The Braves introduced Thursday that they’ve signed veteran outfielder Alex Verdugo to a one-year, $1.5MM contract. With Opening Day only a week away, he consented to be optioned to Triple-A Gwinnett to ramp up. (Gamers acquire the appropriate to refuse an optionally available task as soon as they accrue 5 years of MLB service.) Verdugo is represented by MVP Sports activities Group.
Simply days in the past, The Athletic’s Brendan Kuty reported that Verdugo had but to obtain a proper massive league supply in free company. That turned rapidly. He’ll head straight to minor league camp and spend a little bit of time in Gwinnett whereas he makes up for lacking most of spring coaching, however he’ll be an possibility for Atlanta in some unspecified time in the future in April.
The 28-year-old Verdugo (29 in Might) is coming off the worst season of his massive league profession however was a gentle common with the Dodgers and Purple Sox from 2019-23. Over that five-year interval, he slashed a mixed .283/.338/.432 with high quality nook outfield protection. He could not have developed into the star some had hoped when the previous second-round decide was extensively considered a top-100 prospect, however Verdugo was a transparent contributor on typically aggressive golf equipment.
The 2024 season began out with extra of the identical. Traded to the Yankees final offseason, Verdugo got here out of the gate scorching, batting .275/.362/.450 in his first 141 plate appearances. He fell right into a deep stoop from that time forth and by no means recovered, nevertheless. From mid-Might by way of season’s finish, Verdugo’s .221/.270/.330 line was one of many least-productive in all of baseball amongst certified hitters.
Final yr’s extended struggles absolutely hindered Verdugo’s market. He was linked to groups just like the Pirates, Angels and Astros all through the winter, however all of these golf equipment both went one other course within the outfield or didn’t find yourself making an outfield addition in any respect. The Pirates as an alternative determined it higher to unfold out their restricted remaining assets throughout a number of gamers; they signed Tommy Pham ($4.05MM) and Andrew Heaney ($5.25MM) to one-year offers not lengthy after being linked to Verdugo.
Verdugo heads to Atlanta on a lighter deal than most would’ve predicted again on the onset of free company, offering some outfield depth at a time when Ronald Acuña Jr. continues to be rehabbing final yr’s ACL tear whereas Jarred Kelenic continues to battle. Offseason signee Jurickson Profar has additionally been banged up in camp, because it’s now been almost two weeks since he was in an official recreation. Profar injured his wrist on a diving try in left area; he was recognized with a bone bruise, not a fracture, and is predicted to be prepared for Opening Day. Bone bruises are difficult accidents, the consequences of which may generally linger longer than anticipated.
If the Braves can get everybody wholesome, they’ll have some choices to make. At full energy, the outfield would clearly be Profar in left, Michael Harris II in heart and Acuña in proper. Kelenic would fill a fourth outfield function in that setup, whereas Bryan De La Cruz — additionally on the 40-man roster — would possible reside in Triple-A as a depth piece.
Verdugo’s addition to the combination most immediately threatens Kelenic’s function. Each are left-handed hitters who can deal with heart area however are in all probability higher suited to nook work. (Verdugo definitely is.) Kelenic is a former top-10 decide and as soon as ranked as one of many recreation’s 10 greatest prospects, however he’s by no means hit his stride within the majors after decimating minor league pitching.
The Braves acquired Kelenic from the Mariners within the 2023-24 offseason by way of a collection of convoluted salary-dump trades that wound up seeing Atlanta tackle round $25MM in useless cash (plus almost $7MM in luxurious taxes) to buy the previous prime prospect. They stated from the bounce that he’d obtain common enjoying time and wouldn’t be platooned, however by the tip of camp he’d struggled sufficient towards lefties that the Braves re-signed Adam Duvall to platoon with him. Kelenic’s first season with Atlanta resulted in a disappointing .231/.286/.393 slash. He’s adopted that up with a .200/.282/.457 slash in 39 spring plate appearances.
Kelenic has a minor league possibility remaining. If he struggles, it’s possible that Atlanta will attempt to get him on monitor in Gwinnett and change him out for Verdugo, utilizing the veteran Verdugo in that aforementioned fourth outfield function. It’s a low-cost depth gamble made potential by Verdugo’s lack of market up to now. There’s little hurt in opportunistically including to the depth at this value level; the Braves are actually as much as about $231MM of luxurious obligations, per RosterResource, leaving them $10MM shy of the tax threshold.
Jon Heyman of the New York Put up first reported that Verdugo and the Braves had agreed to a deal value $1.5MM. Brendan Kuty of The Athletic reported that it was a one-year, main league contract.
