5 Free Agents The Braves Should Target: Starting Pitchers

There’s a lot of uncertainty around how the offseason will play out because of the looming lockout.

It would be shocking if there were no baseball played at all next season. The sport has too much momentum moving in a positive direction for that to be the outcome, but some missed games are on the table, and that would without question have a significant effect on free agency.

Still, these players have to sign somewhere, and the Braves have a ton of holes to address — none bigger than the rotation. Atlanta needs both a frontline starter to pair with Chris Sale and depth behind him. If they don’t come away with at least two new starting pitchers this offseason, it’ll be an underwhelming result, one Braves fans are unfortunately used to by now.

Here are some initial thoughts on the starting arms I covet from this year’s free agent class, keeping in mind the Braves are highly unlikely to be a serious landing spot for Tarik Skubal, even if there was interest at the trade deadline.

Trevor Rogers

Rogers is my favorite candidate on this entire list. His surface numbers this season won’t blow anybody away — a 4.03 ERA over 30 starts — but he has nasty stuff, producing a chase rate in the 92nd percentile, and he rarely hands out free passes.

What Rogers could be in Atlanta is much better represented by his 2025, when he piled up 5.3 WAR in just 18 starts. It would be fascinating to see what Jeremy Hefner could turn him into with the Braves.

Sonny Gray

This is probably the 50th time I’ve written about the Braves potentially acquiring Sonny Gray, whether via free agency or trade. They always seem to have interest, but it has yet to come to fruition.

Maybe that changes this offseason. Gray is expected to decline his $30 million mutual option with the Red Sox after another stellar campaign, one in which he recorded a league-leading 18 wins with a 2.72 ERA. That kind of production is going to cost a pretty penny, but Gray seems to find success everywhere he goes.

Clay Holmes

Holmes’ season was essentially cut in half after he was struck by a 111 mph line drive that broke his fibula. But he still made 18 starts between the Cubs and Mets, recording a terrific 3.23 ERA — and that comes after a 3.53 ERA in 2025, his first season starting since he was a rookie in 2018.

He isn’t going to blow opponents away with his stuff, but he keeps hitters off base and really seemed to find his footing with Jeremy Hefner — the Braves’ current pitching coach — while the two were together in New York last year. Starting pitching never comes cheap in free agency, but this is an affordable option the Braves should feel comfortable slotting into the middle of their rotation.

Tyler Mahle

Mahle is among the most intriguing free agents in this entire class because of how his 2026 played out. He gave the Giants next to nothing, posting a 5.13 ERA over 18 starts, but his 1.99 ERA with the Braves and his performances in the postseason are going to have plenty of teams interested.

Mahle has already made it clear he’d like to return to Atlanta, and the interest is surely mutual, but money talks, and the Braves have never been one to get into bidding wars for starting pitching in free agency.

This feels like a case that ultimately comes down to the length of the deal. If another team offers three or four years, my best guess is the Braves let him walk. If it’s a one- or two-year deal, I think he stays.

Michael Soroka

As a Braves fan, one of the better things to watch from afar has been Michael Soroka carving out a nice career for himself after all the injuries he dealt with in Atlanta. He’s coming off his best season since his Braves days, posting a 3.41 ERA and 3.19 FIP over 116 innings, which will likely lead to him opting out of his mutual option with the Diamondbacks and hitting free agency.

The nostalgia alone is enough to sell Braves Country, but even setting that aside, he’d be a tremendous addition to the middle of this rotation at a price point that shouldn’t be ridiculous.