10 former Braves still without a job heading toward spring training in 2024
Several Braves alumni are still looking for employment ahead of the 2024 season.
The Atlanta Braves have been quite fortunate to be able to keep most of their core intact over the last several years. Sure, there have been some notable departures like Freddie Freeman and Dansby Swanson, but the Braves have still been among the best in all of baseball at extending their guys and maintaining their roster's strength each year.
No team is completely immune from players hitting free agency, though. From guys that played key roles in big moments to others that Braves fans wish had done more, the population of Braves alumni has steadily grown across the league. With the slow pace of this offseason, many of those players find themselves still looking for a team to play for in 2024.
Here are former Braves players that are still free agents
The goal here isn't to make an exhaustive list of every guy that has ever worn a Braves uniform because, well, that would take forever and many of those names wouldn't be particularly interesting. At the end of the day, not every bullpen stopgap or bench player is worth thinking about too much.
Instead, this is a look at former Braves from this past season and years past that were notable in one way or another. Even just going that far, it is remarkable to see how wide the Braves' sphere of influence reaches across the game of baseball. Plus, it is fun to check in and see how some of these guys are doing as many were important parts of Braves history.
Let's take a look at what these 10 former Braves are up to.
Eddie Rosario
Braves fans remember fondly how Eddie Rosario almost singlehandedly beat the Dodgers in the 2021 NLCS. While he was good throughout that postseason run, his performance in that series etched his name in Atlanta lore and was among the best playoff performances in recent history period. Playoff series MVP awards often don't mean all that much, but Rosario certainly earned the title in that Dodgers series.
Unfortunately, issues with his eyes the following season brought his production down considerably in 2022. While he was mostly fine last season, the Braves decided to go in a different direction in left field and declined his $9 million option for 2024 and traded for Jarred Kelenic instead. He'll probably get a one year deal somewhere for next season, although there hasn't been really any information as to where that could be so far.
Julio Teheran
Due to the fact that his last few years in Atlanta saw him have to get kinda lucky to not get teed off on, Braves fans forget just how good Julio Teheran was with the Braves. He was the staff ace during the Braves' rebuild and made a pair of All-Star teams along the way. Julio has struggled to hang around the big leagues in recent years as he has bounced around the league, but he put together a nice little bounce back season with the Brewers in 2023. At 32 years old with a lot of miles on that arm of his, he is still looking for a team to take a chance on him at least one more time for next season.
Collin McHugh
While his 2023 season was brutal due to a big drop off in performance and injuries, Collin McHugh proved to be a really savvy pickup for the Braves when they signed him before the 2022 season. He was a super reliable part of the Braves' relief corps for that 2022 season with a 2.60 ERA and often gave the Braves multiple innings to preserve the rest of the bullpen when it was needed. That said, last season was rough and he is going to have to prove that he is healthy and still has something left in the tank to get an opportunity this coming season after the Braves declined McHugh's $6 million option.
Lucas Luetge
Lucas Luetge's tenure with the Braves was not great. He was hurt for a big chunk of the 2023 season and when he did play, he got torched with a 7.24 ERA in just 12 appearances. What IS notable about him, though, is what the Braves gave up to get him. The Braves traded both Caleb Durbin and Indigo Diaz to the Yankees to acquire Luetge and while Diaz is a relief prospect that hasn't done much since, Durbin has gone on a rampage in the minor leagues with an .822 OPS last year while continuing to be basically impossible to strike out.
Jesse Chavez
Oh King Jesse, you will be missed. It is hysterical how Jesse Chavez finds his way back to the Braves as often as he does. Despite turning 40 years old last year, Chavez was turning in another excellent season during his fourth(!) stint with the Braves before he got hit in the leg by a comebacker and missed most of the second half. It is unclear if he will come back and play a 17th season in the big leagues, but Braves fans can take solace that Jesse is probably lurking in the bowels of Truist Park somewhere where he will reside until the heat death of the universe.
Adam Duvall
Adam Duvall left the Braves after the 2022 season to join the Red Sox having played a big role with the team in two separate stints. Inconsistency at the plate and injuries cost him a lot of playing time, but Duvall looked like Babe Ruth when he was on one of his patented hot streaks. Duvall had a nice, albeit injury-shortened season with Boston last year and both the Red Sox and Angels appear to be finalists to add him for the 2024 season.
Jorge Soler
If any Braves fans want a smile, just go watch the video of Jorge Soler stealing the souls of Astros fans when he launched a ball into orbit in Game Six of the 2021 World Series. That ball still probably hasn't landed yet. Soler went on to sign with the Marlins where he played the last couple of years. The first year wasn't great, but he mashed 36 homers last season and promptly opted out of the last year of his deal to hit free agency this offseason with the Diamondbacks, Red Sox, Blue Jays, and Mariners all being connected to him recently.
Joc Pederson
Another 2021 postseason hero, Joc Pederson was Good Vibes Incarnate after the Braves made a deal with the Cubs before the trade deadline that year. He was great in that NLDS against the Brewers and had Braves fans wearing pearls throughout that postseason run. Joc played the last couple of years with the Giants before hitting free agency this year. The Blue Jays have checked in on him and appear to be the favorites to sign him, but they are looking at a lot of power bats at the moment.
Kolby Allard
Oh, what might have been. The 2015 draft was a big one for the Braves in hindsight as it brought Mike Soroka, Austin Riley, and AJ Minter into the organization. However, their first pick in that draft was actually Kolby Allard who, for a brief period, was thought to be a big part of the Braves' future. Unfortunately, he didn't quite develop the way the Braves hoped and he got traded to the Rangers in 2019 before being re-acquired by Atlanta last season. Sadly, his homecoming got ruined by a nerve issue in his shoulder and it is unclear if he will be able to find a job with a team for 2024.
Alex Wood
Finally, we come to old friend Alex Wood. Wood blasted his way through the minor leagues after being the Braves' second round pick in the 2012 draft and his first two seasons with the Braves were really good. However, he wound up getting traded to the Dodgers in the infamous Hector Olivera trade and carved a nice career for himself with the Dodgers, Reds, and Giants in the ensuing years. 2023 saw his production drop off considerably and he, too, is probably going to have to actively win a job this spring somewhere if he wants to prolong his career.
More Braves News from House That Hank Built
manual