The Atlanta Braves signed two starters in November but have yet to address the bullpen, and reinforcements are needed without question.
I noted the need for the Atlanta Braves to add a couple of bullpen arms in my last post but didn’t dive into the details.
Early Wednesday, we heard that former Brave Darren O’Day would sign a convoluted deal with the Yankees for one year at $1.75M, a player option for a second year at $1.4M or a $700K buyout. If O’Day declines his option, the Yankees may exercise a $3.15M option to keep him.
The Braves were reported as runners-up, but not bringing O’Day back isn’t huge. The bullpen has number this year but lost two other arms in addition to O’Day. Right now, the pen includes:
- LHRP Will Smith
- RHRP Chris Martin – one minor league option
- LHRP A.J. Minter – two minor league options
- RHRP Josh Tomlin
- LHRP Grant Dayton
- RHRP Luke Jackson
- LHRP Tyler Matzek
- LHRP Sean Newcomb – one option
Adding starters Ian Anderson (three options), Max Fried (one option), Charlie Morton, Mike Soroka (two options), and Drew Smyly bring the active roster to 13 pitchers. Kyle Wright has two options remaining, while Bryse Wilson, Touki Toussaint, Huascar Ynoa, and Patrick Weigel each have an option year left.
Martin, Smith, and Minter will compete for the closer’s role, and I suspect the hot hand will get it. Only Martin, Minter, and Newcomb have minor league options remaining, and Martin isn’t going to get optioned.
Smith, Minter, and Matzek offer plenty of juice from the left side, while Newcomb can provide multiple innings if needed. The only hard-throwing righty in the group is Martin, with Tomlin — the group’s emergency long-man — and Jackson there to keep cardiologists in business.
While the NL East has some notable lefty hitters, and Newcomb has a reverse split, the bullpen looks a little too left-handed, which explains the Braves’ interest in bringing O’Day back.