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Braves Exploring Trade Market For Outfield Help

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The Braves are actively surveying the trade market in an effort to bolster their outfield group, reports Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic. Atlanta recently brought veteran Eddie Rosario back on a minor league deal after he was released by the Nationals, but president of baseball operations Alex Anthopoulos is also canvassing the market for more certain upgrades. Talks to this point have been “preliminary” in nature, Rosenthal adds.

There’s little surprise that Atlanta is seeking to augment its outfield mix. Ronald Acuna Jr. was lost for the season two months ago when he suffered an ACL tear, and Michael Harris II is still on the mend from a Grade 2 hamstring strain suffered in mid-June. That pair of injuries has left the Braves relying on Jarred Kelenic in center field, where he’s being flanked by a combination of Adam Duvall, Ramon Laureano and Luke Williams. (Laureano, like Rosario, signed a minor league deal with Atlanta after being released earlier in the season.)

As one would imagine after a pair of major injuries to starters, the production from the Atlanta outfield hasn’t been anywhere close to expectation this season. Braves outfielders have combined to hit .239/.296/.372 on the season. That batting average lands them in the middle of the pack of MLB clubs, but they’re 24th in OBP from their outfield corps and 21st in slugging. Going back to the time Acuna was lost for the season, Atlanta outfielders are hitting just .227/.276/.374.

It’s still “early” enough in trade season that a number of borderline Wild Card contenders haven’t committed to a deadline strategy yet. There are a handful of outfielders who’ll clearly be available in trade among the few clear-cut sellers, however. The White Sox (Tommy Pham, Luis Robert Jr., Gavin Sheets), A’s (Brent Rooker, Miguel Andujar), Marlins (Jazz Chisholm Jr.) and Angels (Kevin Pillar, Taylor Ward) all have outfielders who are expected to be available between now and the July 30 trade deadline. Depending on how things play out around the league, that list could expand to include names like Lane Thomas, Jesse Winker, Randal Grichuk, Harrison Bader, Kevin Kiermaier and Mark Canha, among others.

Presumably, Atlanta’s focus will be on shorter-term solutions. Acuna is signed through 2026 with club options for the 2027-28 seasons. Harris is signed all the way through 2030, with club options for the 2031-32 seasons. Kelenic is under club control via arbitration through 2028. It’s certainly possible the Braves still acquire someone signed/controlled beyond the current season, but any such acquisition would likely need some familiarity playing elsewhere on the diamond, as the 2025 outfield is generally already in place.

Salary is likely another factor worth taking into consideration. Per RosterResource, Atlanta’s luxury-tax ledger is just shy of $273MM, placing them a little more than $4MM away from the third tier of penalization. Crossing into the third tier is the point at which a team’s top pick in the following year’s draft is pushed back 10 places — an outcome most clubs prefer to avoid. A trade partner could always pay down some salary to help alleviate those concerns for the Braves, but that would also only increase the cost in terms of prospects.

Braves To Designate J.P. Martinez For Assignment

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The Braves are designating outfielder J.P. Martinez for assignment, reports Francys Romero. The team has not yet announced the DFA or a corresponding transaction.

Acquired in an offseason swap that sent minor league righty Tyler Owens to the Rangers, the 28-year-old Martinez is a former high-profile signee out of Cuba who has seen limited big league action with Texas and Atlanta. Martinez made his MLB debut last year with the Rangers, hitting .225/.250/.325 in a tiny sample of 44 plate appearances. This year, he’s seen even less MLB time, going 2-for-10 with the Braves.

Though he hasn’t seen much MLB time and hasn’t hit well in his tiny cups of coffee, Martinez has a nice overall track record in Triple-A — despite middling numbers there in 2024. He’s hitting .244/.335/.360 thus far with the Braves’ Gwinnett affiliate but was outstanding with the Rangers’ top affiliate a year ago. In all, he’s played parts of three Triple-A seasons and slashed .258/.369/.450 in 777 plate appearances. He’s shown both power and speed in the upper minors, belting 23 Triple-A homers while going 72-for-82 in stolen base attempts. He’s played all three outfield spots in his professional career but has spent the majority of his time in center field.

Martinez has struggled with contact issues throughout his minor league tenure, often running strikeout rates in the upper-20s and low-30s. He looked to have reined that in last year with a manageable 22.9% strikeout rate in Triple-A, but that number has spiked back to 27.6% in 2024.

The Braves will have a five days to trade Martinez or place him on outright waivers. Going through waivers would then be a 48-hour process.

Inside Orlando Arcia's Tough Season

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The Phillies were shut out in today’s 6-0 loss to the Braves, dropping Philadelphia to a respectable 5-4 record in its nine games without injured sluggers Kyle Schwarber and Bryce Harper.  The good news is that at least Schwarber will be activated from the 10-day injured list for the Phils’ next game on Tuesday, and Harper seems on track to be activated at some point this week, even if Tuesday is still up in the air for the former NL MVP.

  • Orlando Arcia entered today’s action hitting .209/.245/.332 over 314 plate appearances, and with the lowest wRC+ (58) of any qualified hitter in baseball.  It has been an ugly dropoff for a player who had roughly a league-average 101 wRC+ for the Braves in 2022-23, and Arcia was even an All-Star last season after moving into the starting shortstop role.  Justin Toscano of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution writes that the Braves are seemingly okay with letting Arcia try to find himself at the plate, since he is at least continuing to deliver strong glovework at the shortstop position.  While Atlanta has been aggressive in promoting prospects in recent years, Toscano doesn’t think the team is considering bringing the hot-hitting Nacho Alvarez up to the majors as a potential replacement for Arcia, as Alvarez only just made his Triple-A debut last month.

Braves Sign Eddie Rosario To Minors Deal, Select Eli White

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The Braves have signed outfielder Eddie Rosario to a minor league contract, MLB.com’s Mark Bowman reports (X link).  Rosario will report to Triple-A Gwinnett to begin his latest stint with the organization.  The Braves also announced a set of other transactions, including the news that outfielder Eli White’s contract has been selected to the big league roster.  Forrest Wall was optioned to Triple-A to make room for White on the 26-man roster, while left-hander Ray Kerr was moved to the 60-man to create a 40-man roster spot.

It didn’t take long for Rosario to catch on with a familiar landing spot, as his release from the Nationals was made official just yesterday.  Washington designated Rosario for assignment on Monday and then officially parted ways with the veteran after nobody claimed him (or the roughly $950K in salary still owed to him this season) on waivers.  Assuming Rosario is called up to Atlanta’s active roster, the Braves will owe him just the prorated portion of a Major League minimum salary, and that total will be subtracted from the $950K or so that will be covered by the Nats.

As per the terms of the minor league deal Rosario signed with the Nationals during the offseason, he was guaranteed a $2MM base salary upon having that contract selected to their active roster, and there was no suspense about the decision since the Nats had him in their Opening Day lineup.  However, there weren’t many highlights of Rosario’s three months in the District, as he hit only .183/.226/.329 with seven home runs over 235 plate appearances.  Even with the Nats largely shielding Rosario from left-handed pitching, his .182/.222/.349 slash line against righties served to crater his production.

Though Washington has stuck around in the wild card race, it was widely expected going into the season that Rosario was a veteran trade chip that the Nationals would look at flip by the deadline.  Unfortunately, Rosario’s subpar production led the team to just release him with no return, and he’ll now return to Atlanta looking for a repeat of his magical 2021 season.

Rosario was also struggling through a rough 2021 campaign with Cleveland before the Braves picked him up at the trade deadline, and the rest became Atlanta baseball history.  Rosario hit .271/.330/.573 with seven homers in 106 PA over the rest of the regular season just to help the Braves into the playoffs, and the hot hitting continued into October as Rosario captured NLCS MVP honors en route to helping the team win the World Series.

The Braves then re-signed Rosario to a two-year, $18MM free agent deal that contained a $9MM club option for 2024, but Atlanta declined that option last fall after Rosario couldn’t keep the momentum going.  He battled vision problems during a miserable 2022 campaign, then rebounded for roughly league-average production (.255/.305/.455 with 21 homers in 516 PA) last year but the Braves still opted to pass on retaining Rosario’s services for another season.  With these decent numbers coming just last year, it wouldn’t be a shock to see Rosario experience at least some kind of a revival in Atlanta, even if a repeat of 2021 is a lot to ask.

In another odd echo of 2021, Rosario has again been acquired in the aftermath of a season-ending torn ACL from Braves superstar Ronald Acuna Jr.  Michael Harris II is also on the injured list recovering from a hamstring strain and recent acquisition Ramon Laureano has also been battling a back problem for the last week, leaving the Braves even more short-handed in the outfield.  Assuming that Rosario won’t be in Gwinnett for too long, he can become a left-handed hitting complement to the righty-swinging White and Luke Williams, as Jarred Kelenic continues everyday duty in center field and Adam Duvall in right field.  With Harris not expected back until after the All-Star break at the earliest, the Braves will try to make do with this group until Harris returns, or unless other reinforcements are brought in via trades or signings.

White is now in line for his first bit of MLB action this season, and his first since the Braves optioned him down to Triple-A in April 2023.  White has appeared in each of the last four Major League campaigns, and all but six of his 136 career games in the Show came with the Rangers from 2020-22.  He has batted just .181/.259/.288 in 406 career PA in the bigs, but White has been much better at Triple-A, including a .294/.402/.462 slash line for Gwinnett over 234 PA this season.

White’s brief career has unfortunately been defined by injuries, as his last three seasons have all been ended early by surgeries.  After an elbow surgery in 2021 and a wrist surgery in 2022, White suffered a tore labrum in his left shoulder almost exactly one year ago, which led to yet another procedure and another abbreviated season for the outfielder.  White’s all-fields defense and quality baserunning makes him a useful player for the outfield-needy Braves to have in at least a bench role, and his Triple-A numbers suggest that he could still have some late-bloomer potential at age 30.

It was announced two weeks ago that Kerr would be undergoing Tommy John surgery, so it was just a matter of time before the Braves moved him to the 60-day IL when a 40-man spot was needed.  Kerr had a 5.64 ERA in 22 1/3 innings for Atlanta this season, and the timing of his surgery could mean that he might miss the entire 2025 season.

Checking In On 2024’s Reliever-To-Rotation Experiments: July Edition

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About a quarter of the way through the 2024 season, I took a look at how the most prominent examples of teams’ attempts to turn an established reliever into a starter had progressed. At the time, the majority of these experiments were going well, by and large. At that mid-May juncture, most of the relievers making the switch had yet to reach their innings workloads from the season prior. Now that we’re at the season’s halfway point, that’s no longer the case. Many of the pitchers striving to make this jump are now approaching or have already eclipsed their 2023 innings totals — if not their career-high workloads — so it seems a good time to check back on how they’re faring.

As a reminder, the focus here is pitchers who pitched exclusively or near-exclusively out of the bullpen last season. Someone like the Rays’ Zack Littell or Red Sox’ Kutter Crawford, who moved into the rotation last summer and continued that move this year, isn’t the focus.

Garrett Crochet, LHP, White Sox

Stats at quarter mark: 9 games started, 46 2/3 innings, 4.63 ERA (2.47 SIERA), 34.2 K%, 4.8 BB%, 43.8 GB%

Stats since: 9 GS, 54 2/3 innings, 1.65 ERA (2.27 SIERA), 36.3 K%, 5.2 BB%, 45.5 GB%

At the 25% mark of the season, Crochet sat on a pedestrian ERA but elite K-BB profile. His production had been skewed by a series of three straight rough outings: five runs versus the Reds, seven in Philadelphia and another five in Minnesota.

Those three starts still stand as the worst three of his season. Crochet hasn’t yielded more than three runs in a single outing since that time. He’s not only maintained his elite K-BB profile but improved upon it, slightly upping his strikeout rate while sustaining his exceptional command. No starter in baseball is striking out hitters at a higher rate than Crochet, and only 12 are limiting their walks more effectively.

At last check, Crochet had ace-like rate stats but pedestrian run-prevention numbers overall. That’s no longer the case. The only question as to whether Crochet is a bona fide No. 1 starter is one of durability. All of the pieces are there, but Crochet has never pitched a full season in the rotation. In fact, this year’s combined 101 1/3 innings not only stand as a career-high, they eclipse his combined total of professional innings pitched — majors and minors combined — since being selected in the first round of the 2020 draft.

With two and a half years of team control left, a bottom-of-the-barrel $800K salary and the worst team in baseball behind him, Crochet stands as a clear-cut trade candidate. The Sox reportedly broached the possibility of an extension with him but are now expecting to trade him after contract talks failed to progress. A new team will have to worry about how Crochet will hold up down the stretch, but there’s little doubting that he’s a front-of-the-rotation talent.

Jordan Hicks, RHP, Giants

Stats at quarter mark: 9 GS, 48 innings, 2.44 ERA (3.99 SIERA), 19.9 K%, 8.2 BB%, 56.2 GB%

Stats since: 8 GS, 37 2/3 innings, 4.54 ERA (4.29 SIERA), 22.2 K%, 10.2 BB%, 45.8 GB%

Early on, Hicks was thriving in terms of run-prevention in spite of a pedestrian strikeout rate. He’s picked up the strikeout rate a bit since that time but has seen his command, ground-ball rate and velocity all drop. After averaging 5 1/3 innings through his first nine starts, Hicks is averaging about 4 2/3 innings per outing and has seen his average sinker velocity drop by nearly two miles per hour. Since mid-May, his sinker is averaging 93.5 mph — down from the 95.5 mph at last check and even further from the 100.2 mph Hicks averaged in his time as a reliever.

Hicks has struggled to turn the lineup over multiple times. Opponents own an awful .196/.268/.348 slash when facing him the first time in a game. Unlike many pitchers, who experience a stark drop when facing opponents a third time, Hicks’ troubles begin the second trip through the order. Opponents in those settings carry a .267/.373/.382 slash. He’s only faced a hitter for the third time on a given day 57 times this season, but opponents have batted .283/.333/.434 in that small sample.

Back in May, I noted that opponents had posted an embarrassing .079/.167/.105 slash in the 42 plate appearances Hicks had finished off with a splitter. They’ve fared better against the pitch since that time, though it’d be hard to have performed much worse. And, with opponents still slashing only .160/.244/.272 against the pitch (which Statcast credits with a .270 expected wOBA), that newly implemented offering still has the look of a plus pitch.

Hicks has remained reasonably effective but hasn’t been the roaring success he was through the first quarter of the season. San Francisco signed the 27-year-old flamethrower to a four-year, $44MM deal and did so with an eye toward Hicks starting, so it’s clear this is a multi-year undertaking. Nothing Hicks has done to date suggests he decidedly can’t handle being a starter, but he’s faded from his early-season production, which is perhaps to be expected for a pitcher whose 85 2/3 innings are already a career-high mark.

The manner in which Hicks has begun to fade only further underscores the remarkable nature of Crochet’s performance to date as he navigates uncharted workload territory. That said, Hicks has an overall 3.36 ERA with a nearly average strikeout rate, a manageable walk rate and a plus ground-ball rate. There have been some roadblocks of late, but this year could serve as a launching pad to a better performance in 2025-27, when he’s more accustomed to his current workload.

Reynaldo Lopez, RHP, Braves

Stats at quarter mark: 7 GS, 40 1/3 innings, 1.34 ERA (4.00 SIERA), 25.2 K%, 10.1 BB%, 40.2 GB%

Stats since: 7 GS, 39 innings, 2.08 ERA (3.58 SIERA), 26.1 K%, 7.0 BB%, 32.7 GB%

The Braves have been judicious with Lopez’s start-by-start workload thus far. He hasn’t topped 94 pitches in a single appearance and has only recorded four outs after the sixth inning all season. So far, that level of caution has paid off. Since last check, Lopez hasn’t lost any life of his heater and has actually tacked on 0.4 mph on average, per Statcast.

Atlanta doesn’t often give Lopez the opportunity to turn the lineup over a third time, and the opportunities he’s had haven’t gone well. Lopez has yielded a mid-.500s OPS to opponents the first or second time through the order but has been tagged for a .245/.359/.396 batting line the third time through. It’s not egregious, but it’s far less dominant than his first couple trips through a lineup.

Lopez is still running a plus strikeout rate, and he’s improved his command and his velocity as the season has worn on. As the only member of this list who’s previously worked multiple full seasons as a starter, he might have been the best-equipped to handle this transition, and so far it doesn’t appear he’s slowing down much at all.

Lopez entered the season with a career 71.1% strand rate, and he’s currently stranding 86.3% of his baserunners. His .279 average on balls in play is lower than league average but right in line with his career .281 mark. He’s allowed only 0.45 homers per nine frames, thanks in large part to a paltry 4.7% homer-to-flyball ratio that sits well shy of his career 11.3% mark. There’s some correlation there; it’s easier to strand runners if you’re almost never allowing a ball to clear the outfield fence, after all. In all likelihood, both that HR/FB and strand rate will trend toward his career marks as the season (and, more broadly, his three-year contract) wears on, but the outside-the-box bet on Lopez as a starter looks like one that will pay off for Atlanta.

Jose Soriano, RHP, Angels

Stats at quarter mark: 7 GS, 38 2/3 innings, 3.72 ERA (4.03 SIERA), 20.3 K%, 9.5 BB%, 61.5 GB%

Stats since: 5 GS, 33 2/3 innings, 3.21 ERA (3.97 SIERA), 16.9 K%, 6.2 BB%, 58.6 GB%

Soriano was continuing his sharp start to the season when he was scratched from a mid-June start due to abdominal pain. The Halos discovered an infection in the young righty’s abdomen that required a trip to the injured list and was expected to sideline him a few weeks. That’s thrown a bit of a wrench into his rotation breakout, though there’s no indication it’s a serious issue and the Halos can take solace in the fact that there’s no arm issue at play. And, after pitching just 65 1/3 innings last season, Soriano is already at 72 1/3 frames this year, so perhaps it can serve as a well-timed breather for his right arm.

The 25-year-old Soriano’s first run as a starter in the big leagues this season looked promising through mid-May and continues to do so. Impressively, he hasn’t lost any life on his four-seamer or sinker despite the shift from short relief to starting work. Statcast measured his average four-seamer at 98.9 mph in both 2023 and 2024, while his sinker clocked in at an average of 97.7 mph in 2023 and is actually marginally better in 2024 at 97.8 mph.

That sinker has helped Soriano run up an elite ground-ball rate; his 60.1% grounder rate ranks third among the 145 big league pitchers with at least 50 innings pitched this year, trailing only Framber Valdez (61.4%) and Cristopher Sanchez (60.3%). That uptick in grounder rate over last year’s 51% mark correlates with a huge spike in Soriano’s sinker usage (13.3% in ’23, 40% in ’24). The extra sinker usage has come at the expense of some four-seamers (25.8% in ’23, 17.8% in ’24) and particularly Soriano’s knuckle curve (41.2% in ’23, 27.5% in ’24).

The tweak in repertoire could come down to a pursuit of efficiency as Soriano looks to work deeper into games. The right-hander fanned 30.3% of opponents last season and registered a hearty 14.8% swinging-strike rate but also required 16.6 pitches per inning pitched, on average. In 2024, his strikeout rate is down to 20.3% with a 10.2% swinging-strike rate. But he’s significantly upped his grounder rate and is now averaging just 15.1 pitches per frame. Soriano averaged 6 2/3 innings per start in the five appearances between our last check and this one, so it seems clear he’s placing an emphasis on being able to work deeper into games in his new role. Opponents are hitting .313/.421/.521 in 58 plate appearances when facing him a third time, so the results aren’t there so far, however.

Bryse Wilson, RHP, Brewers

Stats at quarter mark: 11 G (5 GS), 34 innings, 2.65 ERA (4.60 SIERA), 20.4 K%, 10.9 BB%, 39.1 GB%

Stats since: 9 G (4 GS), 44 innings, 5.52 ERA (4.27 SIERA), 17.6 K%, 6.7 BB%, 41.3 GB%

Wilson hasn’t technically “started” each of his past nine appearances, but he’s averaged five innings per outing while working as a starter and bulk reliever (on the heels of an opener). Effectively, the Brewers are using him as a starter — they’re just shielding him from the top-third of some lineups on occasion, when the matchup dictates.

This wasn’t a planned move to a longer role. The former Braves top prospect and Pirates hurler entered the season slated for a second straight season as Milwaukee’s long man, but injuries to Wade Miley, Joe Ross, Robert Gasser and DL Hall combined to not only push Wilson into this rotation-ish role but to keep him there. After pitching 76 2/3 innings of pure long relief in 2023, Wilson is already at 78 frames and counting.

As one would typically expect, Wilson’s fastball has taken a slight dip as he’s stretched out for longer stints. He averaged 94 mph through the season’s first quarter, but several of those earlier appearances were still in short relief. He’s averaging 93.2 mph since mid-May and has seen his strikeout rate drop but also seen his walk rate improve. As he’s been tasked with facing more lefties, Wilson has upped his changeup and cutter usage a bit, doing so at the expense of his four-seamer and curveball.

Wilson has been far too homer-prone this season (1.62 HR/9) and is giving up too much hard contact (45.8%, per Statcast). More so than any pitcher on this list, he’s run into troubles the third time through the order; in 45 such plate appearances, they’ve posted a Herculean .400/.467/.650 slash. Those plate appearances account for just 13.6% of Wilson’s batters faced this season but have resulted in 21.5% of his home runs allowed. Wilson seems best suited for a long relief role or a five-inning start/bulk role, but he’s pitched more than five innings six times this season and is giving Milwaukee some desperately needed innings when their rotation is in tatters.

A.J. Puk, LHP, Marlins

Stats at quarter mark: 4 GS, 13 2/3 innings, 9.22 ERA (7.13 SIERA), 15.6 K%, 22.1 BB%, 31.9 GB%

Stats since: 0  GS, 21 1/3 innings, 2.95 ERA (3.36 SIERA), 21.4 K%, 4.8 BB%, 44.3 GB%

The Marlins quickly pulled the plug on the Puk rotation experiment, and it’s worked out for all parties. The former No. 6 overall pick (A’s, 2016) turned heads as a starter in spring training but was shelled in what currently stand as the only four starts of his big league career (though Puk was a starter both for the University of Florida and in the minor leagues).

It’s unlikely that Puk would’ve continued to struggle quite so substantially had Miami continued using him as a starter, but the left-hander certainly looks more comfortable in the short relief role in which he thrived from 2022-23 (123 innings, 3.51 ERA, 19 saves, 22 holds, 29.4 K%, 6.9 BB%). He’s performing far better in his old role, and he required a three-week stint on the injured list for shoulder fatigue following his early start in the rotation.

There’s no reason to fault the Marlins for trying to stretch out a clearly talented reliever who has a track record in the rotation, but Puk is back in the bullpen and figures to draw attention over the next month from teams seeking left-handed bullpen help. He’s controllable through the 2026 season.

Tyler Alexander, LHP, Rays

Stats at quarter mark: 7 G (5 GS), 39 2/3 innings, 5.45 ERA (4.44 SIERA), 19.1 K%, 6.9 BB%, 30.4 GB%

Stats since: 3 G (1 GS), 17 innings, 7.94 ERA (3.68 SIERA), 20.3 K%, 1.4 BB%, 27.8 GB%

Alexander entered the season in the same type of role Wilson currently holds with the Brewers: occasional starter and frequent bulk reliever behind an opener. He made a handful of solid appearances early on, though the value of those was offset by some particularly rough outings versus the Yankees (six runs in seven innings) and the Royals (eight runs in five innings).

Following our last check-in, Alexander made three appearances before being optioned to Triple-A Durham, where he’s worked quite effectively out of the Bulls’ rotation: five starts, 29 2/3 innings, 3.64 ERA, 24.2% strikeout rate, 2.4% walk rate. That should position him as a depth option in the event of a big league injury and/or trade. Tampa Bay reportedly has considered fielding offers on current members of its big league rotation — Zack Littell and Aaron Civale, most notably. Part of that is due to the looming returns of Shane Baz and Jeffrey Springs, but Alexander gives them another rotation candidate who’s performed well recently in Durham.

The Rays haven’t abandoned the Alexander starting experiment, but for the time being he’s not in their big league rotation plans. Speculatively, that could make Alexander himself a trade option for teams seeking back-of-the-rotation depth, though if the Rays do ultimately move Littell, Civale or a more expensive arm like Zach Eflin, they may not want to deplete the rotation depth much further.

Orlando Cepeda Passes Away

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Hall of Famer Orlando Cepeda has passed away at age 86, the Giants announced. Cepeda played nine of his 17 MLB campaigns in San Francisco and won the 1967 National League MVP award as a member of the Cardinals.

A native of Ponce, Puerto Rico, Cepeda secured a minor league contract with the Giants in 1955. He hit 22 home runs as a 17-year-old in his first minor league season, hinting at the power he’d eventually show in the big leagues. Cepeda quickly hit his way up the ladder, reaching the majors midway through April in 1958. His arrival coincided with the franchise’s move to San Francisco.

The first baseman wasted no time in cementing himself as one of the faces of the organization. He raked at a .312/.342/.512 clip with 25 homers and a National League-high 38 doubles at age 20. Cepeda was a unanimous choice as the Senior Circuit’s Rookie of the Year and finished ninth in MVP balloting. While he didn’t earn an All-Star selection in his first season, Cepeda would earn trips to the Midsummer Classic in the six seasons thereafter.

The 6’2″ slugger reached 35 doubles and topped 20 homers in his second and third years. He took his already excellent form to another level in his fourth season. Cepeda blasted a career-high 46 longballs to top the National League. He drove in a staggering 142 runs while hitting .311/.362/.609 over 152 contests. Cepeda led the majors in RBI and finished runner-up to Frank Robinson in MVP balloting.

While he didn’t quite match those numbers in 1962, Cepeda popped another 35 homers and drove in 114 runs. He finished 15th in MVP voting and helped the Giants capture the pennant. He didn’t have a great World Series as the Yankees dropped the Giants in a seven-game set, but he’d get another couple cracks at the Fall Classic later in the decade.

Those didn’t come in San Francisco. Cepeda remained a productive hitter for the next couple seasons, topping 30 homers while hitting over .300 in each of the next two years. He lost most of the ’65 campaign to injury, though, putting something of a sour end on an illustrious run with the organization. The Giants traded Cepeda to the Cardinals for left-hander Ray Sadecki in May 1966. While Sadecki was a solid starting pitcher for the next couple seasons, that blockbuster turned out squarely in the Cards’ favor.

Cepeda hit .303/.362/.469 in his first year with the Cardinals. He paced the NL with 111 RBI the following season, running a .325/.399/.524 line over 644 plate appearances. Cepeda helped the Cardinals to 101 wins and a trip to the World Series. He topped teammate Tim McCarver to win the MVP. While Cepeda only had three hits in the Series, the Cards triumphed over the Red Sox in seven games to claim the eighth title in franchise history.

The Cardinals won a second straight pennant the following season, though they fell to the Tigers in the ’68 World Series. St. Louis traded Cepeda to the Braves the following Spring Training in a one-for-one swap for Joe Torre. The star catcher and future Hall of Fame manager would win the ’71 MVP in St. Louis, so the Cardinals netted a future MVP on both ends of their respective Cepeda trades.

Cepeda was a key contributor for Atlanta over three and a half seasons in his own right. He remained a well above-average hitter, running a .281/.343/.486 line in 401 games as a Brave. Atlanta traded him to the A’s in 1972 for Denny McLain, a deal that didn’t work out for either team. Cepeda signed with the Red Sox as a full-time designated hitter in 1973 and hit .289/.350/.444 to earn a few more down-ballot MVP votes. He retired after a brief stint with the Royals the year after.

Over a career that spanned parts of 17 seasons, Cepeda hit .297/.350/.499 in more than 2100 games. He finished his playing days with 379 home runs, 2351 hits and 1365 runs batted in. He’s 74th on the all-time leaderboard in homers and tied with Garret Anderson for 87th in RBI. Cepeda spent 15 years on the Hall of Fame ballot, falling just shy of induction with 73.5% of the vote share in his final year (1994). Five years later, he was enshrined by the Veterans Committee.

While Cepeda had an accomplished run for three franchises, he’ll always be best remembered for his time with the Giants. He hit .308/.352/.535 in more than 4500 plate appearances in a San Francisco uniform. The franchise retired his #30 and unveiled a statue in his honor outside of Oracle Park back in 2008. His passing unfortunately comes only 10 days after the death of his longtime teammate and fellow Giants/MLB icon Willie Mays. MLBTR joins others throughout the sport in sending condolences to Cepeda’s family, loved ones, former teammates and the countless fans whose lives he touched over his excellent career.

MLBTR Podcast: Injured Trade Candidates, The Cristopher Sánchez Extension And Blue Jays’ Woes

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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 Steve Adams of MLB Trade Rumors to discuss…

Plus, we answer your questions, including…

  • “What would it take for the Rockies to consider trading some young assets like Ryan McMahon or Brendan Rodgers?” (23:55)
  • “The Astros are clearly out of it, so why isn’t Ryan Pressly a top target of teams with bad bullpens?” (30:35)
  • “Would the Marlins or Nationals trade with the Mets, Phillies or Braves, with Jazz Chisholm Jr. and Lane Thomas being good fits?” (39:25)
  • “Will T.J. McFarland of the Athletics be traded to the Cubs or another contender?” (47:45)

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’ Ray Kerr To Undergo Tommy John Surgery

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Braves left-hander Ray Kerr will need to undergo Tommy John surgery, manager Brian Sntiker told reporters this evening (video on X via Bally Sports South). Atlanta had optioned the hard-throwing southpaw to Triple-A Gwinnett on June 15. The Braves rescinded that option this evening and placed him on the MLB injured list with the UCL issue.

Kerr will spend the rest of the year on the injured list. (The small consolation is that he’ll be paid at the prorated $740K MLB minimum rate because the injury evidently occurred before he was sent down.) Atlanta can move him to the 60-day injured list whenever they need to open a spot on the 40-man roster. They’ll either need to reinstate him onto the 40-man or put him on waivers at the start of next offseason.

The latter outcome would be particularly frustrating, but it’s possible the Braves don’t want to carry Kerr on their 40-man roster all winter. He’ll certainly be out into the second half of next year and could miss the entire ’25 campaign.

Atlanta liked Kerr enough to eat $4MM of Matt Carpenter’s $5.5MM salary in a trade with the Padres last offseason. The Braves immediately designated Carpenter for assignment and released him, so the trade was entirely about “purchasing” Kerr’s contractual rights. Atlanta even dabbled with moving Kerr to the rotation, giving him a pair of starts in late May.

Those outings didn’t go particularly well, as the 29-year-old allowed seven runs across 7 1/3 innings from the rotation. Kerr had more success in his typical bullpen role, tossing 14 2/3 innings of six-run ball. He punched out 27 hitters while issuing seven walks overall. Kerr is up to 54 1/3 frames of 5.30 ERA ball over parts of three seasons in the big leagues. He likely wouldn’t reach arbitration until the 2027 season, so the Braves could keep him around at little financial cost if they’re willing to carry him on the roster.

MLBTR Podcast: José Abreu’s Release, Betts and Yamamoto Hit The IL And Even More Injuries

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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 Steve Adams of MLB Trade Rumors to discuss…

Plus, we answer your questions, including…

  • Do the Giants have a chance of getting Pete Alonso? Or will the Mets make additions if they carry the power of Grimace into the deadline? (32:15)
  • How should the Nationals address their outfield surplus? And where did all these good pitchers come from? (42:35)
  • What are the chances the White Sox package Luis Robert Jr. and Garrett Crochet at the deadline? And if they trade Crochet and Erick Fedde, how will they fill the rotation after? (49:55)

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 Place Hurston Waldrep On Injured List

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The Braves sustained yet another injury within their starting staff, as young right-hander Hurston Waldrep has been placed on the 15-day injured list due to elbow inflammation, per a team announcement. Righty Daysbel Hernandez is up from Triple-A Gwinnett in his place. Atlanta has also optioned outfielder J.P. Martinez to Gwinnett and recalled fellow outfielder Forrest Wall in his place.

Manager Brian Snitker indicated last night that Waldrep would be optioned to Gwinnnett. However, Mark Bowman of MLB.com tweets that the 22-year-old Waldrep subsequently informed the team’s training staff that his elbow was more sore than usual following his recent start. He’ll now join Spencer Strider, AJ Smith-Shawver and Huascar Ynoa on the injured list.

Waldrep, the team’s first-round pick just last year, made his MLB debut earlier this month. He’s taken the mound twice since being promoted to the big leagues but been hit quite hard, yielding 13 runs on nine hits and eight walks with only three strikeouts through seven innings. The former Florida Gator standout hasn’t completed four innings in either of his two starts and issued four free passes in each.

Tough as his debut has been, Waldrep excelled in the upper minors prior to his promotion. Through 49 1/3 Double-A frames, he pitched to an excellent 2.92 ERA with a 22.4% strikeout rate and 7.9% walk rate. The Braves promoted him to Triple-A after that start, where he pitched six innings and allowed three runs — but only on five hits and one walk with a terrific 11 strikeouts.

Since he was set to be optioned anyhow, Waldrep’s injury won’t necessarily subtract from the immediate MLB rotation. Atlanta will still lean on Reynaldo Lopez, Chris Sale, Max Fried, Charlie Morton and rookie Spencer Schwellenbach for the time being, and there are still quality options in Gwinnett — Bryce Elder most notably. But any elbow issue for a promising young arm is troubling, and Waldrep’s injury does further deplete the team’s depth for the time being.

As for the outfield shuffle, Martinez will head down to Gwinnett after going hitless in 10 plate appearances with the big league squad. Wall will get a look after batting .287/.393/.415 with four homers and 11 steals for the Stripers. He’ll replace Martinez as a left-handed bat in the outfield mix, giving Snitker some additional speed off the bench. Given Adam Duvall’s woeful .084/.126/.108 slash against fellow righties — he’s hitting .275/.393/.565 against southpaws — Wall could see some action against right-handed pitching as well.

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