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Braves Designate Forrest Wall For Assignment

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The Braves announced Monday morning that they’ve designated outfielder Forrest Wall for assignment. His spot on the roster will go to infield prospect Nacho Alvarez Jr., whose contract has been selected from Triple-A Gwinnett to take the place of second baseman Ozzie Albies.

Albies, who suffered a fractured wrist this weekend is expected to miss up to eight weeks of action, has been placed on the 10-day IL for now. Alvarez’s promotion to the majors was first reported last night. Atlanta also formally announced its previously reported major league deal with veteran infielder/outfielder Whit Merrifield and optioned outfielder Eli White to Gwinnett. The team’s 40-man roster is now full.

Wall, 28, got into 13 games with the Braves this season and hit .241/.313/.241 in a tiny sample of 32 plate appearances. He’s seen limited action on Atlanta’s big league roster in each of the past two seasons now, due in large part to his plus speed, but he went just 3-for-6 in stolen base attempts this season (after going 5-for-6 in a similar sample of playing time a year ago).

Wall has spent the bulk of the 2024 season in Gwinnett, where he’s put together a solid .279/.380/.411 slash with a big 12.1% walk rate but also a higher-than-average 25.1% strikeout rate. He posted a comparable .280/.372/.427 line with Gwinnett in 2023.

The Braves have used Wall at all three outfield spots in the majors, though the vast majority of his time has come in left field. He has ample experience at all three positions when factoring in his minor league time, and Wall also has more than 2100 innings at second base in his minor league career (though he’s not yet played the position in the majors).

Selected by the Rockies with the No. 35 overall draft pick back in 2014, Wall is a veteran of ten minor league seasons. The past two seasons with Atlanta represent his only MLB playing time to date. The lefty-swinging Wall is a lifetime .268/.354/.387 batter in just shy of 1500 Triple-A plate appearances. He’ll still have two minor league option years remaining beyond the current season. That could make him an intriguing pickup for a postseason contender who wants to utilize his 93rd percentile sprint speed down the stretch. He’s never been outrighted in the past and is well shy of three years of service, so if the Braves succeed in passing him through waivers, they’ll be able to retain him via an outright assignment back to Gwinnett and keep him as a depth option in the outfield.

Braves To Sign Whit Merrifield

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The Braves are in agreement with infielder/outfielder Whit Merrifield on a big league deal, according to Jeff Passan of ESPN. The Braves’ 40-man roster currently stands at 39 prior to the deal, meaning the club will only need to accommodate Merrifield’s addition to the active roster with a corresponding move.

Merrifield, released by the Phillies earlier this month, figures to help cover second base in place of Ozzie Albies, who suffered a fractured wrist yesterday and is expected to be out of action for approximately eight weeks. Reporting yesterday indicated that the Braves plan to promote top infield prospect Nacho Alvarez to take over for Albies as their regular second baseman, and it appears the addition of Merrifield won’t change that. As noted by the New York Post’s Jon Heyman, Merrifield is currently expected to take a bench role with the Braves, leaving the starting job at second base open for Alvarez.

The 35-year-old veteran is an excellent fit for Atlanta’s roster needs in a bench role, at least on paper. With clear holes at second base and in the outfield, Merrifield’s ability to play both left field and second base makes for a strong fit, allowing him to back up both Alvarez at second base and work into an outfield mix that currently features Adam Duvall, Eddie Rosario, Jarred Kelenic, and Ramon Laureano. That being said, Merrifield’s difficult stint with the Phillies gives some reason for concern about his ability to be an effective major league hitter at this stage of his career. In 174 trips to the plate this season with Philadelphia, Merrifield slashed a paltry .199/.277/.295 with a wRC+ of just 65.

Despite Merrifield’s lackluster performance with the Braves’ chief division rival, there are some reasons for optimism that his performance could improve going forward. While Merrifield is almost certainly not the above-average contributor he was earlier in his career with the Royals, for whom he posted a 111 wRC+ and 13.3 fWAR from 2017 to 2020, he nonetheless had a recent track record of being a serviceable bench bat in more recent years. Merrifield slashed a decent .268/.311/.385, good for a wRC+ of 90, with the Royals and Blue Jays between 2021 and 2023.

That sort of production still seems to be within the realm of possibility for the veteran, particularly looking at his underlying metrics. Merrifield’s 10.9% strikeout rate this year is actually the lowest of his big league career, and his 8.6% walk rate matches his career high from back in 2018. While Merrifield’s .096 ISO this year is the lowest of his career, the larger culprit for his downturn in performance appears to be his shockingly low .206 BABIP. Entering the 2024 campaign, Merrifield owned a healthy .321 BABIP for his career and had never posted a figure lower than .276 in any individual season. Even matching his previous career low set in 2022 would surely provide a noticeable lift in his production and make him a compelling bench piece when combined with his versatility and respectable 11-for-12 showing on the basepaths this year.

In addition to helping Alvarez cover for Albies at second base, the addition of Merrifield alongside Rosario earlier this month is somewhat reminiscent of Atlanta’s quantity-over-quality approach to retooling their outfield at the trade deadline in 2021, when they loaded up on rental outfield pieces in the form of Rosario, Duvall, Joc Pederson, and Jorge Soler in order to help boost the outfield’s production following the loss of Ronald Acuna Jr. to season-ending ACL surgery. With Acuna once again done for the year in 2024, the signing of Merrifield could serve as an indication that the Braves intend to follow a similar path forward this year rather than spend significant prospect capital to land a more significant piece like Jazz Chisholm Jr. of the Marlins or Luis Robert Jr. of the White Sox.

Ozzie Albies To Miss Eight Weeks With Wrist Fracture; Braves To Select Nacho Alvarez

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4:58pm: The Braves announced this afternoon that X-Rays on Albies’s wrist revealed a fracture in his left wrist. He’s expected to miss approximately eight weeks. Atlanta is “expected” to select Alvarez’s contract tomorrow to replace Albies on the roster, according to MLB.com’s Mark Bowman. Bowman suggests that the youngster will play second base despite Alvarez’s lack of experience at the keystone, leaving Arcia as the club’s everyday shortstop.

4:33pm: Braves second baseman Ozzie Albies exited today’s game in the ninth inning due to a left wrist injury. As noted by David O’Brien of The Athletic, Albies’s wrist was bent backwards when he attempted to tag a runner out a second base amid a stolen base attempt. The Braves have not made an official move yet, but manager Brian Snitker told reporters (including O’Brien) after the game that Albies will be placed on the injured list and that while further evaluation necessary, the outlook on the injury is “not good.”

The loss of Albies is another devastating blow to a Braves club that has already seen both reigning NL MVP Ronald Acuna Jr. and right-handed ace Spencer Strider undergo season-ending surgery. With Albies set to join that duo as well as center fielder Michael Harris II and star lefty Max Fried on the shelf, the Braves will limp towards the trade deadline protecting a four-game lead in the NL Wild Card race without five of their biggest stars. While Chris Sale and Reynaldo Lopez have stepped up this season as front-of-the-rotation arms and Jarred Kelenic has performed admirably since being thrust into an everyday role as the club’s center fielder in place of Harris, there are no obvious solutions for replacing Albies on the club’s active roster.

Even average offensive production would be an adequate replacement for Albies at the plate, as the 27-year-old has been dealing with a bit of a down season this year. In 89 games this season, the infielder has slashed a roughly league average .255/.308/.403 across 390 trips to the plate. Even so, the club’s dearth of quality infield depth means that the Braves are likely to be scrambling for solutions in Albies’s absence, particularly if it proves to be a lengthy one as Snitker implied.

Earlier this year, infielder Zack Short was tapped to handle third base in place of an injured Austin Riley and rose to the call effectively. While he has experience at second base as well, he’s slumped badly in bench role since Riley’s return to the lineup and sports a slash line of just .077/.250/.077 since the start of June. That could lead the Braves to look toward the minor leagues. The club turned to David Fletcher in a utility role earlier this year, but he is no longer on the 40-man roster and has begun attempting to convert to pitching at the Double-A level, suggesting he’s unlikely to be called up to replace Albies. One option currently on the 40-man would be infielder Luke Williams, although his career .220/.280/.287 slash line in the majors certainly leaves something to be desired.

Perhaps the most exciting moves the Braves could make, barring a trade to improve the club’s overall infield mix, would be the promotion of top infield prospect Nacho Alvarez. Alvarez is ranked as the club’s #5 prospect by MLB Pipeline and has lit up the scoreboards in the minor leagues this year. In 75 games split between the Double- and Triple-A levels this year, the 21-year-old has slashed an eye-opening .295/.398/.420 while going 21-for-24 on the basepaths. One potential hiccup in that plan would be Alvarez’s complete lack of experience at second base, though the club could always plug him in at shortstop and shift veteran Orlando Arcia, who played 50 games for the Braves at the keystone in 2022, over to the right side of the infield alongside first baseman Matt Olson.

It’s possible that a lengthy absence for Albies could prompt the Braves to explore the infield market, particularly if the club feels Alvarez isn’t ready for his big league debut. Pieces such as Amed Rosario of the Rays and Brandon Drury of the Angels are among the veteran rentals who could be made available this summer, although the Rays have gone 6-3 over their last nine games to put themselves back into contention while Drury has suffered through an abysmal season at the plate this year. With clear needs in the starting rotation and outfield as well, it’s possible at Atlanta brass opt instead to rely on their internal options at the keystone while Albies is injured, instead working to add an outfield who can replace Acuna while taking pressure off of Kelenic and Adam Duvall, both of whom have been forced into everyday roles by injuries after starting the season as platoon partners.

Braves Place Max Fried On Injured List

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The Braves announced today that left-hander Max Fried has been placed on the 15-day injured list, retroactive to July 18, with left forearm neuritis. Lefty Dylan Dodd was recalled in a corresponding move.

At this point, it’s unclear how significant Fried’s injury is or when it occurred. His most recent outing for Atlanta saw him throw six innings against the Diamondbacks on July 11. He was selected to the National League All-Star team and then tossed a scoreless inning against the American League in that game. Until he was placed on the IL, there had been no public reporting that anything was amiss.

More information will likely be forthcoming but this figures to be a significant development either way. Atlanta came into this season with a front five in their rotation of Fried, Spencer Strider, Charlie Morton, Chris Sale and Reynaldo López. Strider required UCL surgery in April and is done for the year.

For as long as Fried is out, the club will be down to a rotation nucleus of Morton, Sale and López, who are each having great years but with some lingering concerns. Sale has been frequently injured in recent seasons and his 110 innings thrown this year are the most for him since 2019. López started earlier in his career but was moved to the bullpen a few years ago. Atlanta has moved him back to the rotation with success but he has also thrown more innings this year than he has since 2019. Morton continues to find success but is now 40 years old and his strikeout rate is down for a third straight year.

Atlanta is currently 54-43 on the year, 7.5 games back of the Phillies in the East division but currently holding the top Wild Card spot. Given their rotation situation, they were probably going to be looking for upgrades before the July 30 deadline but it’s possible that search will now ramp up with this injury to Fried. Some potential trade candidates include Jack Flaherty, Yusei Kikuchi, Garrett Crochet and many more.

In the meantime, they will have to cobble things together behind Morton, Sale and López. They don’t have an off-day between now and the deadline and played a double-header against the Cardinals yesterday. Neither Hurston Waldrep nor Huascar Ynoa will be able to help out, as both of them are currently on the IL. Ynoa started a rehab assignment on July 16 but only tossed two innings and probably needs a few more outings to build up.

Spencer Schwellenbach is having a good start to his career and should stick around, though it’s also only been eight starts so far. Ian Anderson underwent Tommy John surgery last year but has been rehabbing lately, with five starts on the farm in recent weeks. Bryce Elder, AJ Smith-Shawver, Allan Winans, Darius Vines and Dodd are also on the 40-man and could be in the mix to help out.

For Fried personally, he is headed for free agency at the end of this season and was trending towards a nice payday. He has over 800 innings on his track record with a 3.08 ERA, 23.7% strikeout rate, 6.7% walk rate and 54.1% ground ball rate, with health not being a huge factor for most of the time. From 2019 to 2022, he made at least 28 starts in each full season and also took the ball 11 times in the shortened 2020 campaign. He also added just under 60 playoff innings in that four-year stretch.

He did miss about three months last year due to a left forearm strain, in addition to missing time due to a hamstring strain and a blister. He only made 14 starts last year but had been putting together a nice season in 2024 prior to this injury. He has already thrown 108 innings over 18 starts with a 3.08 ERA. His 21.5% strikeout rate is down a bit but he’s made opponents pound the ball into the ground at a 59% clip.

Fried placed fifth on MLBTR’s recent Free Agent Power Rankings, the #2 pitcher behind Corbin Burnes. He could still maintain that kind of earning power if he returns after a relatively brief absence and continues putting up strong numbers, but a more significant departure would obviously have an impact there as well.

Braves Agree To Terms With First-Round Pick Cam Caminiti

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  • The Braves are in agreement with 24th overall pick Cam Caminiti on a $3.5563MM bonus, reports Jim Callis of MLB Pipeline (X link). It’s full slot value for the Arizona prep left-hander. An LSU commit, Caminiti was the first high school pitcher off the board. Evaluators credit him with mid-90s fastball velocity and an advanced changeup. Law writes that the 6’2″ southpaw developed his curveball into an average or better offering this spring. There’s plenty of risk with the high school pitching demographic, but Caminiti has a chance to be a mid-rotation starter.

Brian Anderson Elects Free Agency

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July 16: Anderson has elected free agency, per his transactions tracker at MLB.com.

July 15: The Braves announced that infielder/outfielder Brian Anderson has been sent outright to Triple-A Gwinnett. There wasn’t any previous reporting to suggest he was on waivers but it appears he was quietly passed through without being claimed in recent days. No corresponding move was announced so Atlanta will have an open spot on the active roster to be filled after the All-Star break. Their 40-man roster count drops to 39.

Anderson, 31, started the year with the Mariners on a minor league deal but opted out at the start of June. He then landed a major league deal with Atlanta shortly after Ronald Acuña Jr. suffered a season-ending ACL tear and Austin Riley missed a couple of weeks with a side injury.

Since Anderson has split his time between third base and the outfield in his career, he was a natural fill-in under those circumstances. Shortly thereafter, Michael Harris II suffered a left hamstring strain, further thinning Atlanta’s outfield depth.

Despite the need, the club never really used Anderson. He appeared in just three games from June 5 to 12 and then landed on the IL June 25, retroactive to the 22nd, due to a bacterial infection. He was reinstated on Wednesday last week but didn’t get into any of the club’s most recent games.

Anderson is a veteran with more than enough service time to reject this outright assignment and elect free agency, though it’s not yet clear whether he will choose to do so. Roster shakeup should be high in the coming weeks with the July 30 trade deadline just over the horizon. Perhaps that will open up some opportunities for him elsewhere if he decides to head to the open market.

He had a solid three-year run with the Marlins from 2018 to 2020. Over those campaigns, he hit .266/.350/.436 for a 115 wRC+ while providing solid defense at the hot corner and in the outfield. Since then, his results have tapered off with injuries playing a significant role. His line from 2021 to the present is .229/.316/.360, 87 wRC+, not hitting the 100-game plateau in any of those seasons with shoulder and oblique injuries holding him back.

Poll: Who Will Win The 2024 Home Run Derby?

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The 2024 All-Star break festivities are already well underway, with the Futures Game in the books and the second of three draft days currently taking place. Tonight, the Home Run Derby will take center stage at 7pm Central time, with these participants:

The winner will get $1MM, with $500K for the runner-up and $150K for everyone else in the field. There’s also a $100K bonus for the player who hits the longest home run. Vladimir Guerrero Jr. won last year but opted not to defend his title, so there will be a new champion, though Alonso has two previous titles from 2019 and 2021 and will be looking for a third.

This year’s format will be different from previous versions, with Cole Jacobson of MLB.com providing a rundown. The primary change is that there will be no head-to-head matchups in the first round, as the four players with the most home runs will advance. If two players tie, the longest home run will be a tiebreaker. Previously, the knockout-style bracket system started right away but this year’s version won’t see that until the field has been narrowed to four. Once the knockout stage begins, ties will be settled by 60 seconds of extra time. If the players are still tied, they will engage in three-swing showdowns until they are no longer tied.

In the first two rounds, players with have three minutes, which drops to two minutes in the final round. The three-minute rounds will now have a 40-pitch maximum while the two-minute round will feature a 27-pitch maximum.

The bonus time is also different. Previous versions featured 30 seconds of automatic extra time, which jumped to 60 seconds if the player hit two or more home runs 440 feet or longer. This year, the bonus time will continue until a player record three “outs,” which is a swing that doesn’t result in a home run. If a player hits a home run 425 feet or longer in the bonus period, he will get a fourth out.

Of the eight players competing this year, Henderson has the most homers this year with 28. He is followed by Ozuna at 26, Ramírez at 23, Alonso and Hernández at 19, García at 17, Witt at 16 and Bohm at 11.

Who do you want to win and who do you think will win? Have you say in the polls below!

MLBTR Podcast: Brewers’ Pitching Needs, Marlins Rumors And The Nats Prepare To Sell

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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 Anthony Franco of MLB Trade Rumors to discuss…

Plus, we answer your questions, including…

  • Who gets traded from the Blue Jays at the deadline? (27:55)
  • What will the Mariners do to take advantage on their stellar rotation and make a run for their first World Series appearance? Also, should the Mariners trade J.P. Crawford for a proven hitter? (33:30)
  • Do you think there’s a chance the Braves make Max Fried a legitimate offer to keep him this winter? (39:00)

Check out our past episodes!

The podcast intro and outro song “So Long” is provided courtesy of the band Showoff.  Check out their Facebook page here!

Braves Outright J.P. Martinez

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The Braves announced that outfielder J.P. Martínez went unclaimed on outright waivers. Atlanta had designated him for assignment on Monday when they promoted Eddie Rosario. Atlanta also optioned AJ Smith-Shawver, placed Ramón Laureano on the 10-day injured list with an oblique strain, recalled Dylan Lee and reinstated Brian Anderson from the IL.

Martínez has appeared in seven games this year, picking up a lone start in right field. He has two hits in 10 at-bats. Acquired from the Rangers in an offseason DFA trade, Martínez has spent the majority of the year on optional assignment to Triple-A Gwinnett. Over 60 games with the Stripers, he’s hitting .244/.335/.360 with three home runs. Martínez has drawn a fair number of walks (10.9%) but gone down on strikes at an alarming 27.6% rate.

While he hasn’t had a great ’24 season, Martínez was a productive Triple-A player a year ago. He raked at a .298/.418/.543 clip with 14 homers and 38 stolen bases over 77 games with the Rangers’ top affiliate. That earned the Cuban-born outfielder 17 MLB appearances with Texas.

Martínez has never previously been outrighted and isn’t close to three years of major league service. As a result, he doesn’t have the ability to test free agency. He’ll stick in Gwinnett as non-roster outfield depth. Atlanta is likely to bring in outfield help before the July 30 deadline. With Laureano joining Ronald Acuña Jr. and Michael Harris II on the injured list, their current outfield group consists of Jarred Kelenic, Adam Duvall, Rosario, Anderson and Eli White.

Braves Select Eddie Rosario

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Eddie Rosario is back with the Braves, as Atlanta selected the veteran outfielder onto the MLB roster. The Braves also recalled right-hander Bryce Elder from Triple-A Gwinnett to start tonight’s contest with the D-Backs. Reliever Dylan Lee and utilityman Luke Williams were optioned out in corresponding moves. The Braves designated outfielder J.P. Martínez for assignment to create a 40-man roster spot for Rosario — a move that was reported this morning.

It’ll be Rosario’s fourth straight season logging MLB action as a Brave. Atlanta’s decision to buy low on the veteran outfielder at the 2021 trade deadline is etched into franchise history. The generally streaky Rosario caught fire down the stretch and into October, winning NLCS MVP honors and helping the Braves to a World Series. Atlanta re-signed him to a two-year, $18MM free agent deal that offseason.

The extension didn’t work out as hoped. He battled vision issues and slumped to a .212/.259/.328 batting line during the first season. Rosario bounced back somewhat to hit 21 home runs a year ago, though his .255/.305/.450 slash was average overall. Atlanta declined a $9MM option for the 2024 campaign, sending the 32-year-old back to the open market. Rosario lingered in free agency until Spring Training was underway. He eventually signed a minor league deal with the Nationals and locked in a $2MM salary when he made the team out of camp.

Rosario’s time in Washington was a disappointment. He got out to a dreadful first month, hitting .088 with just one homer through the end of April. The lefty-swinging outfielder connected on six longballs and five doubles in an impressive May before falling back into an extended slump. He hit .191/.200/.250 in June. The Nats pulled the plug last week, calling up top prospect James Wood and releasing Rosario after it became clear he wouldn’t play his way into being a valuable trade chip. Rosario finished his Washington tenure with a .183/.226/.329 slash across 235 plate appearances. He’s a .227/.275/.390 hitter over the past two and a half seasons.

That set the stage for another shot in Atlanta. The Braves inked Rosario to a minor league deal on Friday. After a trio of appearances for Gwinnett, he’s back in the MLB outfield. He could step into a left field platoon with the righty-swinging Ramón Laureano, who signed a minor league deal with Atlanta in May after being released by the Guardians. Laureano has been nursing a back issue for over a week, so Eli White (whose contract was just selected on Friday) started in left field for all three games of Atlanta’s weekend series with the Phillies.

Jarred Kelenic is playing every day in center field while Michael Harris II mends a hamstring strain. Adam Duvall is handling right field. The outfield is a clear weak point for the Braves since they lost Ronald Acuña Jr. to a season-ending ACL tear. It’s entirely unsurprising that they’re evaluating trade possibilities before the July 30 deadline. Rosario’s return stint with the Braves could be brief if president of baseball operations Alex Anthopoulos and his staff can land a more significant upgrade over the next few weeks.

For the time being, the Braves will take a low-cost roll of the dice on Rosario hitting a hot streak in a familiar setting. Atlanta will only pay him the prorated portion of the $740K league minimum for however long he’s on the roster. The Nats remain on the hook for the rest of his salary.

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