Braves, Tyler Freeman Agree To Minor League Deal

The Braves and utilityman Tyler Freeman are in agreement on a minor league contract, reports Thomas Harding of MLB.com. The Paragon Sports International client will be in big league camp as a non-roster invitee ahead of the 2027 season. Harding adds that Freeman had back surgery in October but believes he’ll be ready for game action by late March.

Freeman, 27, was the No. 71 overall pick by Cleveland back in 2017. He ranked as one of their top prospects for several years and garnered top-100 fanfare from 2020-22. He’s yet to deliver on that prospect billing to date, however. In parts of five big league seasons, the righty-swinging infielder/outfielder carries a .247/.323/.336 batting line. He’s walked at a middling 6.4% clip but also shown the excellent contact skills that helped make him such a well-regarded prospect, fanning in only 13.4% of his plate appearances.

Scouting reports on Freeman have never really settled on where he fits best defensively. His plus-plus hit tool and above-average speed give him the potential to be a genuine contributor, but he’s struggled defensively at second base, third base, shortstop and across all three outfield positions. Freeman drew poor marks for his throwing in the infield earlier in his career. His arm has graded out with borderline elite strength since moving to more of an outfield role, but he’s not especially accurate with it and struggles with his reads/jumps on the grass.

Freeman has typically shown well above-average sprint speed. That slipped to average in 2026, and his range in the outfield was among the worst in the game, per Statcast. That already looked somewhat understandable after he missed a week with a concussion and two weeks with lumbar pain, but the new revelation that he required offseason surgery only further serves to explain why he may not have been moving at full speed in 2026.

Freeman still has a minor league option year remaining. He’s up to four-plus years of major league service time, meaning Atlanta could control him for at least two more seasons via arbitration if makes the club at some point next year — possibly more, given that remaining option year. That’s all putting the cart before the horse, however. Freeman will first need to recover from his back procedure, then hit his way into big league consideration and find a way to contribute better than he has in five prior seasons with the Guardians and Rockies.

For now, it’s a pure depth play, but it’s easy enough to see why Atlanta is bringing in some options to potentially round out the bench. The Braves don’t have a clear starter at shortstop, and their backup infield/outfield options on the bench include journeymen like Brett Wisely, Vidal Brujan and Brewer Hicklen. Jim Jarvis will likely be in that bench group as well, but for the time being, he’s the nominal favorite to start games at shortstop. Atlanta is all but certain to make some sort of external addition to shore that position up.