REPORT: Braves avoid arbitration with these two key players
The Atlanta Braves have reportedly avoided arbitration with left-handed starter Max Fried, settling for a $15M salary for 2024, and left-handed reliever AJ Minter at $6.22M, per multiple reports.
The news has not confirmed by the team.
UPDATE: Atlanta has now confirmed both the signings and the amounts.
Fried and fellow lefty AJ Minter were Atlanta's last remaining arbitration eligible players, with the rest either being moved in various trades or settling already, namely Huascar Ynoa.
For Fried, the MLBPA union rep for the Braves, it's the only time he's ever settled with the team prior to arbitration. Fried's gone to arbitration hearings every previous time in his career, winning 2022's ($6.85M) and losing 2023's ($13.5M).
Fried's modest raise comes on the heels of good performance in an otherwise injury-limited year - he went 8-1 with a 2.55 ERA in only fourteen starts as he dealt with three separate injured list stints for hamstring, forearm, and blister issues.
Minter, also heading to free agency after this season, made $4.28M last season. He's settled with Atlanta every season of arbitration, avoiding the hearing process. Minter was the primary set-up man for Atlanta as well as its backup closer during Raisel Iglesias' season-opening stint on the IL, going 3-6 with a 3.76 ERA and 10 saves on the year.
Arbitration projections were $14.4M for Fried and $6.50M for Minter.
The moves also serve to give Atlanta financial certainty heading into 2024 - there are no arbitration eligibles remaining on the roster and the Braves now have exact figures of how much is available to spend before the reach the third CBT threshold, currently set to $277M.
Per Fangraphs, Atlanta's tax payroll for 2024 figures to come in at just over $271M, meaning they are sitting on just under $6M of space for last-minute additions or in-season moves before breaching the third tier of the tax. Any move that resulted in the Braves finishing the season above $277M would not only significantly increase the financial penalties assessed, but also require Atlanta's first draft pick to get move back ten spots in the 2025 MLB Draft.
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