Last year, despite the Atlanta Braves sitting way out of playoff contention at the 2025 trade deadline, the club opted to hold on to their bigger pending free agents, Marcell Ozuna and Raisel Iglesias. Their only real trade was sending an uninspiring middle reliever, Rafael Montero, to the Detroit Tigers in exchange for infielder Jim Jarvis, who was unranked in the Tigers farm system.
While at the time, the trade seemed like an after thought, the 25-year-old Jarvis has managed to mash his way to the major leagues, getting the call before the Braves finale against the Mariners on Wednesday.
The #Braves today selected INF Jim Jarvis to the major league roster and designated OF José Azócar for assignment.
— Atlanta Braves (@Braves) May 6, 2026
Braves call up 2025 trade deadline acquisition Jim Jarvis
Even by making the major leagues, Jim Jarvis has essentially already managed one of the best possible outcomes for the Braves from their deadline deal. Montero had a 5.50 ERA with Atlanta, and a slightly better but still underwhelming 4.13 FIP. The fact that the Braves were able to get any sort of return at all was surprising.
However, the second Jarvis stepped into the Braves organization, he's outperformed expectations. Jarvis reached Triple-A before the end of last year – although a bizarre injury prematurely ended his regular season – and then had an .859 OPS in the Arizona Fall League.
This year in Gwinnett, he's slashed .305/.418/.445, and has also stolen 15 bases in 17 attempts. The Stripers have used him almost entirely at shortstop, but Jarvis has played at least 40 games at both second base and third base in his minor league career.
While Montero did somehow manage a 2.86 ERA down the stretch for the Tigers last season, he had to settle for a minor league deal with the Yankees this season. If Jarvis can prove himself to even be a capable backup infielder, then this trade might go down as the second-worst deadline deal the Tigers have ever made with the Braves.
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