Atlanta Braves Have Some Difficult 40-man Roster Decisions to Make
The Atlanta Braves have a lot of players on the injured list right now who will need to be added to the 40-man roster, meaning some players will have to go.
With the World Series wrapping up this weekend, not only will the Braves have five days after that ends to make decisions on contract options, but they'll also have to clean up their 40-man roster.
As it stands today, they have 28 pitchers (including guys currently on the injured list) and 18 position players for a total of 46 players.
Pitchers who feel like a safe bet to remain on the 40-man roster include: Ian Anderson, Dylan Dodd, Bryce Elder, Max Fried, Raisel Iglesias, Pierce Johnson, Dylan Lee, Tyler Matzek, A.J. Minter, Jared Shuster, AJ Smith-Shawver, Spencer Strider, Darius Vines, Allan Winans, Kyle Wright, and Huascar Ynoa.
Position players who should feel safe: Travis d'Arnaud, Sean Murphy, Ozzie Albies, Orlando Arcia, Vaughn Grissom, Matt Olson, Austin Riley, Ronald Acuna Jr., Michael Harris, and Marcell Ozuna.
That's a total of 26 players, leaving 14 spots open.
Let's assume the Braves pick up the contracts of Charlie Morton (in some fashion -- perhaps at a lesser amount), Eddie Rosario, and Kirby Yates.
Now we're up to 29 with 11 open spots.
Other players who are likely kept include: Kolby Allard, Nick Anderson, Daysbel Hernandez, Michael Tonkin, Chadwick Tromp, Nicky Lopez, Braden Shewmake, Luke Williams, and Forrest Wall.
That brings the total on the 40-man roster to 38.
Tonkin is out of options but was solid in his role last year.
At least according to FanGraphs, Allard and Williams still have options. If that's not actually the case, they could be cut.
(Editor's note: Allard's a beneficiary of a little-known rule here - if a player exhausts all three minor-league options but has less than five full years of service, they gain a fourth option year. Allard was optioned in 2019, 2021, & 2022 but finished this season with under five years of service, so he should be given an additional minor league option for 2024. And it's confusing, as he was optioned by Atlanta in 2018 but this option didn't count as one of his three, for some reason?)
Same for Tromp, who gives solid depth at catcher, but you can easily find those kinds of guys.
Lopez is interesting as Shewmake can bring you similar value but for a lot less. But the Braves dealt for Lopez rather than give Shewmake the bench job for a reason, so they likely pay the $4 million price tag to keep him.
Players likely gone in this scenario: Brad Hand, Ben Heller, Collin McHugh, Michael Soroka, Jackson Stephens, Yonny Chirinos, Andrew Velazquez, and Sam Hilliard.
Soroka, Stephens, and possibly even McHugh feel like candidates to return on minor-league deals.
The Braves also seem to have a fascination with Chirinos, but with him being out of options it's hard to see him remaining on this roster.
If they want to make some more room on the 40-man roster for Rule 5 players like Luis De Avila, Jesse Franklin, and Drew Lugbauer the next likely candidates to get cut are Luke Williams, Forrest Wall, and Michael Tonkin.
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