2024-25 MLB Offseason Recap: Atlanta Braves

For the first time since 2017, the Braves failed to secure the NL East title. While the Braves made the playoffs nonetheless, Atlanta couldn’t get past the Padres in the NL Wild Card Round. The 2024 campaign marked the last gasp for the core Braves fans came to know for years, as several big names left via free agency.

Notable Additions

• OF Bryan De La Cruz (-1.5 bWAR in 2024)
• OF Jurickson Profar (3.6 bWAR)
• RP Amos Willingham (-0.1 bWAR)

Atlanta’s focus this offseason was bolstering the outfield, more important given Ronald Acuna Jr. will not play in Spring Training games and likely start the year on the IL.

The marquee pickup of the winter was Jurickson Profar, the ex-Padre who parlayed a career 2024 campaign into a three-year deal with the Braves. The 32-year-old Profar’s always shown a penchant for hitting for power, while also getting on base at a decent clip. However, 2024 was the year it all came together, as Profar blasted 24 home runs and a .893 OPS.

Profar should slot in as the Braves’ everyday left fielder.

Additionally, the Braves also signed former Marlin Bryan De La Cruz to a one-year deal. De La Cruz hit a career-best 21 home runs last season, spent between Miami and Pittsburgh. However, the 28-year-old struggled badly after he was acquired by the Pirates. He struck out 52 times over 44 games and posted a .514 OPS.

The other notable addition to the Braves’ 40-man roster was former Nationals reliever Amos Willingham. Willingham is a Georgia native who played college ball at Russ Chandler, with the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets.

Willingham has a career MLB ERA of 7.11 across two seasons. However, the 26-year-old did show off a nice fastball with the Nats, one he can run up to the upper-90s.

Notable Losses

• RP Jesse Chavez (0.7 bWAR)
• C Travis d’Arnaud (1.1 bWAR)
• SP Max Fried (3.5 bWAR)
• OF Ramon Laureano (1.3 bWAR, 1.3 bWAR with Braves)
• RP A.J. Minter (1.1 bWAR)
• SP Charlie Morton (1.1 bWAR)
• OF/DH Jorge Soler (1.1 bWAR, 0.1 bWAR with Braves)
• INF Gio Urshela (0.7 bWAR, 1.0 bWAR with Braves)

The Braves were forced to pay over $14MM in competitive balance tax payments this winter, after going past the $237MM tax threshold. Staying competitive has its costs and this past winter, Atlanta underwent significant cost-cutting measures.

Much of those measures came by way of seeing several significant names take their talents to other destinations. Travis d’Arnaud will now tandem with Logan O’Hoppe in Anaheim, joining Ron Washington. The loss of d’Arnaud now leaves Sean Murphy, who hit .193/.284/.352 in 2024, as the clear #1 backstop in Atlanta.

Jorge Soler, re-acquired last summer amidst injuries, was traded to the Angels.

Lefty reliever A.J. Minter, a valuable piece of the Braves’ 2021 championship team, went north to join the Mets. Max Fried, one of Atlanta’s three co-aces, took a massive eight-year deal to head to New York, as well. Fried, though, will be donning pinstripes this summer with the Yankees.

Dating back to 2019, Fried was one of the game’s best hurlers. A true pitcher who can change speeds, give hitters different looks, and command the zone, Fried recorded a 23.1 career bWAR with the Braves. He won three Gold Gloves, finished second for the NL Cy Young in 2022, and was on Atlanta’s World Series-winning team in 2021.

A pair of Braves also landed in Baltimore. Ramon Laureano, who hit 10 home across 67 games last season for Atlanta, was a nice find after he was DFA’d by Cleveland. However, a pending pay raise in arbitration saw him get non-tendered. Now, he’s a member of the Orioles.

Charlie Morton ended his second stint in Atlanta when he signed with Baltimore in early January. Morton often got himself into trouble with runners on base in 2024 but remained a solid strikeout pitcher in 2024. The 41-year-old struck out 167 batters over 165.1 IP.

Jesse Chavez, at least for now, is not a member of the Braves’ roster any longer. Chavez inked a Minor League deal with the Rangers this past winter.

What to Expect in 2025

Given how much money the Braves committed to their bats, it seemed inevitable at some point there would be a course correction. That happened this past winter, as several members of the team’s core left.

With Fried and Morton out of the picture, it gives way for the next generation of Braves pitchers to take charge. Yes, Chris Sale — so long as he stays healthy — is the staff ace. And when Spencer Strider returns, the Braves should trot one of the better rotations in the game.

However, the likes of Hurston Waldrep, AJ Smith-Shawver, and Drue Hackenberg have the chance to take on roles in the Braves’ rotation. Spencer Schwellenbach, who excelled in the second half, did just that in 2024.

Expect the Braves, even with all of those losses, to be highly-competitive, as Atlanta looks to reclaim the NL East once more.