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Julio Teheran

Braves Not Ruling Out Re-Signing Julio Teheran

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Although the Braves bought out right-hander Julio Teheran’s 2020 option on Monday, that doesn’t necessarily mean the two sides’ longstanding union is over. General manager Alex Anthopoulos indicated after letting Teheran go that he hasn’t slammed the door on signing the hurler to a new contract, per David O’Brien of The Athletic (subscription link).

“We’ll continue to stay in contact with him,” Anthopoulos said. “Obviously, he’ll have a chance now to test the market and talk to other teams. But I think there’s an openness on both sides to continue the relationship. So, we’ll see where that leads.”

While Teheran’s no longer the front-end starter he looked like earlier in his career, the two-time All-Star has at least been a productive source of innings throughout his MLB tenure. Teheran just turned in his seventh straight season with no fewer than 30 starts (33) or 170-plus frames (174 2/3). He pitched to an above-average 3.81 ERA along the way, but as has typically been the case, ERA indicators such as FIP (4.66), xFIP (5.26) and SIERA (5.11) were far less bullish. Teheran did strike out a career-high 8.35 batters per nine, but he also walked 4.28, continued to induce grounders at a less-than-stellar clip (39 percent), and saw his average fastball velocity drop to a personal-low 89.7 mph. Those are just some of the red flags that may have scared off the Braves, who turned down paying Teheran $12MM for next season in favor of a $1MM buyout.

Now that he’s on the free-agent market, Teheran – who still has one more season left in his 20s – has a chance to score an overall larger guarantee than the one the Braves rejected. MLBTR regards Teheran as one of a few starters who could secure a pact in the $18MM range over two years.

Anthopoulos’ words aside, it obviously looks doubtful Atlanta will end up as the team to hand Teheran his next deal. The Braves instead appear poised to redirect some of what would have been Teheran’s money in an effort to reel in a bigger fish, as they’ll go after “a front-line starter” to join the returning trio of Mike Soroka, Max Fried and Mike Foltynewicz, O’Brien writes.

Gerrit Cole or Stephen Strasburg are hands down the top unsigned starters in the sport, but both seem like unrealistic targets for Atlanta. Zack Wheeler, Madison Bumgarner, Hyun-Jin Ryu, Jake Odorizzi, Dallas Keuchel (a Brave in 2019) and Cole Hamels are among the best of the rest, and no one there will rival Cole or Strasburg in earning power. However, it’s up for debate how many of them are legitimate rotation headliners at this point. The Braves could also explore the trade market, where the Tigers’ Matthew Boyd (an ATL target over the summer) and the Indians’ Corey Kluber are among those who may be rumor mill regulars this winter.

Braves Decline Options Over Teheran, Hamilton; Issue Qualifying Offer To Josh Donaldson

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The Braves announced today that they have declined options over righty Julio Teheran and center fielder Billy Hamilton. In other news, the club made a qualifying offer to third baseman Josh Donaldson.

In Teheran’s case — the most interesting one of the three — the club will pay a $1MM buyout rather than picking up the option at $12MM. It isn’t entirely surprising to see that the Braves are ready to move on from the long-time rotation stalwart, but it had been possible to imagine the team exercising the option and then trading him.

Teheran has never been the ace that some once expected him to be. But he has generally been quite effective, with a 3.67 lifetime ERA and sub-4.00 marks in each of the past two campaigns. And Teheran has been freakishly durable, scarcely missing a single outing and averaging 191 innings since his first full season in 2013.

It’s debatable just how much interest Teheran will draw on the open market. But it’s plenty possible to imagine teams considering multi-year offers. Beyond his excellent health record, Teheran is still just 28 years of age.

As for Hamilton, claimed off waivers in August, there was never any chance his mutual option would be exercised by the team at a $7.5MM price tag. He’ll take a $1MM buyout with him as he goes back onto the open market.

It was equally obvious that Donaldson would receive the $17.8MM qualifying offer at $17.8MM. The Braves paid him more than that for one season already and got everything they bargained for. There’s no question Donaldson will turn down the offer and take to free agency.

Julio Teheran Replaces Chris Martin On Braves’ NLDS Roster

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Right-hander Julio Teheran will replace injured reliever Chris Martin on the Braves’ postseason roster, the team announced Friday morning. Mark Bowman of MLB.com tweets that with Teheran now on board, he’ll likely draw the starting nod in a theoretical Game 4, with lefty Max Fried continuing on as a relief option for the rest of the series.

Martin didn’t throw a pitch in last night’s contest, as he sustained an oblique strain when coming out of the ’pen to begin the eighth inning. At the time, Atlanta held a 3-1 lead but quickly saw things unravel when right-handers Luke Jackson and Mark Melancon combined to surrender six earned runs while recording a collective total of five outs. Despite a pair of ninth-inning homers from Ronald Acuna Jr. and Freddie Freeman, the Braves were left stunned by a 7-6 loss at the hands of the NL Central champion Cardinals.

Fried had been tentatively lined up to start Game 4, if necessary, after being available out of the ’pen in the first couple games of the series. He tossed 14 pitches and picked up two strikeouts in a flawless inning of relief yesterday, and if he’s going to be reserved for a bullpen role for the remainder of the NLDS, it stands to reason that he’ll be more available for multi-inning work now as well.

Martin’s injury, meanwhile, likely brings an end to his time with the Braves. While Atlanta could re-sign him, he’s a free agent at season’s end and will also have the opportunity to explore offers from other clubs. Acquired on July 30 in a trade that sent pitching prospect Kolby Allard to the Rangers, the 33-year-old Martin logged a 4.08 ERA and a sensational 22-to-1 K/BB ratio in 17 2/3 innings with the Braves.

The unfortunate injury also gives the 28-year-old Teheran what could be one final opportunity to pitch in a Braves uniform. While he’s controlled for the 2020 season via a $12MM club option ($1MM buyout), there’s no guarantee that the Braves opt to exercise that clause. (MLBTR readers weighed in on the subject last night and were evenly split when polled about his future.) In 174 2/3 innings this season, Teheran pitched to a 3.81 ERA with 8.4 K/9, 4.3 BB/9, 1.13 HR/9 and a 39 percent ground-ball rate. Those are solid enough numbers, but Teheran’s walk rate has risen significantly over the past two seasons while his velocity has dropped (career-low 89.7 mph average fastball in ’19).

Braves’ Chris Martin Likely Out For Rest Of Postseason

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10:59pm: Atlanta’s “likely” to replace Martin with Teheran, per Bowman.

9:20pm: The Braves lost Game 1 after a bullpen implosion, and it appears they’ll have to go the rest of the playoffs without Martin. Expectations are he’s done for the postseason, David O’Brien of The Athletic tweets. It’s not known yet who will replace Martin on Atlanta’s roster.

7:22pm: As of this writing, Atlanta’s bullpen just blew a late lead over St. Louis in the first game of the National League Division Series. The two teams are heading to the bottom of the eighth inning tied at three. The Braves had a 3-1 advantage entering the top of the frame, which turned into a catastrophe for the club. It began when right-hander Chris Martin, whom the Braves initially called on to preserve the lead, exited with tightness in his left oblique, Mark Bowman of MLB.com was among those to report.

Martin left prior to throwing a pitch, leading the Braves to turn to righty Luke Jackson, who struggled over two-thirds of an inning before they pulled him. His replacement, Mark Melancon, also failed to get the job done.

Considering oblique injuries often require absences of at least a few weeks, it seems possible Martin won’t pitch again this season. That would be an awful development for the Braves, who acquired Martin in July with the hope he’d carry his impressive first few months with Texas to Atlanta. It turns out the 33-year-old hasn’t been quite as effective as a Brave, as his ERA has climbed a full run from 3.08 to 4.08, though he did end the regular season in excellent fashion. Martin threw 5 1/3 innings of two-hit ball with no walks and eight strikeouts in September.

Between his two teams this year, Martin posted a fantastic 65 strikeouts against five free passes over 55 2/3 innings. Martin will try to parlay that production into a nice payday when he reaches free agency after the season. In the meantime, the Braves can ill afford to lose him as they attempt to push for a World Series. If Martin is in for a lengthy absence, though, they may end up having to call on one of Julio Teheran, Anthony Swarzak, Jerry Blevins, Kyle Wright or Bryse Wilson – all of whom were left off their NLDS roster.

MLBTR Poll: Julio Teheran’s Option

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The Braves are currently licking their wounds after collapsing in the first game of their National League Division Series matchup against the Cardinals on Thursday. Before the series began, Atlanta made the decision to leave right-hander Julio Teheran off its roster in order to deepen its bench. It wasn’t long ago that keeping Teheran out of a playoff series would have been unthinkable for the Braves, as he was once among the crown jewels of the franchise. In fact, during his first two full seasons (2013-14), Teheran notched 63 starts and 406 2/3 innings of 3.03 ERA/3.58 FIP ball with 7.88 K/9 and 2.12 BB/9. Prior to the second of those seasons, the Braves locked up Teheran to an extension worth a guaranteed $32.4MM over six years. At the time, it was the second-largest pact given to a pitcher with just two years’ service time.

Now 28, Teheran has hung with the Braves through the entirety of his deal, though he hasn’t been able to deliver the results he did during his early career coming-out party. Now, it’s possible he’s just about at the end of the line as a Brave. After the season concludes, the Braves will have a call to make on whether to exercise the $12MM club option for 2020 that they included in Teheran’s contract. They could pick it up with the goal of retaining Teheran, exercise it and try to trade him or decline it in favor of a $1MM buyout.

A one-year, $12MM gamble on Teheran wouldn’t look wholly unappealing for the Braves or anyone else. In Atlanta’s case, the club will head into the offseason with only Mike Soroka, Max Fried and Mike Foltynewicz looking sure to return from this year’s staff (Game 1 NLDS starter Dallas Keuchel is a pending free agent). The team could also explore free agency and trades for other possible solutions and-or turn to young arms like Ian Anderson, Kyle Wright, Bryse Wilson and Kyle Muller sometime in 2020. That foursome has little to no major league experience under its belt, though. Wright and Wilson have struggled over a small sample of MLB innings, while Anderson and Muller have not debuted yet.

If nothing else, Teheran has shown a consistent ability to eat innings. He’s fresh off his seventh consecutive regular season of 30-plus starts. Moreover, in 2019, Teheran continued an annual trend of yielding a low batting average on balls in play (.266), recording a solid home run-to-fly ball rate (11.2 percent) and outproducing his fielding-independent numbers. Across a team-high 174 2/3 innings, he managed a 3.81 ERA despite a far less appealing 4.66 FIP, 5.26 xFIP and 5.11 SIERA. While Teheran added a career-high 8.35 strikeouts per nine innings, he also turned in his second-largest walk rate (4.28 BB/9), once again induced few ground balls (39 percent), logged an all-time low swinging-strike percentage (9.2) and averaged a personal-worst 89.7 mph on his four-seam fastball – the pitch he relies on most.

Teheran clearly has his flaws, but that doesn’t mean the Braves will move on from him. It also doesn’t mean he’ll wind up making zero contributions this postseason (he could get back on their roster immediately as a result of Chris Martin’s oblique injury). Atlanta obviously has greater priorities right now than worrying about Teheran’s future, but once the Braves’ season ends, what do you think they’ll do with him?

(Poll link for app users)

Braves Leave Julio Teheran Off NLDS Roster

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TODAY: The Braves have formally announced the full roster. In addition to the moves previously announced, the club nailed down a few other spots. Darren O’Day and Josh Tomlin got the nod in the bullpen over other options that included Julio Teheran, Anthony Swarzak, Jerry Blevins, Kyle Wright, and Bryse Wilson.

YESTERDAY: Braves manager Brian Snitker announced today that the team has decided not to carry Julio Teheran on its roster for the National League Divisional Series. MLB.com’s Mark Bowman was among those to cover (Twitter links). The action gets underway tomorrow, with the Braves squaring off against the NL Central-champion Cardinals.

The Atlanta organization elected not to carry an extra starter, preferring instead to operate with a deeper bench. Left-handed-hitting outfielder Rafael Ortega got the surprise nod for that spot, with Austin Riley also being left out of the picture. Veteran righty Josh Tomlin nabbed a final bullpen spot.

While the Braves did not formally release a full roster list, we can surmise the remainder of the picture:

Right-handed pitchers

Left-handed pitchers

Catchers

Infielders

Outfielders

Snitker indicated that the team decided to carry an extra bench piece in large part because of the absences of Charlie Culberson, Johan Camargo, and Ender Inciarte, who might’ve been entrusted to broader roles. That pushed Teheran out of the picture, leaving Fried as the fourth starter if one is needed.

There’s clearly a real possibility that Teheran’s last appearance in a Braves uniform was his final one. He could still be called upon if the Braves advance to the NLCS and have slightly different needs. And it’s still plenty possible that the organization will elect to pick up Teheran’s $12MM option for 2020 — even if only to trade him on to another club.

It’s also potentially telling to see Riley left home in favor of Ortega. There’s little question Riley has a future in the organization; the latter was chosen primarily because he’s a left-handed hitter who balances out the options for Snitker. But it’s still notable that Riley wasn’t able to push his way into the postseason plans. It remains to be seen whether the Braves will enter the offseason planning to hand the third base (or a corner outfield) job to Riley for 2020.

Quick Hits: Angels, Giants, Braves

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GM Billy Eppler reiterated the Angels’ plan to build upon the growth of their farm system in 2018, per Jeff Fletcher of the Orange County Register. The plan is clear: build a Top-5 system, and then use their financial muscle to supplement (Fangraphs pegs their current farm as the 12th most valuable system in the league). The Angels aren’t out on all trade candidates, however, as Eppler makes an important distinction in stating that they haven’t traded anyone “impactful” from their farm. Deals that don’t require surrendering top prospects remain theoretically in play, though such a strategy likely won’t yield any of the sexier names being bandied about these winter meetings, such as Corey Kluber, Trevor Bauer or J.T. Realmuto. Fletcher suggests Sonny Gray, Francisco Cervelli and Julio Teheran as the types of trade targets that might be within their reach. These types of targets are likely better fits for their financial outlook as well.

  • Behind the leadership of President of Baseball Ops Farhan Zaidi, the San Francisco Giants will open their playbook to more modern pitching strategies next season, per Kerry Crowley of the Mercury News. A staff comprised of injury-prone veterans like Jeff Samardzija and up-and-comers potentially on innings limits (Dereck Rodriguez, Andrew Suarez) may lead manager Bruce Bochy to employ the Opener strategy or, as Zaidi puts it, “different forms of pitching staff constructions” in 2019. Bochy is a noted traditionalist in the dugout, but in lieu of finding five starters capable of pitching 200 innings, he and Zaidi will be forced to adapt by building a pitching strategy tailored to their current personnel. The Giants may still add to their stable of arms, but outfield is far-and-away the winter priority at this time, and they feel pretty good about where how the bullpen is currently constructed. That said, there has been considerably trade interest in Will Smith and Tony Watson, so the near-term outlook could change if a can’t-miss deal presents itself. Thus far, Zaidi is adhering to a patient approach in his first winter at the helm, which makes sense given the financial and talent makeup of the San Francisco roster.
  • The Braves lost out to division rival Philadelphia in the bidding for Andrew McCutchen, though Atlanta was never a serious contender once the price rose to include a third season, per MLB.com’s Mark Bowman. GM Alex Anthopoulos is perfectly content to wait until the new year before making any more additions, should that be what the market dictates. In the case of McCutchen, for instance, the Braves viewed the former Pirates outfielder as comparable to Carlos Gonzalez or Nick Markakis – corner bats that add value when secured on a shorter-term deal. They’ve vetted most outfielders available, and a bigger name like Michael Brantley is still in play for Atlanta, but the Braves aren’t eager to overpay for expediency at this stage of the winter. This mirrors the situation they faced earlier in the winter when they looked into possibly acquiring J.T. Realmuto. After feeling like the Marlins wouldn’t deal within the division, they moved on to free agent target Brian McCann. While the intra-division embargo seems to have passed, the Braves will not be reengaging the Marlins, as they secured a catching tandem they like, in McCann and Tyler Flowers, at a price they like.

NL Notes: Reds, Braves, Teheran, Markakis

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Reds minor league right-hander Jairo Capellan died in a car crash in the Dominican Republic on Saturday, the team announced. He was 19 years old. Two other Reds minor leaguers – righty Raul Hernandez and outfielder Emilio Garcia (both of whom are 19) – were also in the car, and each player suffered injuries. Hernandez is currently in critical condition, while Garcia is in stable condition. “We received this terrible news and send our condolences and support to the families, friends and teammates of Jaro, Raul and Emilio,” said Reds CEO Bob Castellini. “Our Dominican operations are an integral part of the Reds organization, and this tragedy affects us all. We will remain closely involved to help everyone through this difficult time.” MLBTR joins the Reds in extending our condolences to the families, friends and teammates of all three players.

Here’s lighter news on another National League club:

  • Although Julio Teheran has long been a workhorse in Atlanta, where he has totaled 30-plus starts in six straight seasons, his status with the team is “in limbo,” per Mark Bowman of MLB.com. Even if the Braves are unable to find a trade partner for Teheran this offseason, they may not guarantee him a rotation spot in 2019, when he’s due $11MM, Bowman adds. Next season’s the last guaranteed year of the $32.4MM extension Teheran signed in 2014. At that point, the Braves were hoping Teheran would emerge as a front-line starter for the long haul. That hasn’t really happened, but Teheran has nonetheless been a competent major league starter. The right-hander is also still relatively youthful, as he’s coming off an age-27 season in which he logged 175 2/3 innings of 3.94 ERA ball. Teheran’s peripherals were less impressive than his run prevention (as has been the case throughout his career), however, and his already unimposing velocity trended downward.
  • More on the Braves, who haven’t officially closed the door on the Nick Markakis era, Bowman relays. Markakis is currently a free agent, though, and Bowman reports that the Braves will see if they can acquire a more powerful outfielder before potentially circling back to him. Set to turn 35 on Nov. 17, Markakis just wrapped up a four-year, $44MM contract, over which he offered slightly above-average offensive production (103 wRC+) in 2,745 plate appearances. Markakis, to his credit, was exceptionally durable as a Brave, as he missed just 12 games over the span of his just-expired deal. He took the field for all 162 games this past season and put up his best numbers as a Brave, hitting .297/.366/.440 (114 wRC+) with 14 home runs and 2.6 fWAR.

Braves Place Mike Foltynewicz on 10-Day DL, Reinstate Julio Teheran

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The Braves have placed right-hander Mike Foltynewicz on the 10-day disabled list with right triceps tightness, retroactive to June 13th. In a corresponding move, they’ve activated fellow righty Julio Teheran from the disabled list, who is scheduled to start tomorrow’s game.

The 26-year-old Foltynewicz has been a revelation this season, pitching to a pristine 2.16 ERA across 79 innings so far. He’s managed to strike out 10.71 batters thanks in part to a fastball that averages a whopping 97 miles per hour. That mark trails only Luis Severino in all of MLB. Foltynewicz has taken his game to a new level in June, having allowed just two earned runs across his three starts this month while striking out 25 batters. That includes a complete game shutout against the Nationals on June 1st.

Teheran has posted a career-high 5.59 FIP so far this season due in part to diminished velocity, a spike in his already-high walk rate, and a catastrophic 39% hard contact allowed. That last mark is the 20th-highest among all qualified major league starters. Teheran’s career has been a roller coaster of highs and lows, but he’ll hope he can turn his season around after a brief stint on the DL for a thumb injury.

Braves Place Julio Teheran On DL, Select Luke Jackson

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The Braves announced that they’ve placed right-hander Julio Teheran on the 10-day disabled list due to a right thumb contusion and selected the contract of righty Luke Jackson to take his spot on the 25-man roster. Atlanta had an open spot on the 40-man, so the team didn’t need to make a corresponding move in that regard.

Teheran, still just 27 years of age, is sporting a respectable 4.31 ERA on the season, though there’s plenty of reason to believe that he’s been fairly fortunate to maintain that mark. The right-hander’s average fastball velocity is down to a career-worst 89.3 mph, and he’s averaging a career-high 4.18 walks and 1.77 homers per nine innings pitched. Beyond that, Teheran’s chase rate and swinging-strike rate are down from his career levels, and he’s benefiting from a .225 BABIP and an 80.4 percent strand rate. Fielding-independent metrics like FIP, xFIP and SIERA all peg Teheran around 5.00 or higher.

[Related: Updated Atlanta Braves depth chart]

It’s not clear how long Teheran will miss, though there’s no indication that he’s expected to be out for a prolonged period. With off-days on June 7 and 11, the Braves can skip the fifth spot in their rotation and stick with current starters Sean Newcomb, Mike Foltynewicz, Brandon McCarthy and Anibal Sanchez. If they have to dip into their Triple-A ranks, Matt Wisler has already made three spot starts this season and could be the first line of defense to do so again. Max Fried and Lucas Sims are also starting in Triple-A and are on the 40-man roster, though they’ve been used primarily out of the ’pen in the Majors so far in 2018.

As for Jackson, this’ll be the third time he’s been selected to the team’s 40-man roster this season. Atlanta has already outrighted Jackson on two occasions, but he’s stuck with the organization and will now embark on his third stint with the Major League team in 2018. The 26-year-old has surrendered two runs in 1 1/3 innings at the MLB level so far and posted a 4.62 ERA in 50 2/3 innings for the Braves last year. In 21 1/3 Triple-A frames so far in 2018, he’s pitched to a pristine 1.69 ERA with 34 strikeouts against 10 walks.

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