Atlanta Braves fans are patiently waiting for the team to make a move to fill their need for starting pitching. Max Fried declined his qualifying offer and became a free agent so he's being courted by a plethora of teams for his services.
The Braves right now have two voids in their rotation and with Spencer Strider expected to miss the start of the season, they have to do something to solidify the rotation. Fried returning would be a welcome sight but there's a chance he will leave like popular Atlanta free agents have done in the past.
However, Atlanta is lucky that there is a nice stockpile of arms to choose from this offseason. One option they could turn to is recent Mets pitcher Sean Manaea.
Mets playoff standout Sean Manaea could be solution for Braves starting rotation in 2025
Manaea started his MLB career with the A's in 2016 and has also pitched for the Padres (2022) and Giants (2023).
The southpaw showed flashes of greatness in the past but did struggle a bit. He struggled from 2022 to 2023 with a combined 4.73 ERA over 275.2 innings with 92 walks and 284 strikeouts.
However, he had a bit of a resurgence in 2024 with the Mets. Manaea had a 3.47 ERA over 181.2 innings with a 3.0 WAR, 63 walks and 184 strikeouts.
He worked on changing his delivery on the mound halfway through the season, with some noticing a similarity to Chris Sale's release. His ERA was practically the same in the first and second half but there was a noticeable drop in walks allowed. He walked 40 batters in the first half compared to just 23 in the second half.
Chris Sale vs. Sean Manaea, Mechanics. pic.twitter.com/yIuJ9hXpoc
— Rob Friedman (@PitchingNinja) September 11, 2024
He won't be the ace of a rotation but fits as more of a middle or back end of the rotation arm. Manaea is projected to earn a multi-year contract with an AAV of $20 million, which is pretty much the norm for quality starting pitching these days.
Manaea has always shown his potential to be an All-Star caliber pitcher with nasty stuff. However, he has struggled with command. Did this slight tweak to his arm angle make that much of a difference? And if so, why did it take so long to realize that?
Those are questions the Braves front office will need to ask themselves about Sean Manaea. Did this change in delivery make him a better pitcher or was it all a fluke? They need to be confident in their answers as they would lose a draft pick if they signed him.