Despite the fact that the start of the regular season is just days away, the Atlanta Braves have remained busy adding new faces in the name of depth. Both Hector Neris and Craig Kimbrel were relatively recent additions that are likely to factor into the team's plans in 2025 and in the last few days, Atlanta also struck a trade for Nathan Wiles and brought back Jesse Chavez yet again.
The goal of nearly all of these moves has been one thing: depth especially when it comes to pitching. The Braves know better than most that you need to have a stable of useful arms to survive the long season as injuries and underperformance is going to strike at least a few guys over the course of the year.
That strategy continued on Sunday as it was reported that the Braves swung another trade to bring Angels long reliever Jose Suarez to Atlanta. However, there was a surprise twist as the return for LA was former top draft pick and Braves mainstay Ian Anderson.
Angels acquire Ian Anderson from Braves for Jose Suarez
— Jon Heyman (@JonHeyman) March 23, 2025
Braves add struggling reliever Jose Suarez in trade with the Angels
The headliner of this deal is the Braves giving up Anderson who came into camp with a chance of making their Opening Day rotation. Anderson literally JUST pitched for the Braves on Sunday, but it was another appearance where he couldn't find the strike zone and managed to just barely avoid major damage. It had become pretty clear that his time with the Braves was running out, although the timing of this trade was still pretty wild.
While Suarez is under team control through 2026 which is nice, Suarez is coming off a pair of pretty brutal seasons in LA with a combined 6.91 ERA over 33 appearances in 2023 and 2024 as he dealt with a shoulder issue and command problems.
In some ways, this move almost feels like Alex Anthopoulos doing his old pal and former Braves exec Perry Minasian doing each other a solid in getting struggling arms off their rosters. The only redeeming thing about Suarez's profile as a pitcher from last season was that his breaking stuff performed well, but the rest of his arsenal was decidedly lacking and opposing hitters had little trouble hitting the ball hard against him. Anderson's struggles this spring after dealing with a serious arm injury are well-documented.
In all likelihood, the Braves are probably hoping to stash Suarez in Gwinnett in the event that they need an extra long reliever. The options that Atlanta has on their roster are strictly better than what Suarez has shown the last couple of seasons and this spring has not been particularly kind as well. There is a chance that the Braves see something that they think they can fix in Suarez, but the more likely explanation is that he was a cheap guy to add who is likely to be able to get DFA'd without incident like he was in the middle of last season and be a minor league depth arm.
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