/.356 for a wRC+ of 83. He was actually pretty decent through the end of May but hit just .219/.274/.315 from June onwards. He then added 56 postseason plate appearances with a .208/.309/.313 line.

That gave him little momentum going into the winter, which led to his aforementioned struggle to get a deal. For Atlanta, they were probably happy that he was out still out there, as their outfield wasn’t in great shape at the end of last year. Ronald Acuña Jr. tore his ACL and missed the second half, with an expected return at some point during 2025. The club took a shot on Jarred Kelenic last year, which didn’t work, as he hit .231/.286/.393. Michael Harris II saw his production drop for a second straight season after his Rookie of the Year performance in 2022.

The club made one big splash to upgrade the outfield this winter, signing Jurickson Profar to a three-year, $42MM deal. But just 11 days after they signed Verdugo, it was reported that Profar had been given an 80-game suspension for a positive PED test. Given the close proximity, it’s possible Atlanta knew of Profar’s test at the time of the Verdugo deal, but with the appeal process having not yet run its course.

Since the Verdugo deal, things have broadly gotten worse for the club. They are out to a 5-13 start, with their outfield being one of the key problems. Kelenic is hitting .146/.239/.244 thus far and Harris is at .179/.208/.299. Before getting optioned today, De La Cruz put up a line of .191/.240/.213.

It’s unclear what sort of production Verdugo can provide, but even something like his diminished 2024 offense would be miles ahead of what the club has received from its outfield so far. For what it’s worth, Verdugo hit .207/.303/.448 during his recent optional assignment.

Verdugo, Kelenic and Harris are all lefties, so that’s likely to be the alignment against right-handed pitchers. Even after optioning De La Cruz, the club has a couple of righty-swinging outfielders in Stuart Fairchild and Eli White, giving manager Brian Snitker some ability to navigate around tough southpaws. Ideally, Verdugo can stabilize things somewhat as the club tries to get the season back on track. Acunña will perhaps start a rehab assignment soon and be back with the club in the coming weeks. That will cut into the playing time of someone, likely Kelenic or Verdugo, depending on what happens between now and then.

Photo courtesy of Vincent Carchietta, Imagn Images

Braves Activate Spencer Strider

By | at

April 16: Strider has been activated ahead of his start against the Blue Jays this afternoon, per a team announcement. Right-hander Zach Thompson was optioned to Triple-A in a corresponding move.

April 13: Prior to today’s game against the Rays, the Braves announced that the club had optioned right-hander AJ Smith-Shawver to the minor leagues. In the short-term, the move made room for righty Michael Petersen to join the club. More important than that move, however, is the impending shift in the rotation Smith-Shawver’s departure portends. As noted by multiple reporters, including David O’Brien of The Athletic, Smith-Shawver’s departure from the active roster will make way for the highly-anticipated return of right-hander Spencer Strider to the rotation on April 16 against the Blue Jays in Toronto.

Strider, 26, hasn’t pitched in just over a year after undergoing internal brace surgery on his UCL early last season. The right-hander has just two full MLB seasons under his belt, in 2022 and ’23, but in that time he posted a 3.36 ERA with a 2.43 FIP and a 37.4% strikeout rate. Those incredible stats were enough to get Strider a second-place finish in NL Rookie of the Year voting, an All-Star appearance, and a fourth-place finish in NL Cy Young voting across the two seasons, and the decorated fireballer now figures to return to lead Atlanta’s rotation once again now that he’s healthy. It couldn’t come at a better time, as the Braves have struggled badly out of the gate with a 4-11 start to open the season. Those struggles are due in large part to a rotation that has lost Reynaldo Lopez for much of the 2025 season to shoulder surgery and has seen reigning NL Cy Young winner Chris Sale scuffle to a 6.63 ERA in 19 innings of work across his first four starts this season.

Strider’s long-awaited return to the big league mound means the end of Smith-Shawver’s stint in the rotation to open the year. The right-hander was generally serviceable for Atlanta across three starts, with a 4.61 ERA that clocks in just below league average and a 4.16 FIP. While Smith-Shawver’s 26.2% strikeout rate in those starts was solid, a 12.3% walk rate raised enough concerns that the club has opted to stick with Bryce Elder in the rotation despite his ugly 7.20 ERA in two starts against the Dodgers and Rays. That leaves Elder to pair with Grant Holmes at the back of the club’s rotation for the time being, though Smith-Shawver, Hurston Waldrep, and Dylan Dodd all remain available at Triple-A as potential rotation options if Elder fails to improve.

Strider may not be the only reinforcement the Braves are getting from Triple-A this week. O’Brien suggests that “all signs are pointing to” an impending call-up for outfielder Alex Verdugo, who was signed to a $1.5MM deal three weeks ago but has spent that time in the minor leagues catching up after missing most of Spring Training. It’s possible he would’ve spent the entire month of April at Triple-A, but things changed when Jurickson Profar was suspended for 80-games due to a failed PED test. That’s left the Braves to try and get by with Jarred Kelenic, Stuart Fairchild, and Bryan De La Cruz in the outfield corners while Ronald Acuna Jr. heals up after suffering a torn ACL last May.

Verdugo should help to bolster that outfield mix somewhat, giving the Braves a more proven veteran to handle left field in place of Profar while he serves his suspension. While he posted a lackluster 83 wRC+ with the Yankees last year, he had been a consistently league average bat for the Red Sox in each of his four seasons with the club prior to that, hitting .281/.328/.444 (105 wRC+) overall during his time in Boston. Whether Verdugo will ultimately join the Braves in Toronto for their series against the Blue Jays or instead be called up next weekend for their series against the Twins remains to be seen, but O’Brien indicates that Verdugo’s return to the majors appears to be imminent.

Braves Release Buck Farmer

By | at

The Braves have released right-hander Buck Farmer, per the transaction log at MiLB.com. He’d been pitching on a minor league deal for Atlanta’s Triple-A affiliate in Gwinnett.

Farmer, 34, signed that minor league pact back in February. He’s spent the three prior seasons as a durable member of the Cincinnati bullpen, giving the Reds 193 innings of 3.68 ERA ball — primarily in low-leverage/middle relief spots.

Farmer has generally kept his run-prevention numbers at solid levels, but his fastball velocity and strikeout rate have been average over the past two seasons. His command, or lack thereof, has been an issue throughout the bulk of his big league career. Farmer walked 10.3% of his opponents during his time with the Reds, a near-identical match with his career 10.5% mark. He also plunked a career-high seven batters last year, which was nearly double the rate at which he’d hit batters in previous seasons.

Both spring training and the early portion of the season in Triple-A have been a struggle for the veteran Farmer. He appeared in five Grapefruit League contests with Atlanta and pitched 5 2/3 innings, but opponents tagged him for four runs on eight hits and four walks. He set down eight of his 30 opponents on strikes (26.7%), but he didn’t pitch his way into the team’s Opening Day plans. Atlanta’s bullpen has had plenty of issues this year, but Farmer came out of the gates in Gwinnett with five runs (four earned) on seven hits and four walks in 4 2/3 innings (7.71 ERA).

Although the early stages of the 2025 season haven’t gone as hoped, Farmer has a lengthy big league track record and should latch on elsewhere. He’s collected nearly eight seasons of big league service since his 2014 debut, and since moving from a starting role to the bullpen in 2018, Farmer carries a 4.03 ERA in 386 2/3 MLB frames.

Astros Acquire Patrick Halligan As PTBNL In Rafael Montero Trade

By | at

The Astros traded right-hander Rafael Montero and $7.7MM to the Braves earlier this week for a player to be named later or cash. The Astros announced today that the PTBNL in that deal is minor league righty Patrick Halligan.

Halligan, 25, was selected by the Royals in the 13th round of the draft back in 2021. He made the occasional start but mostly worked in relief. Over 2021 and 2022, he tossed 85 2/3 innings in the minors with a 5.36 earned run average and was released prior to the 2023 season.

Atlanta signed him to a minor league deal and the change of scenery seemed to helped him. He has since logged 123 1/3 innings with a 3.72 ERA. His 10.6% walk rate is a bit high but he has also struck out 27.6% of batters faced. Last year, he logged 50 2/3 innings, mostly at Double-A but also with some Triple-A work. For the whole year, he had a 3.02 ERA, 31.6% strikeout rate and 11.8% walk rate. Last month, Eric Longenhagen of FanGraphs listed the top prospects in Atlanta’s system and gave Halligan an honorable mention, highlighting his splitter as his key to success.

With the Montero deal, the Astros were probably happy just to shed a few million bucks. His contract had quickly gone underwater and they had been trying to trade him for quite a while. On top of saving roughly $3MM, they will take a flier on Halligan and see if he can work his way into their big league bullpen.

Photo courtesy of Kim Klement Neitzel, Imagn Images

Poll: Should The Braves Extend Spencer Schwellenbach?

By | at

He has only made two starts this season, but it’s impossible not to be impressed. Spencer Schwellenbach has thrown 14 innings without giving up a run. Indeed, he hasn’t thrown so much as a single pitch with a runner in scoring position. His strikeout-to-walk ratio is 14 to one. His groundball rate is 60%. He has allowed 30 batted balls and not one of them has been barreled. According to Baseball Savant, the righty has thrown six distinct pitches at least 10% of the time, and five of them have a positive run value. All told, his +9 pitching run value is the best in the sport. Two starts make for a tiny sample size, but like I said, it’s impossible not to be impressed by what Schwellenbach has done.

Of course, the 24-year-old is used to being impressive. Before the 2025 season began, he was mowing down opponents in the Grapefruit League, striking out 28 batters in 21 innings while pitching to a 3.00 ERA. Before that, he was a breakout stud in his rookie season, putting up a 3.35 ERA, 3.42 SIERA, and 2.6 FanGraphs WAR over 21 starts. Before that, he was a consensus top-five prospect in Atlanta’s system. Across 24 minor league starts at Single-A, High-A, and Double-A from 2023-24, he threw 110 innings with a 2.21 ERA and 3.01 FIP. He skipped Triple-A to make his big league debut last May and never looked back.

With less than one season of service time under his belt, Schwellenbach already finds himself a key member of the Braves’ rotation. Spencer Strider is still working his way back from elbow surgery. Reynaldo López will miss most of the season. Chris Sale remains the ace of the staff, but he’s 36 years old, injury-prone, and has looked unusually mortal to start the year. It remains unclear how much Atlanta will be able to count on top prospects AJ Smith-Shawver and Hurston Waldrep, former All-Star Bryce Elder, and 2024 breakout arm Grant Holmes. Having Schwellenbach to rely on every fifth game will be critical as the Braves look to make up ground in the NL East following a 2-8 start to the season.

As Schwellenbach continues to impress – and as Atlanta continues to be reminded of the importance of reliable, top-end starting pitching – perhaps it’s time for president of baseball operations Alex Anthopoulos to start thinking about extending the right-hander. It might seem early to be talking about an extension for Schwellenbach. Then again, the Braves extended Strider shortly after his rookie season in 2022. At that time, he had 20 big league starts and 134 innings under his belt. Schwellenbach doesn’t have quite as much MLB service time as Strider did when he signed his extension, but he has now thrown more innings (137 2/3). Meanwhile, Michael Harris II was just 71 games into his big league career when he signed an extension with Atlanta in August 2022. As a position player, Harris is not quite as strong of a comp for Schwellenbach. Regardless, the key point is that this front office doesn’t have any qualms about extending players with limited big league service time. In fact, that’s part of the appeal for the Braves, who also extended Ronald Acuña Jr. and Ozzie Albies quite early on in their careers. The point of these extensions is to offer talented young players immediate financial security in exchange for additional years of team control down the line. If Schwellenbach keeps pitching this way, his asking price is only going to climb, and the chances that he would be willing to give up any of his future free agent years will diminish.

With that said, the Braves have awarded far fewer long-term extensions to pitchers than to position players. For instance, they notably did not extend two-time All-Star Max Fried, who left for the Yankees in free agency this past offseason. Dating back to the 2006 season, the Braves have only given out three guaranteed multi-year extensions to starting pitchers: Strider’s six-year, $75MM deal in 2022; Julio Teheran’s six-year, $32.4MM deal in 2014; and Tim Hudson’s three-year, $28MM deal in 2009. What’s more, the Strider extension has not exactly gone according to plan thus far. While he won 20 games and earned Cy Young votes in 2023, he has made just two starts since the beginning of the 2024 season after damaging his UCL. It’s also worth noting that the Braves have seen many young pitchers get off to promising starts only to fizzle out soon after, whether due to injury or underperformance. That includes arms like Ian Anderson, Michael Soroka, Kyle Wright, and Elder. Perhaps all that will make them a bit more cautious when it comes to Schwellenbach.

As for what a Schwellenbach extension might look like, we can turn to several recent comps. Since Strider inked his deal in October 2022, four more starters with fewer than two years of service time have signed multi-year extensions. Schwellenbach can almost surely ask for more than Cristopher Sánchez’s four-year, $22.5MM guarantee, though he is unlikely to command as much as Strider. The other three extensions – for Hunter Greene, Brayan Bello, and Brandon Pfaadt – were all for somewhere between $45MM and $55MM in guaranteed money over five or six years (with at least one club option). Schwellenbach has arguably had more big league success than any of those pitchers did when they signed their extensions. However, he doesn’t have as much experience as Pfaadt or Bello, nor did he ever have the prospect pedigree of Greene. Still, the preseason ZiPS, Steamer, and PECOTA projections envisioned Schwellenbach to be roughly as valuable, if not more so, than all three of those arms. With that in mind, a six-year deal (that would buy out Schwellenbach’s first free agent season) with an AAV around $9MM and at least one club option would be a logical starting point for negotiations.

Do MLBTR readers think the Braves should offer Schwellenbach an extension? Perhaps you think Atlanta needs to act fast and extend him now before his star shoots any higher. Or perhaps you think the Braves would be smarter to wait until the young right-hander has proven himself over a larger sample of starts. Have your say in the poll below:

 

Photo courtesy of Kim Klement Neitzel, Imagn Images

Braves Acquire Rafael Montero From Astros

By | at

April 9: Houston is covering $7.7MM of Montero’s remaining salary, Charles Odum of the Associated Press reports. That’s on top of the $804K they’ve already paid him this year. In total, the Astros are paying about $8.5MM of Montero’s $11.5MM salary, leaving Atlanta on the hook for just a hair under $3MM. Montero joined the team today, per a club announcement, with Thompson optioned to open an active roster spot.

April 8: The Astros announced a trade sending reliever Rafael Montero and an undisclosed amount of cash to the Braves for a player to be named later. Houston recalled lefty reliever Bennett Sousa to take the vacated bullpen spot. Atlanta has not announced any corresponding moves. They had an opening on their 40-man roster after waiving Chadwick Tromp and do not need to make an active roster transaction until Montero reports to the team.

Montero, 34, is in the final season of a three-year free agent deal. He’s playing on an $11.5MM salary. The Astros are surely paying down the majority of that contract, though specifics on the cash have not been reported. Owner Jim Crane struck early in the 2022-23 offseason to re-sign Montero on a $34.5MM investment. That was in between the dismissal of former general manager James Click and the hiring of current GM Dana Brown. It did not work out.

The veteran right-hander was rocked for a 5.08 earned run average over 67 1/3 innings in the first season. He posted a 4.70 ERA while walking nearly as many hitters as he struck out last year. The Astros designated him for assignment around the trade deadline. That seemed like it would officially end his tenure in the organization. Montero had more than enough service time to elect free agency while collecting the rest of his contract.

Montero instead accepted an assignment to Triple-A after clearing waivers. He tossed 16 1/3 frames of four-run ball there to finish the season. Houston didn’t call him up last season but brought him back to Spring Training as a non-roster invitee. Montero allowed six runs (five earned) with 10 strikeouts and seven walks across 8 2/3 innings to earn his way back onto the MLB roster. He has made three regular season appearances, working four frames of two-run ball with five punchouts.

The 11-year big league veteran sits in the 95-96 MPH range with his four-seam fastball. He tweaked his pitch mix this year, according to Statcast. Montero added a mid-80s splitter while scrapping his low-90s changeup. That’s now his top offspeed pitch against lefty hitters. It’s too early to glean much from the results, but opponents have whiffed on five of 12 swings against it.

Atlanta evaluators were intrigued enough by Montero’s form to plug him into the middle innings. Daysbel Hernández and long man Zach Thompson each have options remaining. Lefty José Suarez is out of options but has a pedestrian 5:4 strikeout-to-walk ratio through his first four appearances. Montero figures to displace someone from that group — most likely Thompson — once he joins the team.

It’s purely a salary dump for Houston. They were never going to be able to shed the majority of Montero’s contract. Getting out from under even a small portion of the deal should give them more flexibility for deadline acquisitions. They’re within a few million dollars of the $241MM luxury tax threshold, which they seem disinclined to surpass. Whatever portion of Montero’s salary that the Braves assume will come off the Astros’ tax bill.

Image courtesy of Erik Williams, Imagn Images.

Octavio Dotel Dies In Roof Collapse Tragedy

By | at

Former major leaguer Octavio Dotel has died in a tragic accident, Major League Baseball confirmed. The news was first reported by multiple outlets in the Dominican Republic, including Diario Libre. The roof of the Jet Set club in Santo Domingo collapsed in the early hours of Tuesday morning. As of Tuesday night, at least 98 people have lost their lives while nearly 200 more were injured, according to The Associated Press. Dotel was 51 years old.

Exact details of the tragic situation are difficult to pin down, but it appears hundreds of people were in the venue for a concert when the collapse happened. Dozens of people have been pulled out alive but many have died and the figures are likely to change. Dotel was reportedly trapped for about 11 hours before being rescued and initially survived, but was declared dead after being taken to a hospital.

Dotel was well known to baseball fans because he pitched in the majors for over a decade and bounced around to various teams. He made his major league debut with the Mets in 1999, working in a swing role. He was traded to the Astros ahead of the 2000 season and continued to work both out of the rotation and the bullpen for a while.

He eventually moved into a primary relief role and had more success. Though his earned run average was over 5.00 in both 1999 and 2000, he posted a 2.66 ERA in 2001. He tossed 105 innings over 61 appearances, only four of those being starts.

He continued working as a solid reliever for years after that, bouncing to the Athletics, Yankees, Royals, Braves, White Sox, Pirates, Dodgers, Rockies, Blue Jays, Cardinals and Tigers. He finished his career with a 3.78 ERA in 758 games. He recorded 109 saves and 127 holds. He won the World Series with the Cardinals in 2011. He was a part of a combined no-hitter with the Astros in 2003. He retired in 2014.

We at MLB Trade Rumors send our deepest condolences to Dotel’s family, friends and fans, as well as the hundreds of others who have been impacted by this awful event.

Photo courtesy of Kelley L Cox, Imagn Images

Reynaldo López To Be Shut Down For 12 Weeks

By | at

Braves right-hander Reynaldo López underwent arthroscopic surgery on his right shoulder today. The club had previously said they wouldn’t know his timeline until the procedure was complete. David O’Brien of The Athletic reports today that manager Brian Snitker described it as a “clean up” procedure. The righty will be shut down from throwing for 12 weeks, which will take him into July, before being reexamined. Even if he is declared healthy at that point, he would need several weeks to ramp back up, meaning a return in August or September is perhaps the best-case scenario.

The news is obviously less than ideal, as López was a key member of last year’s rotation and was slated to be in that role again this year. Atlanta signed him going into 2024 and moved him to the rotation, even though he had been pitching in relief for a while. The gambit paid off, with López posting a 1.99 earned run average over 135 2/3 innings.

Making the move from the bullpen to the rotation still presented some challenges. He had a couple of stints on the injured list last year, one due to forearm inflammation and another due to shoulder inflammation. However, he was off the IL by the end of the season and seemed fine during this year’s Spring Training. But after just one start in the regular season, he landed on the IL again with more inflammation in that shoulder.

Shortly thereafter, the club announced that the arthroscopic procedure would be required. As mentioned, they didn’t expect to have a firm timeline until it was done, though they transferred him to the 60-day IL last week when they acquired Jason Delay. That suggested they didn’t expect him back before late May, but it seems he will actually be out well beyond that.

It appears there’s still a window for López to return late in the year though it appears to be a somewhat narrow one. His rehab could perhaps become an important development this summer, as the front office will have to decide how aggressively to pursue pitching at the deadline. As they are deciding on their plan of attack, López could be working his way back to the mound if he doesn’t experience any setbacks.

For now, the club is left with Chris Sale and Spencer Schwellenbach as the core members of the rotation. Grant Holmes and AJ Smith-Shawver earned the final two spots out of camp. When López hit the IL, Bryce Elder was recalled to replace him.

Spencer Strider seems to be getting very close to a return from last year’s UCL surgery. He tossed 5 1/3 scoreless innings in his most recent rehab start. That will likely push one of Elder or Smith-Shawver into a Triple-A optional assignment. Holmes is out of options but could get bumped to a long relief role, with current long man Zach Thompson then being optioned. Hurston Waldrep, Davis Daniel and Dylan Dodd are also on the 40-man.

The team is presumably operating with a bit less room for error than they were expecting. They entered the season as contenders but have gotten out to a dreary 1-8 start, the worst record in baseball. They will have to climb out of that hole without their big offseason addition, as Jurickson Profar received an 80-game PED suspension. López will be on the shelf even longer than that.

Photo courtesy of Denis Poroy, Imagn Images

Chadwick Tromp Elects Free Agency

By | at

Braves catcher Chadwick Tromp went unclaimed on outright waivers following his recent DFA, reports Justin Toscano of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. Atlanta assigned him outright to Triple-A Gwinnett, but he rejected the assignment in favor of free agency, as is his right as a player who’s previously been outrighted in his career.

Tromp, 30, began the season as the team’s backup to top prospect Drake Baldwin. Starter Sean Murphy suffered a rib fracture during spring training that caused him to miss the start of the year. Atlanta designated Tromp for assignment when Murphy was reinstated from the injured list a couple days ago.

The Braves now have a healthy Murphy and Baldwin on the big league roster, and they recently picked up catcher Jason Delay in a cash deal with the Pirates. Atlanta also has a pair of non-roster veterans, Sandy Leon and James McCann, in the organization. There’s enough depth that both Delay and McCann are playing in Double-A at the moment.

Dating back to his 2020 debut with the Giants, Tromp has appeared in 61 MLB games. He’s a .224/.235/.385 hitter with five home runs and 10 doubles in 162 plate appearances, but his 1.9% walk rate and 30.9% strikeout rate underscore a problematic approach at the plate. That said, the Aruban-born backstop is considered a strong defender and carries a career .254/.327/.419 batting line in part of seven Triple-A seasons. An organization with less catching depth than the Braves currently possess will likely add Tromp on a minor league deal and plug him into the Triple-A mix — if not directly onto the big league roster in a backup capacity.

AJAX Loader
Load More Posts
Show all

MLB Trade Rumors is not affiliated with Major League Baseball, MLB or MLB.com

hide arrows scroll to top