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Tyler Matzek

Yankees Designate Tyler Matzek For Assignment

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The Yankees announced that left-hander Tyler Matzek has been designated for assignment. That opens an active roster spot for right-hander Jonathan Loáisiga, who has been reinstated from the 15-day injured list. Their 40-man roster count drops from 39 to 38.

Matzek, 34, was selected to the big league roster a bit less than a month ago. He has since tossed 6 1/3 innings for the Yankees over seven appearances. He allowed three earned runs in that time, leading to a passable 4.26 ERA. However, he issued five walks in that span, a 14.3% rate.

That’s a fairly small sample but control has been a problem for Matzek in the past. He has an 11.7% walk rate in his big league career. His early-career stint with the Rockies was hampered by those control issues. He later revitalized his career in Atlanta but still worked around some fairly high walk totals. From 2020 to 2022, he posted a 2.92 with Atlanta despite walking 13.4% of batters faced. However, he also struck out 27.4% of opponents.

He wasn’t able to pitch much in the past two seasons. He required Tommy John surgery late in 2022, wiping out his 2023. Last year, further elbow troubles kept him on the shelf for much of it. He only got to pitch 10 innings in the big leagues.

The Yanks were able to get him on a minor league deal this winter and brought him up to the majors, but they appear to be quickly moving on. This will leave them a bit short on left-handed relief. Ryan Yarbrough has been working bulk innings, so Tim Hill as the only true southpaw reliever now that Matzek is gone.

DFA limbo can last as long as a week, though the waiver process takes 48 hours, meaning any trade possibilities would have to be explored in the next five days. Matzek’s recent track record isn’t much to go on but he at least has some past success. If he passes through waivers unclaimed, he has more than enough service time to reject an outright assignment and elect free agency.

As for Loáisiga, he’ll be looking to make a comeback from a lengthy injury absence. He had a really strong season in 2021, pitching 70 2/3 innings for the Yankees with a 2.17 ERA, 24.4% strikeout rate, 5.7% walk rate and 60.9% ground ball rate. But in 2022, he battled some shoulder troubles and posted a 4.13 ERA. In 2023, he was limited to just 17 appearances by elbow issues and eventually underwent UCL surgery early in 2024.

Though he was going to start the 2025 season on the injured list, the Yankees believed in him enough to bring him back. They signed him to a major league deal with a $5MM guarantee and a club option for next year. He’ll be a bargain if he can get back to that 2021 form. The early results have been good, as he threw seven innings on his rehab assignment with nine strikeouts and no walks, allowing just one earned run.

Photo courtesy of Vincent Carchietta, Imagn Images

Yankees Select Tyler Matzek, Designate Yoendrys Gómez For Assignment

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The Yankees announced that they have selected left-hander Tyler Matzek to their roster. Right-hander Yoendrys Gómez has been designated for assignment to open space on the active and 40-man rosters.

Gómez, 25, was once a notable prospect for the Yankees. However, he came into 2025 out of options and with limited experience. Even though the Yankee rotation has lost Gerrit Cole, Luis Gil, Marcus Stroman and JT Brubaker to the injured list, Gómez never seemed to get much consideration for a rotation spot.

Instead, he’s been kept in a long relief role, having tossed ten innings across six appearances this year. That includes three innings last night after Clarke Schmidt only lasted four frames against the Guardians. Gómez was likely going to be unavailable for a few days after that and the Yanks have another long relief option on hand in Ryan Yarbrough, so Gómez has been bumped off the roster and into DFA limbo.

The righty now has a 3.09 earned run average in a small sample of 23 1/3 major league innings in his career. He could perhaps garner interest from other clubs based on his past prospect pedigree and work in the minors. Years ago, he put up some good numbers in rookie ball and A-ball, leading Baseball America to have him as the club’s #12 prospect in 2020 and #8 in 2021. Tommy John surgery in 2021 reduced his workload for a while. In 2023 and 2024, around occasional major league call-ups, he tossed 148 2/3 innings on the farm with a 3.63 earned run average. His 12.3% walk rate in that time was high but he also struck out 27.7% of batters faced.

Since Gómez is out of options, any acquiring club would have to keep him on the active roster. If he does find a landing spot and succeeds, there would be long-term benefits for that team. Gómez has just a handful of service days, meaning he can be cheaply retained for years to come. DFA limbo can last as long as a week but the waiver process takes 48 hours, so the Yanks will have as much as five days to explore trade interest.

His departure makes room for the veteran Matzek. Now 34 years old, he has a strong track record but is a few years removed from his best work. He underwent Tommy John surgery late in 2022 while with Atlanta and then missed the entire 2023 season. He returned to the mound last year but posted a 9.90 ERA in ten outings before landing on the IL in early May due to elbow inflammation. He was traded to the Giants as part of the Jorge Soler deal but was released and ended up back with Atlanta on a minor league pact to finish out the year.

He had a strong run prior to that. From 2020 to 2022, he posted a 2.92 ERA in 135 2/3 innings. His 13.4% walk rate in that time was certainly on the high side but he punched out 27.4% of batters faced. The Yanks gave him a shot to bounceback by signing him to a minor league deal this winter. He suffered an oblique strain during spring and therefore didn’t have a chance to crack the Opening Day roster. He recently returned to the mound and has thrown 5 2/3 minor league innings with two earned runs allowed, issuing two walks and punching out seven opponents.

The Yanks have Yarbrough and Tim Hill as lefties in their bullpen but Yarbrough is a long man while Hill is a soft tossing ground ball guy. Matzek will give manager Aaron Boone more of a swing-and-miss option from the left side.

Photo courtesy of Nathan Ray Seebeck, Imagn Images

Gerrit Cole Going For Imaging On Elbow

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March 8: According to MLB.com’s Bryan Hoch, the results of Cole’s initial diagnostic tests have been distributed, and the right-hander is now in the process of seeking a second opinion. While Cole told reporters (including Hoch) that he is “concerned” about his elbow, the 2023 AL Cy Young winner also expressed a bit of optimism. “I’ve still got some hope,” he said. Per Hoch, Cole and the Yankees expect to know more about the status of his elbow in the next few days.

March 7: Gerrit Cole is heading for “diagnostic tests” on his throwing elbow, reports Jon Morosi of the MLB Network. It’s not currently clear whether the Yankees fear a significant injury, or if the testing is more precautionary in nature. In either case, it’s certainly not encouraging news after Cole missed the first couple months of 2024 with elbow inflammation.

It was almost exactly one year ago today that Yankees skipper Aaron Boone revealed that Cole was headed for an MRI. The 2023 Cy Young winner was having difficulty recovering between throwing sessions. Testing didn’t reveal any structural damage, but an inflammation diagnosis necessitated a month-long shutdown. Cole began the season on the 60-day injured list; he didn’t make his season debut until June 19.

Cole stayed healthy for the remainder of the season, aside from one skipped start due to what the team termed general body soreness. He turned in a 3.41 earned run average across 17 starts. While he struggled over his first few outings, Cole was dominant from the beginning of August through the end of the regular season. He turned in a 2.25 ERA with a 26% strikeout rate while holding opponents to a .182/.255/.248 slash line over his final 10 appearances.

The 34-year-old righty took the ball another five times in the postseason. He worked to a 2.17 ERA across 29 playoff innings, but his strikeout rate in October plummeted to a meager 17.7% clip. After the season, he and the Yankees were faced with a decision on his contract. Cole decided to opt out of the remaining four years and $144MM on his nine-year deal. He hoped the Yanks would override that by preemptively triggering a $36MM club option for 2029. The team declined to do so but allowed him to rescind the opt-out and remain with the team on his original contract.

Cole has taken the ball twice during Spring Training. He looked sharp in his first appearance, working 3 1/3 innings of one-run ball with five strikeouts on February 28. The Twins torched him for six runs on five hits (including a pair of homers) over 2 2/3 frames yesterday. That alone isn’t cause for concern — Spring Training results are largely immaterial — but Cole evidently hasn’t felt completely healthy. His fastball has averaged 95.5 MPH during his spring work, according to Brooks Baseball. That’s around where it sat last March, a bit below the 97 MPH velocity he’d shown in previous Spring Trainings.

The Yankees won’t have much to report until they receive the imaging results. Even if there’s no structural damage, it seems likely Cole will begin the season on the injured list. The Yanks already lost 2024 Rookie of the Year Luis Gil to a severe lat strain. GM Brian Cashman said on Thursday that the Yankees anticipate an absence of at least three months for the young right-hander (relayed by Greg Joyce of The New York Post). Depth starter JT Brubaker broke three ribs trying to dodge a comebacker early in camp.

New York signed Max Fried to an eight-year, $218MM free agent deal. He’ll probably get the ball on Opening Day. Clarke Schmidt and Carlos Rodón will follow in the rotation. Marcus Stroman, who entered camp sixth on the depth chart, now projects as the fourth starter. A season-opening IL stint could draw Will Warren or out-of-options righty Yoendrys Gómez into the rotation. New York has Carlos Carrasco and Allan Winans in camp as non-roster invitees.

If Cole winds up missing a decent chunk of time, the Yanks could look to a late free agent acquisition. Veteran innings eater Kyle Gibson remains unsigned; he’s throwing side sessions to stay loose in advance of his age-37 season. Swingman Spencer Turnbull has a spotty injury history but pitched well in 54 1/3 innings for the Phillies last year. Patrick Corbin and former Yankee Lance Lynn are also still free agents.

In a smaller injury development, the Yanks announced this morning that reliever Tyler Matzek sustained a mild right oblique strain (link via Bryan Hoch of MLB.com). The veteran southpaw could resume throwing early next week, but the injury takes him out of consideration for the Opening Day roster. Matzek is in camp as a non-roster invitee. He has tossed one scoreless inning.

Yankees, Tyler Matzek Agree To Minor League Deal

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The Yankees are in agreement with free agent reliever Tyler Matzek on a minor league deal, reports Chris Cotillo of MassLive. There’s presumably a non-roster invite to MLB camp for the PSI Sports Management client.

Matzek held a showcase for teams last month. He evidently showed enough for the Yanks to give him a look in Spring Training. Matzek is looking to rebound after injuries limited him to 11 big league appearances in 2024 — none of which came after May 4.

The veteran southpaw began the year in the Braves’ bullpen. Opponents tagged him for 11 runs over 10 innings. Atlanta placed him on the injured list with elbow inflammation during the first week of May. Matzek remained on the shelf for more than three months. Atlanta dealt him to the Giants as a salary offset in the Jorge Soler deadline acquisition.

San Francisco released Matzek rather than plug him into the MLB bullpen when he was healthy. Atlanta circled back to re-sign the 34-year-old to a minor league deal. He pitched four times with Triple-A Gwinnett and didn’t earn a call up. He qualified for free agency at season’s end.

Elbow issues have derailed Matzek in consecutive seasons. He underwent Tommy John surgery during Atlanta’s postseason run in 2022. That cost him the entire ’23 campaign. He’d had a strong three-year run for the Braves between 2020-22. Matzek combined for a 2.92 earned run average while striking out more than 27% of batters faced in 135 2/3 innings. His fastball had sat in the 94-96 MPH range during that time. The velocity ticked down ever so slightly in his return from surgery; he averaged 93.6 MPH on the heater last year.

There should be a decent opportunity for Matzek to break camp if he impresses in Spring Training. New York only has one lefty reliever on their 40-man roster: the recently re-signed Tim Hill. Aside from Matzek, they’re bringing two southpaws to camp as non-roster invitees. Brandon Leibrandt has seven MLB appearances, while Jayvien Sandridge has yet to reach the majors.

Tyler Matzek To Throw For Interested Teams

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Free agent reliever Tyler Matzek will hold a showcase for scouts on Thursday in Irvine, reports Jon Morosi of the MLB Network. The southpaw is looking to demonstrate his health after being limited to 11 major league appearances last season.

None of those came after May 4. Matzek began the year in the Braves’ bullpen. Opponents tagged him for 11 runs over 10 innings. Atlanta placed him on the injured list with elbow inflammation during the first week of May. Matzek remained on the shelf for more than three months. Atlanta dealt him to the Giants as a salary offset in the Jorge Soler deadline acquisition.

San Francisco released Matzek rather than plug him into the MLB bullpen when he was healthy. Atlanta circled back to re-sign the 34-year-old lefty to a minor league deal. Matzek pitched four times with Triple-A Gwinnett and didn’t earn a call up. He qualified for minor league free agency at season’s end.

Elbow issues have derailed Matzek in consecutive seasons. He underwent Tommy John surgery during Atlanta’s postseason run in 2022. That cost him the entire ’23 campaign. Between his age and the injuries, he’ll likely be limited to minor league offers. If Matzek’s stuff looks sharp in his showcase, he should find interest from teams as a depth option. He had a strong three-year run with Atlanta between 2020-22. Matzek combined for a 2.92 earned run average while striking out more than 27% of batters faced in 135 2/3 innings over that stretch.

Braves Sign Tyler Matzek To Minor League Contract

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The Braves signed left-hander Tyler Matzek to a minor league contract on August 31, according to the veteran reliever’s MLB.com profile page.  Matzek was assigned to Triple-A Gwinnett today.  In signing prior to September 1, Matzek would be eligible for the Braves’ postseason roster.

Matzek is of course no stranger to playoff baseball in Atlanta, as he was a key member of the Braves’ bullpen during their World Series championship run in 2021.  He posted more solid numbers during the 2022 campaign but missed out on another playoff run due to a Tommy John surgery in October of that year.  After missing the entire 2023 season rehabbing from the surgery, Matzek returned to action this year, but had a 9.90 ERA over 10 Major League innings for the Braves.

A bout of elbow inflammation sent Matzek to the injured list in May, and he hasn’t since pitched in the big leagues.  Atlanta traded Matzek to the Giants as part of the Jorge Soler deal at the deadline, and Matzek pitched in five games with the Giants’ Triple-A squad before San Francisco released the southpaw earlier this week.

Matzek now returns to the Braves organization after just over a month away, and he’ll likely continue to work things out in Gwinnett to see if he can find his old form.  His brief time at Triple-A Sacramento didn’t bear much fruit, as Matzek had a 5.79 ERA over the small sample size of 4 2/3 innings pitched.  The Braves have a penchant for reuniting with former players and there’s no risk in adding Matzek to the Triple-A roster, plus Atlanta is already on the hook anyway for the remainder of his $1.9MM salary for the 2024 season.

Giants Outright Thairo Estrada, Release Tyler Matzek

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Thairo Estrada and Tyler Matzek both went unclaimed on waivers. The Giants announced they’ve assigned Estrada outright to Triple-A Sacramento while recalling Brett Wisely (X link via Alex Pavlovic of NBC Sports Bay Area). Matzek, who’d been on the 60-day injured list, was placed on unconditional release waivers. Estrada drops off the 40-man roster, which now carries 38 players.

San Francisco reportedly placed Estrada, Matzek and lefty reliever Taylor Rogers on waivers earlier in the week. The Giants did not announce what happened with Rogers’ waiver process. It’s possible that they didn’t officially place Rogers on waivers until a day later than the Estrada and Matzek moves (and are therefore still waiting on a resolution). However, it seems likely that Rogers went unclaimed and the Giants simply elected to hold onto him.

A team is not required to send a player to the minors after he clears waivers. The Giants would have no reason to do so with Rogers. If the Giants tried to demote him, the former All-Star could elect free agency while retaining his $12MM salary for next season. That’d simply amount to cutting Rogers, a productive reliever, without any financial benefit for doing so.

Estrada does not have that luxury. The glove-first second baseman has between three and five years of service. That gives him the right to decline an outright assignment but would require him to forfeit the remainder of his salary to do so. Estrada is playing on a $4.7MM arbitration deal and isn’t likely to give up the more than $800K remaining on that contract. He’ll almost certainly report to Sacramento, while Wisely could get a look as the everyday second baseman at Oracle Park.

The 28-year-old Estrada was an average or better hitter during his first three seasons with the Giants, combining for a .266/.320/.416 slash. He topped 20 stolen bases and drilled 14 homers apiece in 2022 and ’23. He hasn’t been anywhere near that effective this season. He’s hitting .217/.247/.343 across 381 trips to the plate. Among hitters with 300+ plate appearances, only Eddie Rosario and Adam Duvall have a lower on-base percentage.

San Francisco can reselect Estrada onto the 40-man roster through season’s end. He’d technically remain eligible for arbitration if they called him back up, but the waiver process makes clear that the Giants don’t plan to tender him a contract in either case. Whether he returns to the MLB club next month, he’s very likely to be on the open market (either through minor league free agency or a non-tender) during the upcoming offseason.

The Giants acquired Matzek from the Braves as a salary offset in the Jorge Soler deadline deal. He’s playing on a $1.9MM salary that no team was willing to assume. Matzek was on the injured list at the time of the trade and never threw a pitch as a Giant. He missed all of last year recovering from Tommy John surgery. Matzek returned this season before landing back on the IL in May with elbow inflammation.

The 33-year-old southpaw had a tough first month in Atlanta, giving up 11 runs over 10 frames. The Giants sent him to Triple-A on a rehab stint a couple weeks ago. He made five appearances, allowing four runs through 4 2/3 innings. Matzek could be healthy enough to sign elsewhere, though he’d need to do so within the next day to be eligible for postseason play.

Giants Place Thairo Estrada, Taylor Rogers On Waivers

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The Giants placed second baseman Thairo Estrada and lefty relievers Taylor Rogers and Tyler Matzek on waivers, report Grant Brisbee and Ken Rosenthal of the Athletic. They’re the latest veteran players known to hit the waiver wire as fringe contenders attempt to offload some salary.

Estrada, Rogers and Matzek were not designated for assignment. They can continue to play for the Giants pending resolution of the waiver process. If they go unclaimed, San Francisco can (and quite likely will) simply keep them on the roster for the rest of the season. However, waivers are irrevocable. If another team places a claim on anyone, the Giants do not have the ability to rescind the placement.

Of course, the Giants wouldn’t have placed the players on waivers if they weren’t hoping another team made a claim. This is strictly a move to try to shed payroll. Estrada probably stands the best chance of the group to be claimed. He’s playing on a $4.7MM arbitration salary. There’ll be roughly $810K to be paid from tomorrow through the end of the season.

The 28-year-old Estrada is generally well regarded for his defensive acumen. Defensive Runs Saved has never been keen on his performance, but he grades very highly by Statcast’s Outs Above Average. While that hasn’t changed this year, his offense has fallen off a cliff. Estrada was an average or better hitter during his first three seasons with the Giants, combining for a .266/.320/.416 slash. He topped 20 stolen bases and drilled 14 homers apiece in 2022 and ’23.

This season, Estrada has been one of the worst hitters in the game. He sports a .216/.246/.345 line through 374 plate appearances. While that’s partially due to a career-low .245 average on balls in play, Estrada has never walked much or had particularly strong batted ball metrics. Among hitters with 300+ plate appearances, only Eddie Rosario and Adam Duvall have a lower on-base percentage.

That performance makes it likely the Giants will move on from Estrada next offseason even if he sticks on the roster for the remainder of the year. He’d be due a small raise on this year’s salary, likely into the $5-6MM range. The Giants have evidently determined they were going to decline to tender him a contract, so they’ll make him available to other teams a month earlier to see if they can shed the final month of his 2024 salary.

Rogers is having a much better season than Estrada, but he’d be a far costlier pickup. The veteran southpaw is in the second season of a three-year, $33MM free agent deal. It’s a backloaded contract that pays him $12MM this year and next. He’ll be due a little more than $2MM for the final month of the season. A claiming team would also need to absorb his $12MM salary for the ’25 season. That isn’t an outlandish amount for a reliever of Rogers’ caliber but represents a hefty sum to take on via midseason waiver claim.

The 33-year-old Rogers is a former All-Star closer with the Twins. He has remained effective over his two seasons in San Francisco. After turning in a 3.83 earned run average across 51 2/3 innings a year ago, he carries a 2.45 mark in 51 1/3 frames this season. Rogers has fanned an above-average 28.2% of opponents against a solid 7.7% walk rate. He has been generally solid all year yet hasn’t pitched his way into first-year manager Bob Melvin’s circle of trust.

By measure of leverage index, Rogers has been eighth on San Francisco’s bullpen hierarchy (among relievers with at least 10 innings). That hasn’t changed throughout the season despite Rogers’ numbers. It’s understandable the Giants wouldn’t want to pay $12MM next season to a reliever whom Melvin feels is best suited in the middle innings.

Matzek is the most affordable of the trio. Acquired from the Braves as a salary offset in the Jorge Soler deadline deal, he’s playing on a $1.9MM contract. Matzek was on the injured list at the time of the trade and hasn’t thrown a pitch as a Giant. He missed all of last year recovering from Tommy John surgery. Matzek returned this season before landing back on the IL in May with elbow inflammation.

The 33-year-old southpaw had a tough first month in Atlanta, giving up 11 runs over 10 frames. The Giants sent him to Triple-A on a rehab stint a couple weeks ago. He has made five appearances, allowing four runs through 4 2/3 innings. Matzek should be able to return in September, though it’s not clear if a contender is willing to plug him into their bullpen after a five-month layoff.

Matzek is due around $330K for the rest of the year. His deal contains a $5.5MM team option for next season without a buyout. That’s unlikely to be exercised by the Giants or a hypothetical claiming team.

Braves Acquire Jorge Soler

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Jorge Soler is headed back to Atlanta. The Braves reacquired both Soler and reliever Luke Jackson from the Giants on Monday night in what amounts to a salary dump for San Francisco. The Giants acquire minor league infielder Sabin Ceballos and take on the salary for injured reliever Tyler Matzek. Atlanta designated Darius Vines for assignment to open a 40-man roster spot.

Atlanta is looking to recreate the magic of their 2021 deadline. The Braves brought in Soler and Eddie Rosario that summer to address an outfield that had lost Ronald Acuña Jr. to a season-ending ACL tear. Those outfield acquisitions drove Atlanta’s run to a championship, with Soler snagging World Series MVP honors behind a three-homer performance in the Fall Classic.

The Braves unfortunately lost Acuña to another ACL tear in late May, leaving them shorthanded in the outfield as the deadline approached. They already took a flier on Rosario, signing him after he was released by the Nationals. That hasn’t worked thus far, as Rosario is hitting .164/.186/.345 in 16 games.

Soler should step into everyday playing time in right field. Adam Duvall has gotten the bulk of the work there since the Acuña injury, but he’s hitting only .188/.251/.336 over 295 plate appearances. Atlanta signed Duvall to work as a short side platoon bat alongside Jarred Kelenic in left field. Duvall has continued to hit left-handed pitching (.261/.361/.533 in 108 plate appearances), but he owns a dismal .153/.190/.239 line while striking out a third of the time against righties.

Duvall can now return to the more limited role which the Braves had envisioned him playing. Kelenic has been pressed mainly into center field action since Michael Harris II went down with a hamstring strain. Once Harris is ready to return, that’ll push Kelenic back to left field.

It’s an abrupt end to what proved a very brief stint for Soler in the Bay Area. The Giants signed him to a three-year, $42MM deal at the start of Spring Training. His tenure started inauspiciously, as he didn’t hit well for two months and missed some time with a minor shoulder strain. The Cuban-born slugger has been on a tear since the calendar flipped to June, hitting .280/.374/.486 over his most recent 204 plate appearances.

Thanks to his cold start, Soler’s season line is still below his typical level. He owns a .240/.330/.419 slash with 12 homers across 392 trips. His 11.2% walk percentage and 24.7% strikeout rate are in line with his normal marks, but Soler’s power output is down from last year’s 36-homer pace. While some of that is surely attributable to the challenge of hitting at Oracle Park, his batted ball metrics have also dropped. Soler’s average exit velocity is down a tick, while his 39.9% hard contact rate is eight percentage points below last year’s figure.

That’s probably part of the Giants’ rationale in getting out from under the contract within a few months of signing it. Atlanta desperately needed to inject some life into an offense that has hit .227/.281/.417 in July. The Braves have hovered around .500 for the better part of three months and have dropped back to the pack in the NL Wild Card race. At 56-49, they’re narrowly in possession of the top Wild Card spot. Only one and a half games separate them from the Diamondbacks, the top non-playoff team at the moment.

While the Braves are clearly reacquiring Soler for his bat, they’ll need to count on him to hold his own defensively. Soler didn’t play a single inning on defense for the Giants. He only made 31 starts in right field (compared to 102 at DH) last year with the Marlins. Marcell Ozuna has the designated hitter spot secured in Atlanta, so the Braves will trust Soler to play more or less every day in the field. Ozuna’s contract contains a $16MM club option for next season, which the Braves probably anticipate exercising. With Soler signed through 2026, they’d have a lot of defensively-limited hitters at that point. That’s a risk they’re prepared to take for the short-term lineup boost.

Atlanta’s “run it back” ethos doesn’t stop with Soler. Jackson was also a member of their ’21 World Series winner. The right-hander had the best year of his career that season, working to a 1.98 ERA across 63 2/3 innings. Jackson’s elbow blew out the next year, sending him for Tommy John surgery that seemed as if it’d end his Braves tenure. He hit free agency during the 2022-23 offseason and landed in San Francisco on a two-year, $11.5MM guarantee.

Jackson spent the first half of last season finishing his Tommy John rehab. He returned to throw 33 1/3 frames of 2.97 ERA ball down the stretch. Jackson quickly landed on the shelf with a lower back strain and hasn’t managed the same caliber of production since returning in late April. He’s carrying a 5.40 earned run average over 35 innings. His 21.9% strikeout percentage and 9.9% walk rate are each slightly worse than average, though he’s getting ground-balls at a strong 51% clip.

The 32-year-old (33 in August) has looked much sharper of late. Jackson is running a 13:1 strikeout-to-walk ratio with three runs allowed in nine innings this month. The velocity on his slider and four-seam fastball are each in line with his career marks. The Braves can plug him into middle relief with the possibility for higher-leverage work alongside Joe Jiménez, Pierce Johnson and A.J. Minter if Jackson’s recent form kicks off a strong second half.

Atlanta is taking on a substantial amount of money for these reunions. There’s no cash changing hands, although Matzek’s inclusion in the deal provides a small financial counterbalance. He’s in the second season of a two-year, $3.1MM contract that has mostly been ruined by elbow problems. Matzek missed all of last season recovering from Tommy John surgery. He made 11 appearances early this season, allowing 11 runs in 10 innings, before going back on the injured list with elbow inflammation. Matzek remains on the 60-day IL with no clear return timetable. His deal contains a $5.5MM team option for next season that is sure to be declined.

The Giants paid Soler a $9MM signing bonus. He’s playing this season on a $7MM salary, around $2.3MM of which is still owed. Atlanta is taking on matching $13MM salaries covering the 2025-26 seasons. Jackson is making $6.5MM this year (roughly $2.1MM remaining) and is guaranteed at least a $2MM buyout on a $7MM option for next year. Matzek is due around $620K through season’s end. The Braves assume nearly $3.8MM in salary commitments for the stretch run plus the $28MM in future guarantees on Soler’s and Jackson’s deals.

RosterResource calculates Atlanta’s CBT number around $282MM. That pushes them past the $277MM third tier of penalization and positions their first-round pick in next year’s draft to drop 10 spots. Atlanta is a second-time payor, so they’re taxed at a 62% rate on spending up to the $297MM mark. The Giants shave nearly $7MM off their tax ledger and have an estimated $244MM mark at RosterResource. They’re still above the $237MM base threshold and may not be looking to drop any more money.

San Francisco also grabs a prospect in the deal. Ceballos, 21, was Atlanta’s third-round pick out of Oregon last year. A righty-hitting third baseman, he has a .259/.353/.354 slash with a 9.8% walk rate and 19.1% strikeout percentage in High-A this season. Baseball America ranked him as the #26 prospect in a weak Atlanta farm system, crediting him with a plus arm and some raw power upside.

As for Vines, he’ll either be traded tomorrow or (more likely) placed on waivers this week. The 26-year-old righty has made eight big league appearances, turning in a 5.45 ERA over 33 innings. He owns a 5.14 earned run average across 14 starts with Triple-A Gwinnett this season.

Mike Rodriguez first reported the Giants were trading Soler to the Braves. Robert Murray of FanSided was first to report Jackson’s inclusion. Bob Nightengale of USA Today reported that the Braves were assuming the entire contract.

Images courtesy of USA Today Sports.

Braves Sign Brian Anderson To Major League Deal

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The Braves have signed veteran third baseman/corner outfielder Brian Anderson to a major league contract, reports Justin Toscano of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. Anderson, a CAA client, will be in uniform for tonight’s game. He opted out of a minor league deal with the Mariners over the weekend. Atlanta transferred lefty Tyler Matzek from the 15-day injured list to the 60-day injured list to open a spot on the roster for Anderson.

Anderson, 31, should be a familiar face for Braves fans and those within the organization. The former third-round pick spent the 2017-22 seasons with the Marlins, taking regular at-bats between stints as the team’s everyday third baseman and everyday right fielder. From 2018-20, Anderson was one of Miami’s most reliable hitters, batting .266/.350/.436 with 42 home runs, a hefty 74 doubles and six triples in 1419 plate appearances. By measure of wRC+, he was 15% better than a league-average hitter in that span.

Shoulder injuries and a severe oblique strain both weighed down Anderson’s production in 2021-22, however, and the always cost-conscious Marlins non-tendered him following the ’22 campaign, making him a free agent a year early. He signed with the Brewers in hopes of rebounding but didn’t manage to do so, slashing .226/.310/.368 (85 wRC+) in 361 plate appearances. So far with the Mariners’ Triple-A club in Tacoma, Anderson had tallied 176 plate appearances and recorded a .270/.358/.439 batting line with six round-trippers and seven doubles.

While Anderson obviously can’t replace Ronald Acuña Jr., whose 2024 season ended last week when he suffered a torn ACL, the seven-year MLB veteran can still give the Braves an experienced right-handed bat to pair with lefty-swinging Jarred Kelenic in left field. Kelenic, Michael Harris II and Adam Duvall figure to take the bulk of the outfield at-bats, with Marcell Ozuna seeing regular time at DH and left-hitting J.P. Martinez receiving sporadic outfield at-bats as well.

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