Atlanta Braves options for Bronson Arroyo

Atlanta Braves options for Bronson Arroyo

As stated above, Arroyo underwent Tommy John surgery on July 15th of last year.  Simple math will show that he’ll be a year removed from the surgery in about 3 weeks.  Arroyo is currently throwing bullpen sessions and could begin a rehab assignment within a few weeks, which would likely mean he wouldn’t be ready to pitching in MLB until the beginning of August at best.  Tommy John normally takes 12 months to recover from the first go-around, but the rehabber likely won’t gain full effectiveness until 18 months post-surgery. Let’s hope Arroyo keeps taking those “supplements”.

Arroyo is under contract this year for 9.5 million this year, of which Braves are responsible for approximately 6 million of that cost. He also has a 2016 club option for 13 million that can be bought out for 4.5 million.

The club option is the sticky part. According to Fangraphs, Arroyo has been worth 25 WAR over his 14 year career, but the last time that he has been worth 13 million or more was 2012.  The Braves’ options are thin, but we’ll cover them nonetheless!

1. Bring Arroyo into the rotation in August, place him on waivers, and hope that someone bites. The trade deadline will be long gone by the time Arroyo is ready to pitch in the Major Leagues and we’ll be into the “Waiver Trade” time of year (click link for explanation of waiver trades).  Teams get desperate in August, especially if a pitcher goes down with injury. I’m not sure they’ll get this desperate, as the acquiring team would no doubt pick up the 2016 option of 13 million as no team would rent a player for a month for 6-7 million dollars.

2. Keep Arroyo for 2016 back of the rotation depth.  With the starting pitching depth acquired this offseason and the logjam that is piling up at AAA, this is very unlikely.  Ask yourself this, would you rather…

"A. Braves  pay 13 million to put Arroyo in the back of the rotation for 2016. B. Braves pay Arroyo 4.5 million not to pitch and have 8.5 million to spend elsewhere."

I’m picking B.

3. Rehab him, pay him this year, give him his 4.5 million dollar buyout, and send him on his way. Honestly, this is the most likely scenario.  I don’t foresee any team willing to trade for a pitcher coming off of Tommy John surgery who wasn’t worth his contract even prior to surgery, regardless of desperation.  There will likely be other pitchers available who don’t come with the baggage of a buyout or Tommy John.

So, there they are…the options. Cross your fingers Braves fans!  Worst case scenario?  The Braves just bought a top prospect for Bronson Arroyo’s 10 million dollars so it could be much worse!

As always, thanks for reading!