After the disappointing season chock full of injuries, I’m sure Alex Anthopoulos has had an itchy trigger finger since the Braves were eliminated from the postseason. In yesterday’s piece we covered the Jorge Soler trade which brought back SP Griffin Canning, and opened up the payroll for 2024 (see post to get the scoop) and beyond. Today, the Braves continued to solidify the regulars and selected a pitcher that is really turning some heads to the 40-man roster.
Braves Extend Reynaldo Lopez and Re-Sign Aaron Bummer
Last year, the Braves signed Reynaldo Lopez to a 3/$30MM deal, so it wasn’t on my bingo card that they’d extend him, yet here we are:
The Braves signed Reynaldo Lopez to a 3 year contract with the right hander slated to make $8MM in 2025, $14MM in 2026, and $8MM in 2027.
And….
The Braves signed LHP Aaron Bummer to a 2 year contract worth $13MM with the left hander slated to make $3.5MM in 2025 and $9.5MM in 2026.
It’s interesting that AA is skewing these contracts to save $ for the 2025 season, which could make it more palatable to land a larger free agent or make a bigger splash via trade.
Domingo Gonzalez Added to the 40-Man Roster
Domingo Gonzalez was shipped to the Braves in the 2023 season and has been a mainstay in the MILB Braves bullpen and was ranked in the 94th percentile in whiff rate for Gwinnett last year. His walk rate still leaves a little to be desired, but it does look like the Braves have once again found a diamond in the rough and he’s being polished as I type.
Saved the Best Part for Last
If you noticed, AA backloaded the heck out of these contracts, and got rid of Jorge Soler, and it was definitely intentional. Team have within 5 days of World Series end to sort out their rosters for 2025. With these moves, the Braves have gotten under the 3rd tier of the luxury tax and will not take on the penalties.
Guaranteeing $9.5 million to Bummer two years from now feels crazy. That is serious money.
Completely disagree. Like Pierce J in 2023, his expected results were much better than his actual results and Bummer gets both RH and LH hitters out.
Bummer is a meh reliever that I don’t mind keeping, but it seems like even this modest amount is high to me as well. He’s not someone you’re going to ever want to trust in high leverage situations.
By the end of the season, his results kept living down to my worst expectations.
Bummer’s Statcast page is gorgeous and he kept getting dinked and doinked to death. Part of the problem is bad luck; part of it, though, is his swinging strike rate is actually below average. In fact, batters generally swing less than average on his pitches, and his first-pitch strike percentage is well below average. He’s not setting himself up for success. And by Pitching+, his stuff and location are right around average. To me, it’s his Statcast that is the outlier.
It’s notable that over his 327 1/3 major league innings, his FIP is a half-run worse than his ERA. And while his BABIP this year was a catastrophic .388, that’s actually right in line with his recent performance: from 2022-2024, his BABIP is .369. (On the other hand, from 2017-2021, his BABIP was .279. I couldn’t tell you what changed.)
I’m willing to believe that he’s capable of being a serviceable middle reliever in the rotation. I just don’t buy that he’s going to turn into an ace setup man, which is what a $9 million salary entails to me. It’s possible for a pitcher to spend his whole career underperforming his components, like Ricky Nolasco did. I’d love Bummer to prove me wrong, but he was excruciating to watch this year.
On the other hand, I’ll be interested to see if we enter the Sean Manaea sweepstakes. What’s the latest on whether Charlie Morton wants to come back for another year?
Bummer is getting $13MM total for 2 years.
I love Charlie Morton, but I want no part of spending $20ish million on the 40-something version of him.
He may come back for less, but I will say this. If Canning is no-brainer to be non-tendered for 5 million, I don’t see how Charlie is a no-brainer for twice that. I don’t expect him to be significantly better than Canning in 2025.
If Charlie comes back, it won’t be for $20 million.
Anyway, I’ll give it a rest on Bummer. I know the size of his contract, and I’m not objecting to the cost of year one. I am objecting to the cost of year two.
In a vacuum, I don’t really have any issues with Bummer’s performance or his contract, but in the context of this roster, it’s an odd choice because we already have Dylan Lee. He’s pretty similar to Bummer and is way cheaper.
In my opinion, the biggest hole on this roster is the lack of velocity out of the bullpen from the left side and this move doesn’t help that at all.
Reports are Braves declined d’Arnaud option. I understand there is no buyout, just a straight club option at 8. Not sure what this means.
I assume it means we think Drake Baldwin can handle a portion of the catching duties and why not save $8 million. Good luck to TDA and let’s keep him around if he retires. I think he has another year in him as a platoon catcher if he wants to play, but if it were me, I would hang em up.
Oh, I think he’s got more than that in him if he wants to keep putting on the tools of ignorance. Veteran backup catchers can stick around forever.
I am hoping that is exactly what happened. TdA said he was going to retire, Braves decline his option, and he takes Sal Fasano’s place as coach.
TdA has the ability to keep playing but all those concussions have to have him concerned.
We love TdA so we tend to think from his perspective, but Tromp is a perfectly good backup if you can get Murphy going and he can play 120-140 games. And to Roger’s point, TdA doesn’t need anymore concussions.
https://x.com/JustinCToscano/status/1853600313518780707 Damn.
Jiménez out for the entire 2025 season due to knee surgery
Is that confirmed? 8 months would be the ASB.
8-12 months
Just in case we thought everyone would be healthy next year…
Makes you appreciate those 100+-win teams for sure.