The Atlanta Braves are officially in the offseason. Alex Anthopoulos is expected to talk to the media on Sunday morning about the season that was and their plans for the winter - and yes, we’ll have full coverage of that over on Braves Today.
But first, let’s look at all of the logistics: who are free agents, who are arbitration-eligible (with their salary projections), Atlanta’s option decisions to be made, etc.
Free agents and contract decisions
Free agents (and their salaries):
SS Ha-Seong Kim - $20M
RP Raisel Iglesias - $16M
SP Tyler Mahle - $10M (Braves paid $2,096,257 of this)
RP Joe Jiménez - $9M
UTIL Mauricio Dubón - $6.1M
OF Lane Thomas - $5.25M
SP Martín Pérez - $3.369M
RP Brent Suter - $1.25M (Braves paid $367,647)
DH Dominic Smith - $1.25M
DH Kyle Farmer - $915,000
Using Atlanta’s actual 2026 obligations - including only the Braves-paid portions of Mahle and Suter’s salaries - these free agents account for roughly $64.35 million coming off the books. That doesn’t mean the 2027 Braves have freed up that much salary, however, because some guaranteed contracts change next year, with most of them going up.
| Player | 2026 | 2027 | Change |
|------------------|------|------|--------|
| Jurickson Profar | $0 | $15M | +$15M |
| Chris Sale | $18M | $27M | +$9M |
| Robert Suarez | $13M | $16M | +$3M |
| Spencer Strider | $20M | $22M | +$2M |
| Mike Yastrzemski | $9M | $10M | +$1M |
| Michael Harris II| $8M | $9M | +$1M |
| Reynaldo López | $14M | $8M | −$6M |The net here is $39.35M for the Braves after the increases, although that jumps to roughly $54M if the Braves can find a way to get out from under Jurickson Profar’s $15M salary (and obviously, this is also prior to arbitration raises, picking up club options, etc.)
And while the Profar decision is worth a longer discussion than we have room for here, it’s hard to fathom the clubhouse welcoming him back after they watched him come back from his first positive test just for him to…violate their trust by doing it again. The fact that he never even texted Ronald Acuña Jr. back after the second test doesn’t bode well for his stature in the clubhouse. As I said at the time, he needs to not play another inning for Atlanta, even if it means completely eating the $15M, but it’s never that simple.
We’ll see if Atlanta explores a bad-contract swap this winter, either taking back a struggling player it believes it can rehabilitate or simply exchanging unwanted money with another club.
Club options:
RF Ronald Acuña Jr. ($17M, w/ $10M buyout = $7M incremental cost to keep him)
2B Ozzie Albies ($7M, w/ $4M buyout = $3M incremental cost to keep him)
Both of these seem like no-brainers - the $3M difference for Ozzie Albies is one low-leverage reliever in free agency, although there’s an outside chance they dangle him in trade talks. Ronald’s getting both this and the next club option picked up, although we’ll dive more into his future a bit later next week, once Anthopoulos weighs in on the roster.
Outside of guaranteed contracts and club options, the Braves also need to decide on several arbitration-eligible players: do they extend them one-year contracts for 2027, work out long-term deals, or non-tender them and let them head to free agency.
Decisions to make:
Arbitration decisions (via MLBTR):
Dylan Lee (4.150): $4.2MM
James Karinchak (4.130): $1.1MM
Joey Wentz (3.166): $900K
Michael Grove (3.122): $1MM
Luke Williams (3.070): $900K
Bryce Elder (3.069): $4MM
Total: $12.1M
The no-brainers here are Lee, Wentz, and Elder. I’m really curious to know more about how the Braves view Karinchak; they were entirely uninterested in using him down the stretch, despite his 2.45 ERA in 7⅓ August innings for the Stripers. Stylistically, he doesn’t really fit with what pitching coach Jeremy Hefner has traditionally preferred from his relievers, as he throws just a four-seamer and a curveball and is mostly a single-inning reliever with a notable platoon split.
Michael Grove’s price is also reasonable for a once-heralded starting pitching prospect that might be able to help you next season as a spot starter or long-man out of the pen.
Luke Williams was designated for assignment on Friday, but could still be retained on a minor league deal as an emergency depth piece.
There are also several first-time Rule 5-eligible prospects Atlanta may need to consider protecting, although it’s currently unknown whether the league will hold a Rule 5 draft this winter. In the last CBA negotiation, the Rule 5 draft (which typically takes place on the final day of the Winter Meetings) was canceled; Evan Drellich of The Athletic reports that the league advised clubs this week that the status of this year’s Rule 5 draft is to be determined during CBA negotiations. The Players Association has already proposed that any Rule 5 draft that takes place in the final year of a collective bargaining agreement be moved up to November, although that clearly doesn’t resolve this year’s situation.
Rule 5 eligibles:
Cedric De Grandpre
Davis Polo
Drue Hackenberg
Landon Harper
Ian Mejia
Cade Kuehler
We’ll dive into these players and Atlanta’s decisions here a little bit later in the offseason.
When everything needs to be done
While we don’t have exact dates for some of this, as it’s contingent on the final date of the World Series (which could end anywhere from Tuesday, October 27th if it’s a sweep to October 31st if it goes the distance), here’s what we do know about Atlanta’s key decisions and when they need to be made:
The first full day after the World Series: Players become free agents, although they may negotiate only with their previous club during the exclusive negotiating period. Trades may resume.
The fifth full day after the World Series: Free agents may begin negotiating and signing with all clubs at 5 p.m. ET. Club-option decisions and Qualifying Offers ($23.15M this year) are also due to the league office.
November 5th-7th: The general manager meetings are being held in San Antonio, Texas
Mid-November: Player deadline to accept or decline Qualifying Offers, MLB awards announced, Rule 5 protection deadline. Another floating date, due to not knowing when the World Series will end.
December 1st: The official end of the league year. An owner-initiated lockout would begin the next day, December 2nd. All contact between players and teams must cease, while agents are able to contact teams about their minor leaguers but are prohibited from discussing anyone on a 40-man roster. No transactions can happen after this date, with any trades or signings not already submitted to the league office on hold until the resumption of business after the lockout.
January 15th (tentative): The usual start of the international signing period, although it’s unknown whether this one will begin on time due to the lockout. (The last CBA negotiation did not have minor leaguers as a separate bargaining unit, so it’s unknown if the existence of a minor league CBA would allow this to go on as planned)
Mid-February (tentative): Pitchers and catchers to report for spring training
March 24th (tentative): MLB’s Opening Night game on Netflix
March 25th (tentative): Opening Day