The Atlanta Braves still have some work to do this offseason to complete their roster for the 2025 season. Losing Max Fried and Charlie Morton to free agency are tough blows for the organization. Combine that with Spencer Strider missing at least the first month of the season, and the Braves suddenly have two spots to fill.
One of those spots will likely be an internal option like Grant Holmes, Ian Anderson, AJ Smith-Shawver, or Hurston Waldrep. However, it wouldn't hurt for the Braves to add at least one external option to be a stopgap until Strider's return.
Bleacher Report recently released their starting rotation predictions for all MLB teams in 2025. There was an interesting and way too risky name tied to Atlanta as an option for the fourth spot in the rotation.
According to BR's projection, they believe the Braves should sign veteran starter Kyle Gibson. Gibson would slot in just above Grant Holmes who may be given a shot to start next season after an impressive rookie campaign.
The Braves signing Kyle Gibson would be very disappointing and incredibly risky
Gibson spent 2024 with the St. Louis Cardinals and continued his trend of lackluster pitching. He was an All-Star with the Texas Rangers in 2021 thanks to a 2.87 ERA over 19 games. However, it all fell apart once he was traded to the Phillies as Gibson had a 5.09 ERA across 12 games.
He remained with the Phillies in 2022 but has joined two teams since leaving town. The 37-year-old started 33 games for the Orioles in 2023 over 192 innings. That led to his season with the Cards where he pitched to a 4.24 ERA over 169.2 innings with 68 walks and 151 strikeouts.
While he could eat innings for the Braves, there's a ton of risk with signing a pitcher this old. His advanced metrics are a horror show as he was below average in strikeout, walk, barrel, chase, and hard-hit percentage. His groundball rate (44.5%) and average exit velocity were decent but still nothing to write home about.
This may be one of the worst projections Bleacher Report could have made. Gibson doesn't make a lot of sense for the Braves rotation. He doesn't provide enough upside to justify signing him. Atlanta would have been better off just keeping Charlie Morton at that point.