Braves Bring Back Catcher on Minor League Contract

The Atlanta Braves bring veteran catching depth back into the system. According to his transaction page, Sandy León is back on a minor league deal. He has been assigned to Triple-A Gwinnett, where he spent nearly all of the last two seasons.

He was designated for assignment last week and elected free agency on Monday. He is the only one of the five players who were designated for assignment and then elected free agency so far to re-sign with the organization. Among these players are outfielder Jarred Kelenic and infielder Luke Williams.

Should he stick around, he will return for his third season with the Braves organization. He spent almost all of it with Triple-A Gwinnett, but played a handful of games with the big league team in 2025. He had two call-ups to Atlanta.

The first one came when the Braves were looking to use both Drake Baldwin and Sean Murphy in the lineup together as the catcher and the designated hitter. When Marcell Ozuna earned the DH spot back, they put León back on the shuttle to the minors. 

His second stint came after Sean Murphy suffered a season-ending injury that required surgery on his hip. 

In that short time with the Braves, particularly in the big leagues, he got to have some special individual moments. When he got his chance to be in the starting lineup, he hit his first home run in four years. 

He got to continue serving as a mentor for rookie Drake Baldwin. The two used to be teammates down in Gwinnett in 2024. León also got to reunite with his former Red Sox teammate, Chris Sale. 

The two won the World Series together in 2018, and getting to pair up again as a battery was a long-awaited moment. They first got to reunite in Triple-A during Sale’s rehab assignment. The wish to get the band back together in the big leagues came true in mid-September during a doubleheader against the Washington Nationals.

Sale pitched eight shutout innings with León behind the dish. He didn’t do too much with the Braves this year, but when he got to play, he found his way into the headlines. 

At this time, Baldwin and Murphy serve as the primary catchers. León serves as a third catcher. If anything were to happen to Murphy or Baldwin, like this year, he is likely the first man to get the call. However, other catchers could be brought into the system, which could impact his role.

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