When the Atlanta Braves traded for Jarred Kelenic, there was a sincere hope that a change of scenery could unlock his potential. At one point, Kelenic was one of the top hitting prospects in all of baseball and Atlanta invested pretty heavily to acquired him despite his struggles in the big leagues thus far.
It is fair to say that Kelenic's first season with the Braves was disappointing. Coming off a 2 rWAR season with Seattle in 2023, Kelenic only managed a .231/.286/.393 line last season which was good for just 0.4 rWAR. He did hit 15 homers which was nice, but the rest of his season was entirely forgettable.
All of that said, Kelenic is still extremely young, talented, and, importantly, cheap. That meant it was always likely they would keep him around for the 2025 season and the Braves made that official ahead of the arbitration filing deadline as they agreed with Kelenic on a $2.3 million contract for next season.
Source: Jarred Kelenic, Braves settle at $2.3 million, avoiding arbitration.
— Robert Murray (@ByRobertMurray) January 9, 2025
Braves settle with Jarred Kelenic on a $2.3 million contract to avoid arbitration
Thursday is the deadline for teams to either agree to contracts with arbitration eligible players or to file arbitration figures and get ready for hearings with/against them. Kelenic was the most high profile name the Braves had left in arbitration thanks to all of the extensions they had handed out. Most experts had Kelenic getting a deal right in this range before the offseason started and that is exactly what he got.
For Kelenic, this is an opportunity to finally get his career back on track. The Braves need production out of their outfield early in the season while Ronald Acuna Jr. gets healthy and his lefty bat would be massive for their lineup if he could get going. If he shows out early in 2025, there is little reason to think that he couldn't slot in every day in left field unless the Braves make a significant signing this offseason.
With Kelenic's agreement, just Dylan Lee and Eli White remain as arbitration-eligible players without a deal set. Given that the Braves really prefer to avoid arbitration hearings, we can probably expect to hear settlements with them as well before 1 PM EST.