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Joe Jimenez Shut Down For Rest Of 2025 Season; Lopez, Schwellenbach Not Likely To Return

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Joe Jimenez was shut down from throwing last week due to renewed soreness in his surgically repaired left knee.  This seemed like a major obstacle to Jimenez’s chances of returning to action before the end of the 2025 season, and Braves manager Brian Snitker confirmed today to reporters (including Gabriel Burns of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution) that Jimenez indeed won’t be back in action this year.  It also seems like injured starters Reynaldo Lopez and Spencer Schwellenbach have thrown their last pitches of 2025, as Snitker was doubtful either right-hander would be activated from the 60-day injured list before season’s end.

After pitching through knee soreness through much of 2024, Jimenez underwent surgery in late October to address what ended up being rather significant cartilage damage.  Jimenez was given a broad recovery timeframe of 8-12 months, so an entirely lost season was always a possibility for the veteran right-hander.  Some hopes were raised for a return when Jimenez started throwing bullpen sessions in early July, yet he wasn’t able to advance to the minor league rehab stage before his knee again began bothering him.  It doesn’t appear as if the issue is anything beyond mere discomfort, so Jimenez should still be on pace to be fully healthy by the start of Spring Training.

Following six mostly inconsistent seasons with the Tigers, Jimenez hit a new level of performance after Atlanta acquired the reliever in a trade during the 2022-23 offseason.  Jimenez posted a 3.04 ERA over 56 1/3 innings with the Braves in 2023, which earned him a three-year, $26MM extension to remain in Atlanta just before he was about to test the free agent market.  The first season of that extension saw Jimenez deliver a 2.62 ERA over 68 2/3 frames in 2024, giving him an overall 2.81 ERA, 30.1% strikeout rate, and 7.2% walk rate over 125 total innings in a Braves uniform.

Jimenez’s knee surgery ended up being a harbinger for an injury-riddled season for the Atlanta pitching staff.  Spencer Strider (who began the year on the IL recovering from an internal brace surgery) is the only member of the Braves’ first-choice rotation that is currently healthy, as Lopez, Schwellenbach, AJ Smith-Shawver, and reigning NL Cy Young Award winner Chris Sale are all on the 60-day injured list.  Sale is the only one of that group that might pitch again in 2025, as he is set to make his second minor league rehab start on Sunday as he tries to work his way back from a ribcage fracture.

Smith-Shawver underwent a Tommy John surgery in June, so his entire 2026 season could be in jeopardy as well as what remained of his 2025 campaign.  There isn’t much surprise that Lopez and Schwellenbach have also both been unofficially ruled out, as since the Braves are out of the playoff race, there isn’t much value in having either pitcher go through a full rehab process just to pitch a few meaningless innings in late September.

Lopez made just a single start before undergoing arthroscopic surgery on his right shoulder in early April.  This came with a shutdown period of 8-12 weeks, and while Lopez has started throwing, he won’t have time to build up his arm for a full starter’s workload.  Burns suggests that if Lopez is able to return, it would only be in a relief role, which might only happen if the Braves are considering moving the right-hander back to the bullpen in the wake of his injury situation.  Lopez’s return to a full-time starter’s role in 2024 worked brilliantly when he was healthy (1.99 ERA in 135 2/3 IP), but he dealt with forearm and shoulder issues in the latter part of that season, prior to the surgery that has entirely marred his 2025 season.

Schwellenbach helped paper over some of Atlanta’s rotation woes when he produced a 3.09 ERA over 110 2/3 innings this year, but the injury bug bit him too in the form of a small right elbow fracture in early July.  He was almost immediately moved to the 60-day IL in the wake of that injury and isn’t eligible to return until the first week of September at the earliest, but it instead looks like the right-hander will get an early jump on his offseason.

In better injury news, Ronald Acuna Jr. could be activated from the 10-day IL as early as tomorrow.  Acuna hasn’t played since suffering a calf strain on July 29, but the star outfielder seems to be on the verge of a relatively quick return.  Though Acuna has been limited to 55 games due to his calf injury and his recovery from the torn ACL that prematurely ended his 2024 season, the former NL MVP has still looked to be in superstar form, hitting .306/.429/.577 with 14 home runs in 238 plate appearances.

Braves Notes: Jimenez, Holmes, Sale

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Joe Jiménez has been out all season after undergoing left knee surgery last November. The Braves reliever is now nine months removed from a procedure that came with an 8-12 month timeline. Jiménez had been throwing but was shut back down after experiencing soreness in his knee, manager Brian Snitker said yesterday (relayed by Barrett Sallee of 680 The Fan).

It now seems there’s a good chance Jiménez won’t pitch at all this season. This is a lost year for Atlanta. There’s little incentive to push Jiménez through discomfort. The 30-year-old righty would surely love to get back on the mound so he can go into the offseason with some normalcy, but the Braves aren’t going to take any chances.

Jiménez had the best year of his career in 2024. He threw a personal-high 68 2/3 innings with a 2.62 ERA. He recorded a career-best 27 holds while striking out nearly 30% of batters faced. It was an excellent start to his three-year, $26MM free agent deal. The injury unfortunately robbed him of most (potentially all) of year two. He’s signed for $9MM next season.

Atlanta is likely to see Raisel Iglesias depart in free agency. They’ll exercise their $7MM club option to retain Pierce Johnson, barring a late-season injury. Aaron Bummer and Dylan Lee will also be back. The rest of the relief group is in question. Daysbel Hernández has a 2.25 ERA but has walked almost 20% of opponents. Atlanta acquired Tyler Kinley from Colorado last week. That suggests they’ll at least consider bringing him back on a $5MM team option, but he hasn’t managed particularly good numbers since 2022. The Braves will likely need two or three external bullpen pickups on top of a healthy return from Jiménez.

While the Braves haven’t officially ruled Jiménez out for the season, starter Grant Holmes is definitely done for the year. Atlanta almost immediately placed him on the 60-day injured list when he went down with an elbow injury before the trade deadline. The Braves later diagnosed the issue as a partially torn ulnar collateral ligament. That has the potential to be a precursor to surgery, but Holmes told reporters (including David O’Brien of The Athletic) that he’ll attempt to rehab without going under the knife.

“If I can avoid the knife as long as possible, that’s the route I want to take,” the 29-year-old righty said. “I haven’t had any surgeries yet, thankfully, and I’m trying to keep it that way.” Holmes added that he’ll be on a no-throw program for at least six weeks and expressed his hope that he could resume throwing simulated games in November. He pointed out that undergoing Tommy John or internal brace surgery now would almost certainly cost him the entire 2026 season regardless. Holmes therefore felt he didn’t have much to lose in trying a non-surgical approach and evaluating how his elbow feels in a few months. If it doesn’t progress as hoped, he could undergo surgery early in the offseason and still set a goal of coming back at the start of the ’27 campaign.

Before the injury, Holmes was a bright spot in Atlanta’s nightmare season. He turned in a 3.99 ERA while striking out a quarter of opponents across 22 appearances. Holmes had impressed last season as a rookie but worked more often in long relief. He showed this season that he can be a capable mid-rotation starter as long as he’s healthy. Holmes is one of five Atlanta starters dealing with a long-term injury. They already lost AJ Smith-Shawver to Tommy John surgery, and it’d be a surprise if Spencer Schwellenbach returns from a broken elbow this year. Reynaldo López has been out almost all year after undergoing arthroscopic shoulder surgery.

Chris Sale, out since mid-June with a ribcage fracture, is the only one of that quintet who seems very likely to make it back this season. Sale is set to throw a live batting practice session on Thursday (via the MLB.com injury tracker). He’s not far off a minor league rehab assignment and could return from the 60-day IL before the end of the month. That’d allow the reigning NL Cy Young winner to make five or six starts to close the season. It won’t mean anything in the standings, but it’d give the Braves some confidence entering an offseason in which they’ll face questions about everyone in the rotation aside from Spencer Strider. Atlanta will retain Sale on an $18MM club option for what’ll be his age-37 season.

Braves Acquire Stuart Fairchild

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The Reds have traded outfielder Stuart Fairchild to the Braves for cash considerations, according to announcements from both clubs. The Reds had designated Fairchild for assignment last week. Atlanta transferred right-hander Joe Jiménez, who is recovering from knee surgery and might miss the entire season, to the 60-day injured list as the corresponding move.

Fairchild, 29, is a speed-and-defense outfielder. He has appeared in 249 big league games over the past four big league seasons. In that time, he has a .224/.308/.389 batting line in 615 plate appearances. That production translates to a wRC+ of 88, indicating he’s been 12% below average at the plate overall.

He has also swiped 23 bags in 29 tries, getting double-digit steals in each of the past two seasons. He has 1,389 1/3 innings in the outfield, spending time at all three positions. In that time, he’s been credited with ten Defensive Runs Saved and nine Outs Above Average.

But he is out of options, meaning he needs to hold an active roster spot in order to stick on a 40-man roster. The Reds squeezed him off but Atlanta will find a spot for him. By moving Jiménez to the 60-day, they have made room for Fairchild on the 40-man but will have to make a corresponding active roster move whenever Fairchild reports to the team.

That could perhaps be Bryan De La Cruz getting optioned down to Triple-A. The club currently has Jurickson Profar, Michael Harris II and Jarred Kelenic getting the regular outfield playing time. De La Cruz and Eli White are on the bench but White is out of options, whereas De La Cruz is still optionable.

However the alignment shakes out for now, it’s likely to be temporary. Alex Verdugo was signed just over a week ago. He has agreed to be optioned to start the year so that he can effectively do a delayed spring training. Ronald Acuña Jr. is on the injured list, still recovering from last year’s ACL tear, but could be back with the club at some point in May.

As Verdugo and Acuña eventually join the active roster, guys like Fairchild, De La Cruz, White and perhaps even Kelenic could be squeezed out of playing time or bumped down the depth chart. For now, Fairchild gives Atlanta a nice fourth outfielder with a good glove and some speed. As mentioned, he is out of options but has less than three years of service time. That means he theoretically can be retained beyond this season if he carves at a comfortable role for himself. He’s also a righty bat with a .248/.346/.409 line and 107 wRC+ against lefties in his career, so perhaps he can carve out a platoon role with the lefty-swinging Kelenic.

Photo courtesy of Mark J. Rebilas, Imagn Images

Players Who Could Move To The 60-Day IL Once Spring Training Begins

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Most of the clubs in the league currently have a full 40-man roster, which means that just about every transaction requires a corresponding move these days. Some extra roster flexibility is on the way, however. The 60-day injured list goes away five days after the World Series but comes back when pitchers and catchers report to spring training.

Per R.J. Anderson of CBS Sports, most clubs have a report date of February 12th or 13th. The Cubs and Dodgers are a bit earlier than most, on the 9th and 11th, respectively. That’s due to the fact that those clubs are heading to Tokyo, with exhibition games in mid-March, followed by regular season games against each other on March 18th and 19th. All the other teams have Opening Day scheduled for March 27th.

It’s worth pointing out that the 60 days don’t start being counted until Opening Day. Although a team can transfer a player to the 60-day IL quite soon, they will likely only do so if they aren’t expecting the player back until end of May or later. A team also must have a full 40-man roster in order to move a player to the 60-day IL.

There are still plenty of free agents still out there, including big names like Alex Bregman and Pete Alonso, as well as Nick Pivetta, Andrew Heaney, David Robertson, Randal Grichuk, Kenley Jansen, Harrison Bader, Lance Lynn, Jose Quintana and many more. Perhaps the extra roster flexibility will spur some deals to come together in the next week or so. It could also increase the ability of some clubs to make waiver claims or small trades for players who have been designated for assignment.

Here are some players who are expected to miss some significant time and could find themselves transferred soon.

Angels: Robert Stephenson

Stephenson underwent a hybrid Tommy John surgery with internal brace in late April. Given the 14-plus months required to recovery from such a procedure, he’s not likely to be ready in the early parts of the 2025 season.

Astros: Cristian Javier, J.P. France, Bennett Sousa

Javier underwent Tommy John surgery in June and is targeting a return in the second half of 2025. France is recovering from shoulder surgery and hoping to return in July. Sousa’s timeline is less clear but he underwent surgery for thoracic outlet syndrome in April. Other possibilities include Luis Garcia and Lance McCullers Jr., who are expected to start the season on the IL but returning in April or May still seems possible.

Athletics: Luis Medina, Ken Waldichuk

Medina underwent Tommy John surgery in August and Waldichuk in May. Medina might miss the entire season while Waldichuk is likely to miss a few months at least.

Blue Jays: Angel Bastardo, Alek Manoah

The Jays grabbed Bastardo from the Red Sox in the Rule 5 draft in December, even though he had Tommy John surgery in June. Manoah also had Tommy John around that time and is hoping to be back by August.

Braves: Joe Jiménez

Jimenez had knee surgery in November with a timeline of eight to twelve months, so he might miss the entire season. Spencer Strider and Ronald Acuña Jr. are also possibilities, though those will be more borderline. Strider had internal brace surgery in April, so returning in May is somewhat possible. Acuña is recovering from a torn ACL last year and it’s possible he’ll miss the first month or so of the season. Given how important both of those players are, Atlanta probably won’t put them on the 60-day IL unless it’s 100% certain that they can’t come back in the first 60 days of the season.

Brewers: Robert Gasser

Gasser had Tommy John surgery in June and will be looking at a late 2025 return even in a best-case scenario.

Diamondbacks: Kyle Nelson

Nelson’s timeline is unclear, but he underwent surgery for thoracic outlet syndrome in May and missed the remainder of the 2024 season.

Dodgers: Gavin Stone, Brusdar Graterol, River Ryan, Kyle Hurt, Emmet Sheehan

Stone underwent shoulder surgery in October that will cause him to miss the entire year. Graterol also underwent shoulder surgery and isn’t expected back until the second half of 2025. Each of Ryan, Hurt and Sheehan required Tommy John surgery in 2024: Ryan in August, Hurt in July and Sheehan in May.

Guardians: Sam Hentges, David Fry, Shane Bieber, Trevor Stephan

Hentges required shoulder surgery in September, with an expected recovery timeline of 12 to 14 months. Fry underwent UCL surgery in November with a more fluid timeline. He won’t be able to throw at all in 2025 but could be cleared for designated hitter action six to eight months from that surgery. Bieber is perhaps a borderline case, as he underwent Tommy John surgery in April. Given his importance, the Guards may not transfer him to the 60-day IL until it’s assured that he won’t be back in the first 60 days of the season. Stephan underwent Tommy John surgery in March and perhaps has a chance to avoid the 60-day IL, depending on his progression.

Mariners: Matt Brash, Jackson Kowar

Brash underwent Tommy John surgery in May. Given the typical 14-month recovery timeline from that procedure, he would be looking at a midsummer return. However, it was reported in November that he’s ahead of schedule and could be back by the end of April. That’s an optimistic timeline but the Mariners will probably hold off moving him to the 60-day IL until the door is closed to an early return. Kowar underwent Tommy John in March, so an early return in 2025 is possible for him, depending on how his recovery is going.

Marlins: Braxton Garrett, Eury Pérez

Garrett just underwent UCL surgery last month and is going to miss the entire 2025 season. Pérez underwent Tommy John surgery in April of last year and will miss at least part of the beginning of the 2025 campaign.

Mets: Christian Scott

Scott required a Tommy John surgery and internal brace hybrid procedure in September and will likely miss the entire 2025 season.

Nationals: Josiah Gray, Mason Thompson

Gray required a Tommy John surgery and internal brace hybrid procedure in July, meaning he’ll miss most or perhaps all of the 2025 season. Thompson required Tommy John surgery in March, so he has a better chance to make an early-season return if his recovery is going well.

Orioles: Kyle Bradish, Tyler Wells

Bradish and Wells each required UCL surgery in June, so they’re both slated to miss the first half of the upcoming campaign.

Padres: Joe Musgrove

Musgrove had Tommy John surgery in October and will therefore miss the entire 2025 season. However, the Padres only have 36 guys on their 40-man roster at the moment, so they’ll need to fill those spots before moving Musgrove to the 60-day IL.

Pirates: Dauri Moreta

Moreta required UCL surgery in March, so an early-season return is possible if his rehab is going well, though he could end up on the 60-day if the club goes easy with his ramp-up or he suffers any kind of setback.

Rangers: Josh Sborz

Sborz underwent shoulder surgery in November and is expected to miss the first two to three months of the upcoming season.

Rays: Nate Lavender, Ha-Seong Kim

The Rays took Lavender from the Mets in the Rule 5 draft, even though he had Tommy John in May and will miss the start of the season. Kim’s status is more up in the air after he had shoulder surgery in October. Various reports have suggested he could return anywhere from April to July. The Rays made a sizable investment in Kim, their largest ever for a position player, so they probably won’t shelve him until they get more clarity on his status.

Red Sox: Patrick Sandoval, Garrett Whitlock, Chris Murphy

Sandoval had internal brace surgery in June of last year and should miss the first half of the season. Whitlock had the same surgery in May, so he could have a bit of a better chance to return in the first 60 days of the season. Murphy underwent a fully Tommy John surgery in April and will certainly miss the beginning of the upcoming season. Another possibility is Lucas Giolito, who had internal brace surgery in March, though he expects to be ready by Opening Day.

Reds: Julian Aguiar, Brandon Williamson

Aguiar underwent Tommy John surgery in October and Williamson in September, so both are likely slated to miss the entire 2025 season.

Tigers: Sawyer Gipson-Long

Gipson-Long underwent internal brace surgery in April. On top of that, he underwent left hip labral repair surgery in July, with the club hoping to address both issues at the same time. It seems likely that he’ll miss some of the early 2025 schedule, but his IL placement will depend on how he’s been progressing.

White Sox: Jesse Scholtens

Scholtens underwent Tommy John surgery in early March. Whether he goes on the 60-day IL or not will depend on how he’s progressed since then and when the White Sox expect him back.

Yankees: Jonathan Loáisiga

Loáisiga underwent internal brace surgery in April, so he could potentially be back on the mound early in the 2025 season. It was reported in December that the Yankees are expecting him to be in the bullpen by late April or early May, so he’ll only end up on the 60-day IL if he suffers a bit of a setback.

Braves Willing To Exceed Luxury Tax In 2025

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The Braves have been relatively quiet to this point in the winter, having done little to this point beyond trade Jorge Soler to the Angels at the start of the offseason. That’s created the impression of a club being cautious about its payroll situation this winter, when they stand at risk of surpassing the luxury tax for a third consecutive year, which would come with stiff tax penalties and cause the first-round pick in the 2026 draft to move back ten spots. Despite the club’s slow start to the winter, however, Braves president of baseball operations Alex Anthopoulos told reporters (including David O’Brien of The Athletic) that the club is willing to surpass the luxury tax for a third consecutive year to address the club’s needs this winter.

According to O’Brien, the club’s initial plans for the offseason were scuttled when they received worrisome medical updates regarding stars Ronald Acuna Jr. and Spencer Strider as well as reliever Joe Jimenez. Neither Acuna nor Strider is expected to be ready for Opening Day as things stand, and O’Brien adds that both could be out of action “well into May.” That news, in conjunction with the loss of Jimenez to knee surgery for most or all of the 2025 campaign, left the Braves to look for ways to free up salary. Per O’Brien, the club likely wouldn’t have restructured the contracts of Reynaldo Lopez and Aaron Bummer nor declined the club option of veteran catcher Travis d’Arnaud had these injuries not put additional pressure on the club to pursue help in the outfield, rotation, and bullpen.

Of those three areas of the roster, the outfield appears to be the most pressing for the club to address. O’Brien notes that the Braves may prefer to be extra cautious with Acuna next season in the aftermath of his second torn ACL in four seasons, particularly after he struggled (at least relative to his own elite standards) in 2022 after returning to the lineup as soon as possible. That’s led the club to pursue outfield help thanks to the relatively lackluster in-house alternatives of Eli White, Luke Williams and Carlos D. Rodriguez as options to pair with Jarred Kelenic and Michael Harris II on the grass until Acuna returns.

On the pitching side of things, however, the Braves seemingly have more comfort with their internal options. Reigning NL Cy Young award winner Chris Sale figures to be joined by Lopez and rookie Spencer Schwellenbach in the club’s Opening Day rotation for 2025, and the club has a large number of possible internal options to handle the other two rotation spots including Bryce Elder, AJ Smith-Shawver, Hurston Waldrep, and Ian Anderson among others, but Anthopoulos suggested one surprising internal candidate for a rotation job as well: right-hander Grant Holmes.

The 28-year-old made his MLB debut for the Braves this past season and excelled in a swing role for the club with a 3.56 ERA and 3.20 FIP in 68 1/3 innings of work split between seven starts and 19 relief appearances. Given Holmes’s apparent comfort moving between the rotation and bullpen, he could prove to be a sensible choice to fill in for Strider in the club’s Opening Day rotation before moving into a relief role once the hard-throwing righty returns to action. Similarly, O’Brien notes that Anthopoulos expressed interest in using right-hander Daysbel Hernandez in a set-up role in 2025 to help make up for the loss of Jimenez. Hernandez pitched just 18 innings for Atlanta in 2024 across 16 appearances, but he made a strong impression in that limited time with a 2.50 ERA, a 35.1% strikeout rate, and a 2.11 FIP.

One other option to help make up for the loss of Jimenez that O’Brien notes could be on the table is a reunion with southpaw A.J. Minter. While O’Brien suggests that the club “might” re-sign Minter this winter, one potential wrinkle in bringing Minter back to help ease the loss of Jimenez is the fact that the lefty might also miss Opening Day following surgery. Minter underwent season-ending hip surgery back in August, and O’Brien notes that it’s not yet clear whether or not he’ll be ready to pitch early in the 2025 season.

Even setting aside the potential implications Minter’s health could have on Atlanta’s interest in a reunion, his injury woes lingering into the season could substantially impact earning power this winter, as well. MLBTR predicted a two-year, $16MM deal for Minter earlier this offseason as part of our annual Top 50 MLB Free Agents list, but that prediction came with the presumption that the southpaw would be ready for Opening Day in 2025. If Minter’s rehab from surgery leaves Opening Day in question for the lefty throughout the offseason, it would hardly be a surprise to see the 31-year-old settle for a one-year deal this winter in hopes of proving himself healthy and having a better chance at a more lucrative multi-year deal next year.

Joe Jimenez To Miss 8-12 Months After Knee Surgery

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Braves right-hander Joe Jimenez underwent a left knee surgery last week to fix cartilage damage, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution’s Justin Toscano reports (X link).  The procedure comes with a recovery period of 8-12 months, so Jimenez is now in danger of missing the entire 2025 season.

There hadn’t been any indication that Jimenez was dealing with knee problems, as the reliever hasn’t been on the injured list for any reason since the very end of the 2022 campaign, when Jimenez was still pitching with the Tigers.  In a follow-up post on X, Toscano notes that Jimenez hurt his knee during the season but pitched through the discomfort, and the extent of the injury wasn’t known until the surgery took place.

Atlanta acquired Jimenez for a two-prospect package (which included Justyn-Henry Malloy) in December 2022, and the righty has been nothing short of stellar in his two seasons in a Braves uniform.  Jimenez had a 3.04 ERA over 56 1/3 innings in 2023, and then did even better in delivering a 2.62 ERA in 68 2/3 frames this past season.  His strikeout rates have been elite across both seasons, but Jimenez drastically improved his hard-contact numbers from 2023 to 2024 — he jumped into the 91st percentile of all pitchers in both barrel rate and hard-hit ball rate, after not even making the tenth percentile in either category in 2023.

It was almost exactly one year ago that the Braves signed Jimenez to a three-year, $26MM contract extension just shortly before Jimenez was about to hit the free agent market.  Jimenez earned $8MM in 2024 and is slated for $9MM in both 2025 and 2026, though that salary could end up being largely a sunk cost for the 2025 campaign depending on how much time he misses.

A return after the All-Star break would represent the best-case scenario for Jimenez, though the four-month range of his timeline creates a lot of gray area.  In theory, Jimenez could miss most of the regular season and still be ready to participate in a playoff run, though the more time Jimenez misses, the trickier decision the Braves may face in deciding whether or not to activate a potentially rusty pitcher for critical postseason games.

The Braves had one of the league’s best bullpens in 2024, but A.J. Minter, Jesse Chavez, and Luke Jackson are all free agents, and now Jimenez will miss at least half of the season.  Griffin Canning has already been brought into the rotation mix and, spending on any other starters acquired, Atlanta could dip into its young starting depth to reinforce the pen during the course of the 2025 season.  Odds are that president of baseball operations Alex Anthopoulos was already planning to add a reliever or two to the mix anyway this winter, but Jimenez’s injury now might make the Braves a little more aggressive in shopping in this market.

Braves Sign Joe Jiménez To Three-Year Deal

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The Braves announced today that they have signed right-hander Joe Jiménez to a three-year, $26MM deal. The righty was about to become a free agent but will stick with Atlanta instead. The client of ISE Baseball will make $8MM in 2024 and then $9MM in each of the two subsequent seasons.

Jiménez, 29 in January, spent his entire career with the Tigers until he was traded to Atlanta coming into the 2023 season. He ended up having a strong campaign, making 59 appearances with an earned run average of 3.04. He struck out 30.7% of batters faced while issuing walks at just a 5.9% clip. He wasn’t used in the most high-leverage spots, earning just 13 holds and no saves on the year. He also appeared in just one of Atlanta’s postseason contests, but the results for the year were impressive nonetheless.

The decision makers in Atlanta are clearly enamored with Jiménez, having parted with prospects Justyn-Henry Malloy and Jake Higginbotham in order to get him from Detroit last offseason. That was on the heels of a strong 2022 season wherein he made 62 appearances with a 3.49 ERA, 33.3% strikeout rate and 5.6% walk rate. When combined with his one season in Atlanta, he has a 3.27 ERA over 121 appearances in the past two years, striking out 32% of opponents in the process. He’s now been able to parlay that two-year run of strong results into a solid three-year deal.

The contract is generally in line with those for other non-closer relievers in recent years. Rafael Montero got three years and $34.5MM from the Astros, Taylor Rogers three years and $33MM from the Giants, while Kendall Graveman got three years and $24MM from the White Sox.

Atlanta was set to lose a decent chunk of its bullpen to free agency, with Jiménez, Pierce Johnson and Jesse Chavez slated to hit the open market this winter. Collin McHugh, Brad Hand and Kirby Yates could join them depending on how their contract options play out. But Johnson and the club reached a two-year extension last week and now Jiménez is staying as well, allowing them to stick with incumbents like Raisel Iglesias, A.J. Minter and Tyler Matzek.

For other clubs who may have been in the market for a reliever like Jiménez, they will now have one less option available to them on the open market. Josh Hader is clearly the top relief arm available, but the tier below him also has intriguing options such as Jordan Hicks, Reynaldo López and Robert Stephenson. It’s possible Chad Green could join them, depending on how his convoluted contract plays out in the coming days, while Yuki Matsui is looking to make the move from Japan.

Roster Resource currently pegs Atlanta’s 2024 payroll at $174MM with a competitive balance tax number of $205MM. This deal will add $8MM to the payroll and $8.67MM to the CBT number, since the latter is based on the average annual value of the entire contract. They have until Monday to decide on options for players like Charlie Morton, Eddie Rosario, McHugh, Hand and Yates. Triggering any of those would put some extra money onto the books but turning them down will leave them with extra items on the winter to-do list. The base threshold for the luxury tax will be $237MM in 2024.

Image courtesy of USA Today Sports.

Joe Jimenez Underwent Offseason Spine Surgery, Expected To Be Ready For Opening Day

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First-year Braves reliever Joe Jiménez underwent surgery to correct a lumbar spine strain this offseason, tweets David O’Brien of the Athletic. The right-hander is already throwing in spring camp, and O’Brien indicates he’s still expected to be ready for Opening Day.

Jiménez is coming off the best season of his career. He threw 56 2/3 innings of 3.49 ERA ball while striking out a third of opposing hitters on a 14.5% swinging strike rate. That was the highest strikeout percentage of his five-plus big league campaigns, but the Puerto Rican-born hurler has always had a knack for missing bats. The bigger development was Jiménez trimming his walk rate to a tidy 5.6% clip, easily his best mark in a 162-game schedule.

Thanks in part to his strong performance, the Tigers had a quality bullpen that represented the only bright spot on an otherwise dismal 2022 club. Jiménez’s season was cut a little short by the back issue, however, as he landed on the injured list on September 24 and missed the season’s final two weeks. The issue was apparently serious enough he had to go under the knife, though O’Brien characterizes the procedure as relatively non-invasive.

Clearly, the Braves aren’t much concerned about the status of Jiménez’s back. Atlanta parted with outfielder Justyn-Henry Malloy, one of the better prospects in their farm system, to acquire the hard-throwing reliever at the end of the Winter Meetings. Jiménez is in the middle to late innings as part of what should be an excellent bullpen. Raisel Iglesias is lined up to close, with A.J. Minter, Kirby Yates, Collin McHugh and Dylan Lee among the possible setup options alongside Jiménez.

The 2023 campaign will be a crucial one for the 28-year-old hurler personally. Jiménez is headed to free agency for the first time in his career next offseason. He’ll hit the market as one of the younger relievers available and if he can replicate his 2022 production, he’d be one of the most coveted late-game arms.

Braves Acquire Joe Jimenez From Tigers

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The Tigers have announced they’ve traded reliever Joe Jimenez to the Braves for prospects Justyn-Henry Malloy and Jake Higginbotham. The Tigers will also send cash to the Braves.

Jimenez, 27, was a highly effective member of Detroit’s bullpen last season, tossing 56 2/3 innings of 3.49 ERA ball. Advanced metrics looked particularly favorably on Jimenez’ work, as his FIP sat at an even 2.00. The right hander struck out batters at a well above average 33.3% clip, while walking them just 5.6% of the time.

Originally signed out of Puerto Rico in 2013, Jimenez dominated the minor leagues on his way through the Tigers’ system, and was called up to make his big league debut in 2017. That year was a struggle for him, as he pitched to a 12.32 ERA in 19 innings. A .403 opponent BABIP certainly didn’t help there, and Jimenez would turn things around pretty quickly after that. His strikeout increased to 29.2% the following year, and Jimenez posted a 4.31 ERA over 62 2/3 innings, with a 2.90 FIP, earning a first trip to the All Star game that summer.

Like almost any reliever, Jimenez has had his ups and downs, and while 2018-19 saw him provide steady relief as a young arm in the Tigers’ pen, he had a rough couple of years thereafter. The shortened 2020 season saw Jimenez shelled for 2.8 home runs per nine innings, winding up with a 7.15 ERA. After experiencing a dip in strikeouts that year, he rebounded in that aspect a year later but saw his walk rate shoot up to 16.7% as he wound up with a 5.96 ERA. He looked dominant this year though, in what was easily his best year in the big leagues.

Jimenez will presumably slot into the back of the Braves’ bullpen. They’ve already got Raisel Iglesias, A.J. Minter, Collin McHugh and Dylan Lee as highly effective relief options, so Jimenez arms them with another weapon to use to close out games. Jimenez is arbitration-eligible for the final time this winter, and projected to take home a $2.6MM salary before hitting free agency next winter.

Turning over to the prospects the Tigers will receive, Malloy is the headline piece. He was the Braves’ sixth round pick in the 2021 draft, and made it as high as Triple-A in 2022, but spent most of the year below that. At Double-A, he hit .268/.403/.421 with six home runs in 238 plate appearances. Defensively, Malloy split time between third base and left field. He’s shot up the Braves’ prospect rankings since being drafted, and was their 6th best prospect on Baseball America’s recently released 2023 list. While their scouting report raises concerns over his defensive ability, the bat has plenty of promise, and he’s certainly hitting enough so far that he could be knocking on the door of the big leagues before long.

Higginbotham, 26, pitched 51 1/3 innings out of the bullpen at Double-A in 2022, posting a 4.73 ERA. Originally drafted in the 11th round back in 2018, Higginbotham’s posted a 3.30 ERA across four professional seasons in the Braves’ organization. He throws a mid-90s fastball, and mixes that with a sinker and curveball.

Photo credit: USA Today Sports.

Tigers’ Relievers Drawing Trade Interest

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The Tigers have lots of uncertainty with their lineup and rotation but they still have some interesting hurlers in their bullpen. That’s leading to a great deal of interest on the trade market, with Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic noting that the bull market for relievers so far this offseason has only added to the interest.

Back in July, MLBTR’s Steve Adams wrote about the many intriguing relievers that could make for interesting trade chips for Detroit. After the trade deadline came and went, they traded only one of them: impending free agent Michael Fulmer. Since then, they lost Wily Peralta and Andrew Chafin to free agency, the latter declining a player opt-out. But they still have plenty of talent back there, with Rosenthal listing Joe Jiménez, Gregory Soto and Alex Lange as some of the candidates, though there’s also Jason Foley, José Cisnero and Will Vest.

Trading from this group will likely be a balancing act for Scott Harris, the club’s new president of baseball operations. Subtracting talented arms from the roster will undoubtedly hurt the club’s chances at competing in the short term. However, the odds may be stacked against them anyway. The rotation will be without Casey Mize and Tarik Skubal for at least part of the year, as they are both coming off of surgeries that will keep them joining the club to start the season. Spencer Turnbull should be healthy but he missed all of 2022 recovering from Tommy John surgery and will be an unknown going into next year. The lineup will be looking for bouncebacks from Javier Báez, Jonathan Schoop, Austin Meadows and Akil Baddoo, while hoping that struggling youngsters like Riley Greene, Spencer Torkelson and Ryan Kreidler take steps forward. There’s a lot that needs to break right for short-term success and the club may think about sacrificing some of the present for the sake of the future.

If the club views their circumstances through this lens, each reliever will be a unique case when it comes to the calculus of considering a trade. Jiménez, for instance, has between five and six years of MLB service time. That means he’s slated for free agency one year from now. 2022 was his finest season to date, as he threw 56 2/3 innings with a 3.49 ERA, 33.3% strikeout rate, 5.6% walk rate and 33.1% ground ball rate. He might have actually been better than the ERA indicates, with his .328 BABIP well above league average. His 2.00 FIP, 2.90 xERA and 2.30 SIERA all suggest he was unlucky to have his ERA settle where it did. MLBTR contributor Matt Swartz projected him for a salary of just $2.6MM in his final pass through arbitration before reaching the open market. Cisnero is also just one year away from free agency, though he’s in the opposite position statistically. He posted a 1.08 ERA in 2022 but with a sky high 18.1% walk rate. A .242 BABIP kept him from really feeling the consequences of all those free passes. He’s projected for a $2.2MM salary next year.

Contracts for free agent relievers have been pricey so far, with Edwin Diaz getting $102MM for five years, Robert Suarez $46MM over five and Rafael Montero getting $34.5MM over three, making Jiménez and his modest salary quite appealing. From Detroit’s point of view, it might help them in the long run to turn their single year of control over Jiménez into prospects that can help them six or seven years down the line.

Where the calculus gets a little trickier is relievers who aren’t as close to the open market as Jiménez. Gregory Soto has just over three years of service time, meaning he’s not slated for free agency until after 2025. That means he’s much more likely to be able to help the Tigers to compete in the future but also means he could net a greater trade return. He posted a 3.28 ERA this year with a 22.8% strikeout rate and 48.1% ground ball rate, but a 12.9% walk rate. The control issue has long been present for him, as he’s never posted a walk rate below 12%. For reference, this year’s league average for relievers was 9.1%. Trading him would be somewhat akin to the Orioles moving on from Jorge López at this year’s deadline. Lopez had 2.5 years of control remaining at the time and netted the O’s four prospects, but also cost them a proven reliever who could have stayed with them down the stretch and for 2023 and 2024.

If the Tigers are willing to consider trading a pitcher with even more control, they have some options in Lange, Foley and Vest. All three of them have between one and two years of MLB service time, meaning they have five years of club control remaining. Lange had a 3.69 ERA in 63 1/3 innings this year, along with a 30.3% strikeout rate and 55.6% ground ball rate, though a high 11.4% walk rate. Foley tossed 60 1/3 frames with a 3.88 ERA, 16.8% strikeout rate, 4.3% walk rate and 57.1% ground ball rate. Vest got 63 innings of action with a 4.00 ERA, 23.2% strikeout rate, 8.1% walk rate and 49.7% ground ball rate. These guys have yet to reach arbitration and have years of cheap control, which makes them valuable to other teams but also potentially valuable to the Tigers as well.

As for the Orioles, Rosenthal mentions them as another team stacked with relievers that could garner trade interest. However, most of them are in the latter category of still having years of cheap control remaining and are thus less likely to be moved. Félix Bautista, for instance, is not on the table in trade talks.

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