The Braves most under the radar move of 2025

The Braves shocked most of the baseball world when they decided to stand pat at the trade deadline.

The only player Atlanta moved was Rafael Montero, who was quickly headed toward being designated for assignment anyway. In fact, the Braves actually bought more than they sold, acquiring a pair of veteran arms to stabilize their battered rotation — as well as under-the-radar reliever Tyler Kinley from the Rockies.

Anyone who has followed the Braves under Alex Anthopoulos knows he loves to go back to the well. The Kinley addition was reminiscent of a move he made a couple of years ago when Atlanta acquired Pierce Johnson at the deadline.

At the time of that trade, Johnson had a 6.00 ERA and an unsightly 1.846 WHIP. But his underlying metrics were promising, and Coors Field is notorious for making even quality pitchers look pedestrian. Since then, Johnson has become a key cog in the Braves bullpen, posting an impressive 2.69 ERA across 145 appearances.

So if it worked once, why not try it again?

Tyler Kinley’s story is nearly identical. He carried a 5.66 ERA in Colorado, came with a $5 million player option for next season, and cost the Braves virtually nothing. If he turned things around, Atlanta would have another valuable bullpen piece locked in for 2026. If not, they could simply move on without much financial consequence.

So far, the gamble has paid off in a big way. Kinley has appeared in 21 games for the Braves, posting a 0.41 ERA, 2.28 FIP, and 0.727 WHIP. That $5 million player option now looks like a bargain, and Kinley has already patched a significant hole in Atlanta’s bullpen heading into next year.

Alex Anthopoulos still deserves criticism for how the 2025 roster was built — a few more offseason additions might have been the difference between this group sitting at home and playing October baseball. But credit where it’s due: he’s quietly changed the outlook for 2026 before the offseason has even begun. The midseason additions of Ha-Seong Kim and Tyler Kinley should have the Braves feeling much more confident about their standing as free agency approaches.

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