Yesterday was a busy day for the Atlanta Braves as they not only had a bunch of arbitration settlements to work out, but they also managed to sign a player to a minor league deal. Not a bad day’s work, although it does look like they could have to pay more in arbitration than projected.
Of the five players they entered the day yesterday that were arbitration eligible, the Braves were able to settle on one year deals with four of them as Dennis Santana, Joe Jimenez, Lucas Luetge, and AJ Minter all agreed to one year deals for the 2023 season.
As for the elephant in the room, Max Fried, it was essentially a mortal lock that he was going to arbitration yet again as he went to a hearing last year as well and he is looking to get some real money. Jeff Passan reported very late last night that there is a real gap between the Braves and Fried in their filing figures (and both are well above what had been projected for Fried) as the Braves filed at $13.5 million while Fried filed at $15 million.
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The Braves did find time to make a move yesterday as they signed Ty Tice to a minor league deal. Atlanta was already familiar with Tice as they acquired him briefly in 2021. Definitely more of an organizational depth piece at this point, although he is an interesting arm when he is right.
Now that we have gotten all of that arbitration nonsense out of the way, it is time to look ahead to tomorrow’s international free agency opening. The Braves are expected to sign at least one of the top players in the class, Luis Guanipa, and to give you all a bit of a primer on what international free agency is all about, here is our preview that went live yesterday before all of the arbitration madness.
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As you would expect, it wasn’t just a busy day for the Braves yesterday as teams across the league had to figure out which players were going to be willing to settle and which players were headed for arbitration hearings. All told, 33 players appear to be heading for arbitration hearings this year with the Rays having the biggest group by far with seven players.
Juan Soto is not headed for arbitration as he and the Padres agreed on a one year deal worth $23 million for 2023. This is your reminder that Soto is going to be hitting free agency the same offseason as Max Fried and assuming he doesn’t get extended by the Padres, his free agency could be wild.
Miami seems to be continuing their tradition of selling off players instead of building a club capable of competing as pitcher Pablo Lopez is a popular name on the trade market. Rumor has it that the Padres and Twins are interested in the righty and Lopez may not be the only Marlins pitcher moved this offseason.