After Tatsuya Imai signed elsewhere, things with the Atlanta Braves quieted down considerably. In fairness, that seems to be be true across the league with the exception of Kazuma Okamoto landing with the Blue Jays. When it comes to the impact players left on the market, the league seems to have collectively taken a bit of a breather...although that may have more to do with Scott Boras holding up the market than anything else.
However, things around the Braves haven't been completely quiet lately. Here is a look at the goings on in Braves land coming out of the weekend.
Orlando Arcia lands with Twins on minor league deal as he hangs on to MLB career for dear life
Braves fans turned on Orlando Arcia in a hurry as he went from a surprise success story to the player that embodied Atlanta's struggles at shortstop. The Braves have long since moved on, first to Nick Allen (sigh) and not to Ha-Seong Kim, but Arcia is still somehow hanging around in the major leagues.
After moving on to Rockies after the Braves designated him for assignment upon Ronald Acuña Jr.'s return, Arcia became a free agent and found a new home with the Twins. While Minnesota is going to be pretty bad for a while after their recent teardown, the move does give Arcia an opportunity to rebuild some value without having pressure on the team to compete.
Braves sign DaShawn Keirsey Jr. to a minor league deal
While additions to the big league roster haven't really happened since Atlanta reunited with Kim, the Braves have been pretty consistently adding depth pieces on minor league deals to give them more options in the high minors in case of injuries.
That trend continued over the weekend after the Braves signed DaShawn Keirsey Jr. to a minor league deal. Keirsey has not hit well in the majors so far, but his numbers in the minors at Triple-A are a bit more promising. There is a chance that Keirsey could be in play as a bench outfielder and pinch runner for the Braves in 2026, but that might be the ceiling as to his impact in the majors this coming season.
Chris Bassitt continues to be mentioned as a potential Braves offseason rotation option
As fun as it would have been for the Braves to land Imai, adding a back-end starter has always been the more likely outcome and there are still plenty such arms available in free agency. Ultimately, the Braves' choice here will come down to cost and whether or not any external options will are actual upgrades over their internal options.
One such name that has now come up repeatedly is Chris Bassitt who recently got mentioned as a logical choice by Fox Sports' Rowan Kavner for Atlanta. It may be true that Bassitt could be a quality innings-eater type, it is his price tag that will ultimate determine exactly how involved the Braves get as they are already up there when it comes to payroll right now.