The Atlanta Braves have been pretty quiet of late and, frankly, its pretty easy to see why. One, the roster is in mostly great shape going into the 2023 season. Second, the areas that could be improved would…not be easily done with the names left on the market especially with the luxury tax premium the Braves would have to pay. Finally, the holidays typically slow things down when it comes to transactions.
However, today we have a bona fide move as the Braves signed Yacksel Rios to a minor league deal with an invitation to big league spring training.
Congrats to our client, pitcher Yacksel Rios, on signing w/ the Atlanta @Braves, which includes an invitation to Major League Spring Training. 🤝 He is currently playing winter ball in Puerto Rico & has 27.2 IP w/ 0.65 ERA, 34 Ks & 4 BBs 💪🇵🇷#Braves #MLB #TeamESM @mlbpuertorico pic.twitter.com/6danyA83Jz
— Gavin Kahn (@Gavin_Kahn) January 6, 2023
Atlanta Braves sign Yacksel Rios for some more depth
As you can see from the tweet from Yacksel’s agency, he has been pitching quite well down in Puerto Rico in its winter league. Rios has a ton of upside with an upper 90’s fastball along with a splitter and a slider. His command (or lack thereof) is the reason he is available at all, but given the terms of this deal, he seems like a very worthy bet especially if they can get him to easy back on the Wild Thing impression.
Rios has bounced around a good bit since his big league debut back in 2017 as he has seen time with the Phillies, Pirates, Seattle, and Boston. His numbers have looked decidedly not great as the lowest FIP he has recorded in a season (3.94) was during the 2020 season where he threw a grand total of four innings. The career 4.7 BB/9 rate definitely stands out as problematic and his strikeout rate should be higher (8.5 K/9 in his career) especially for a guy who has good raw stuff, so its possible the Braves could unlock something here.
In all likelihood, unless Rios really pitches his brains out in spring training, he will head to Triple-A and see if he can force his way into a big league appearance. Definitely not an earth-shattering signing, but not one without some ceiling.