Braves sign former Padres closer Robert Suarez

The Braves filled one of the roster’s biggest holes with the signing of former Padres closer Robert Suarez to a three-year, $45 million contract, ESPN’s Jeff Passan first reported.

After opting out of the final two years of his five year deal with the Padres, Suarez was one of the top free agent relievers on the market and immediately fixes one of the club’s biggest concerns at the back of the bullpen.

Even though he turns 35 years old in March, Suarez only made his MLB debut back in 2022, with stops in Mexico and Japan’s Nippon Professional Baseball league, but has found consistent success in the league. Since his debut, he’s posted a 2.91 ERA with an impressive 26.5% strikeout rate and 7.6% walk rate across 210 innings.

The flamethrower’s fastball sits right around 99 mph and essentially gives the Braves two closers. Suarez joins Raisel Iglesias, who returned to Atlanta on a one-year deal worth $16 million, to give the Braves plenty of flexibility late in games, but it will be Iglesias who garners closing duties per Ken Rosenthal.

However, if Iglesias were to need to miss time for rest or injury, the newest Braves reliever is more than capable of taking over the closer role. This setup role is not a new one for Suarez, who handled 8th inning duties in 2022 and 2023 for Taylor Rogers and Josh Hader, respectively.

If the Braves can get anything from Reynaldo Lopez or Joe Jimenez in the bullpen, this figures to be an elite unit in the upcoming campaign, a facet of the team that struggled mightily in 2025 with journeymen and injuries.