The Atlanta Braves have one of the best (if not the best) front offices in all of baseball. Alex Anthopoulos' refusal to overpay or over-value players, lock in young talent via extensions, make savvy trades, or target short-term value contracts with veteran free agents has given the Braves one of the deepest rosters ever assembled.
So, which Atlanta Braves will have the highest salaries in 2024? Here are the top seven... I was going to do a top 5 but we have a three-way tie for the number seven spot.
Fun Fact: These seven players are the only Braves that will earn more than $9 million in 2024.
Highest Paid Atlanta Braves Players in 2024: T-5, Chris Sale - $16 million
All offseason Atlanta Braves fans have been hoping for a big-named starting pitcher to be added. They got it in seven-time All-Star Chris Sale. After the trade was completed, the Braves announced they had agreed to an extension with Sale. This extension benefited Sale in a few ways.
RELATED: 3 reasons the Atlanta Braves extended Chris Sale
It got rid of $10 million in deferred money so he could get paid now. It gave him $22 million guaranteed in 2025 as opposed to a club option that could have been declined. Considering Sale had a no-trade clause built into his contract with Boston, he probably stipulated some sort of an extension in exchange for waiving the no-trade.
Sale will earn $16 million in 2024. What's really cool about it is the Red Sox sent $17 million in cash considerations along with Sale in exchange for Vaughn Grissom. No matter which team is footing the bill, the $16 million tied Chris Sale for the fifth-highest salary on the Atlanta Braves in 2024.
Highest Paid Atlanta Braves Players in 2024: T-5, Raisel Iglesias - $16 million
Raisel Iglesias will also earn $16 million in 2024 as well. It's crazy how that works. Iglesias' role is critical to success but it always intrigues me to see how much more relievers can often earn per inning than some starting pitchers. For example, the aforementioned Chris Sale will earn the same paycheck as Iglesias in 2024 but if Sale pitches twice as many innings in 2024, we would probably be disappointed.
Iglesias is entering year three of a four-year, $58 million contract that was initially signed with the Los Angeles Angels. The Atlanta Braves have their closer locked in for the next two seasons at $16 million. Since 2020, Iglesias has been consistently great. Over 212 games he has a stellar 2.61 ERA with 2.0 walks per nine innings and 12.0 strikeouts per nine! He has 92 saves in that time and even got some Cy Young attention in 2021, finishing 11th in voting.
He may not get the recognition he deserves with Atlanta. We have gotten so accustomed to great performances that sometimes they can get overlooked. Since joining the Atlanta Braves, Iglesias has a 1.98 ERA over 82 innings with 34 saves. He earned 33 of those saves last season and enters 2024 locked in as the Braves closer.