This will come as a shock to some of you out there, but the Atlanta Braves have made another waiver claim. It is honestly remarkable that the Braves have remained as busy as they have in the closing month of the regular season in terms of roster moves that add new faces. It was only Sunday that the Braves raided the Dodgers' roster for Chuckie Robinson and the list of players that Atlanta has added since the trade deadline is...not a small list.
One reason for all of that movement has been because because their bullpen is in pretty brutal shape at the moment. Raisel Iglesias, Pierce Johnson, and Tyler Kinley have been good, but injuries and/or ineffectiveness have ravaged the rest of the relief corps and forced the Braves to try any and all potential solutions from outside the org. Hell, they even gave Alexis Diaz a try.
The Braves' success rate with waiver claims isn't great, although Ha-Seong Kim has been very good. That doesn't seem to be slowing them down, though, as they just claimed Joel Payamps from the Brewers with just days left in the regular season.
The #Braves today claimed RHP Joel Payamps off waivers from the Milwaukee Brewers and designated RHP Connor Seabold for assignment.
— Atlanta Braves (@Braves) September 22, 2025
Braves claim reliever Joel Payamps off of waivers in what could be a very savvy move
From 2021-2024, Payamps was a very serviceable reliever. In 215 appearances total, Payamps posted a 3.02 ERA with 215 strikeouts and just 65 walks in 235.2 innings of work. While not a guy that was used in the highest leverage situations, he was a key cog in making Milwaukee's bullpen go.
Unfortunately, 2025 has not been kind to Payamps. The Brewers designated him for assignment after a season that saw his ERA skyrocket to 7.23, although his 4.33 FIP in 28 appearances this season is a bit more promising.
Payamps has one more year of arbitration after this season. If he performs well and Atlanta likes what they see, Payamps has the kind of track record that could lead the Braves to at least bring him into camp to see if he can recapture his old form and give Atlanta a very solid reliever at a bargain rate. Apparently Alex Anthopoulos is just going to kick the tires on every waiver claim humanly possible until the bitter end and frankly, we are here for it.