The Braves announced Friday that they’ve designated infielder Orlando Arcia for assignment. His active roster spot will go to returning All-Star Ronald Acuña Jr., whose previously reported reinstatement from the injured list is now official.
Atlanta originally acquired Arcia from the Brewers in a trade sending righties Patrick Weigel and Chad Sobotka back to Milwaukee. Arcia struggled in 2021, his first partial season with the Braves, but Atlanta nonetheless signed him to a guaranteed two-year, $3MM contract to buy out his final arbitration seasons. A club option for the 2024 campaign extended their window of control over him by one season.
Arcia went on to have a solid showing in a utility capacity in 2022 (.244/.316/.416 in 268 plate appearances), and the Braves ripped up that prior contract to sign him to a new extension in March of 2023. That deal guaranteed Arcia a modest $7.3MM from 2023-25 and tacked on a club option for the 2026 season. At first, it looked like a masterstroke by president of baseball operations Alex Anthopoulos, as Arcia improbably made the All-Star team in 2023 while replacing former franchise shortstop Dansby Swanson, who had signed with the Cubs in free agency. His terrific first half gave way to some second-half doldrums, however, and Arcia has never recovered at the plate.
Arcia’s role as the starting shortstop has been overtaken by light-hitting but slick-fielding Nick Allen this season. Arcia has totaled just 32 plate appearances and gone 6-for-31 with five singles and a double. Dating back to August of that 2023 season, he’s batted a paltry .238/.292/.380 (83 wRC+) with a 20.4% strikeout rate and 6.8% walk rate.
As of this writing, Arcia is still owed $1.376MM of this year’s $2MM salary. His contract contains a $2MM club option with a $1MM buyout, bringing the total owed to him up to $2.376MM. It’s a light enough commitment, with an affordable extra season of club control, that perhaps a team in dire need of infield help would consider taking a flier.
The likelier outcome is that Arcia is simply released, as is the case with most veteran players on guaranteed salaries who hit waivers during the season, although if other clubs have interest in a trade, Atlanta could always offer to cover a portion of the remaining guarantee to further entice potential trade partners. The Braves will have five days to trade Arcia before they’re required to place him on waivers — a 48-hour process — in order to ensure that Arcia’s DFA is resolved within the one-week maximum timeframe. He can, of course, be placed on release waivers or outright waivers at any point prior to that.