The Atlanta Braves have yet to make an impact move with a big free agent or trade. However, they have shown they want to build up their depth. Atlanta recently inked outfielder Bryan De La Cruz to a minor league contract to give them depth in the outfield.
Who could blame them? After what the Braves went through in 2024 with injuries, depth will be massively important in 2025.
Braves continue budget spending with addition of hard-throwing reliever Jordan Weems on a minor league contract
Atlanta continued that trend on Tuesday afternoon by signing former Nationals reliever Jordan Weems. According to Tim Dierkes of MLB Trade Rumors, Weems was signed to a minor-league deal and is expected to be a non-roster invitee to spring training.
Braves, Jordan Weems Agree To Minor League Deal https://t.co/jtBkPKOAca pic.twitter.com/fIT19of5o0
— MLB Trade Rumors (@mlbtraderumors) December 17, 2024
The 32-year-old pitched for the A's and Diamondbacks during the first two years of his career but spent the last three seasons with Washington. Over that time frame, he has a 5.03 ERA over 136 innings. He struck out 136 batters while allowing 64 walks. That is good enough for a strikeout percentage of around 23% and a walk percentage of around 11%.
Weems features a fastball that averages 96 mph, a slider, a splitter, and a curveball. His slider sits around 87 mph with a whiff/put away rate of 26.4% and 19.5% respectively in 2024.
His best MLB season came in 2023 with a 3.62 ERA but that was sandwiched between two years of an ERA of 5+. He throws hard and has a great breaking pitch to put batters away but he'll need to work on consistency if he hopes to land on the MLB roster.
Atlanta needs a hard-throwing right-hander for high-leverage situations but Weems doesn't seem to fit that bill. He's out of minor league options so he'd really have to impress Atlanta to be added to the big league roster.
There's still time for the Braves to make an impact addition but they're clearly being careful to not overspend. Hopefully, there's some more exciting action to come in the following weeks/months.