The upcoming options deadline has loomed over the future of the Atlanta Braves and Jake Odorizzi since the season ended. It was pretty clear that Odorizzi wasn’t going to be in the Braves’ plans in the 2023 rotation. For those that may not be aware, Jake did not perform particularly well after they acquired him. Despite Jake pitching reasonably well in the game that ultimately clinched the 2022 National League East title for the Braves this season, his overall line was less than ideal. In 10 starts with the Braves, he posted a 5.24 ERA, 1.55 WHIP, and 5.14 FIP in 46.1 innings of work. That was…not great and the eye test often seemed worse.
However, Odorizzi’s contract created a bit of a wrinkle for the Braves’ offseason plans because he possessed a player option for the 2023 season valued at $12.5 million, but it also contained a buyout worth $6.25 million. On paper, exercising the option would double Jake’s guaranteed money, but it would also mean that he couldn’t pursue opportunities elsewhere which could make the end amount more lucrative (again, assuming that he could get a deal that, combined with the buyout, would be more than $12.5 million).
Well, the Braves bypassed all of that as they made their second trade of the offseason to bring back an old friend.
The Atlanta Braves today acquired LHP Kolby Allard from the Texas Rangers in exchange for RHP Jake Odorizzi and cash.
— Atlanta Braves (@Braves) November 9, 2022
Welcome back to the Atlanta Braves, Kolby Allard
The trade this evening seems to give some credence to the idea that Odorizzi was at least considering just exercising his player option and not accepting a buyout. Arguably the most important part of this trade is how much money the Braves are sending to Texas, but as of this writing, we don’t have that yet.
**UPDATE: 7:12 PM EST**
It is now known how much the Braves sent. $10 million is a lot of money.
The Braves are sending $10 million to the Rangers in the Odorizzi trade, per source.
— Mark Feinsand (@Feinsand) November 10, 2022
What we do know, though, is that Kolby Allard is coming back to the Braves organization. The Braves’ first round pick in the 2015 draft pitched in just three games in the big leagues for the Braves before he was traded to Texas in the deal that brought Chris Martin to Atlanta in 2019.
Kolby is by all accounts a fantastic human and teammate, but he did have his fair share of struggles during his time in Texas. His best season with the Rangers was 2019 where he posted a 4.96 ERA and 4.01 FIP in 45.1 innings of work. Last season, Allard pitched only out of the bullpen for Texas and in his 10 appearances, he had a 7.29 ERA and 7.87 FIP in 21 innings. Definitely not ideal numbers, but this deal is more about the roster spot and the money involved.
In any case, welcome back Kolby! We can now say with certainty that the Jake Odorizzi era in Atlanta is officially over.