The hot stove continues to heat up, as the Braves are now linked to a high-profile free agent hurler.
This offseason has already been very interesting as far as the Atlanta Braves are concerned and we’ve only just begun as far as that has concerned. As it turned out, it may be a bit more interesting than usual since there are actually some rumors starting to pop up concerning the Braves.
One such rumor is coming from Braves beat writer Mark Bowman, who is reporting from a source that the Braves are apparently interested in potentially acquiring former Texas Rangers starter Nathan Eovaldi via free agency.
Eovaldi could be a top target for the Braves https://t.co/wmMYoNeApl
— Mark Bowman (@mlbbowman) November 5, 2024
It does make sense that the Braves would be searching for another arm. They do have Chris Sale, Reynaldo López and Spencer Schwellenbach returning and Spencer Strider should be back at some point next season. Still, that’s four starters and considering how much of a premium the Braves have placed on fortifying their rotation, I’d be shocked if they went with an internal option to replace the potential departures of Max Fried and Charlie Morton.
As far as external options go, Nathan Eovaldi wouldn’t be a bad option at all. Eovaldi was very solid for the Rangers over the past two seasons, as his efforts were huge (especially in the Postseason) when it came to helping push Texas to the 2023 World Series title and he also performed pretty well in 2024. He finished 2023 with an ERA- of 84 and a FIP- of 89 and then followed it up with an ERA- of 94 and a FIP- of 92. As such, he eventually finished both seasons with an fWAR of 2.4 in 2023 and 2.7 in 2024. That’ll do.
When it comes to the cost, Eovaldi is currently rated by MLB Trade Rumors as the 17th-best free agent on the market and they are expecting him to bring in a two-year, $44 million contract from whoever signs him. Considering that he earned a $20 million player option for 2025 since he pitched enough innings to qualify for the incentive, it’s not like he’s going to receive a massive payday compared to the one that he just turned down for 2025. As such, I’d imagine that the Rangers are going to be in the market to bring him back and will be one of the bidders the Braves will have to contend with should they pursue Eovaldi.
Eovaldi also doesn’t come with a ton of injury risk either, as he only had one IL stint in 2024 and hasn’t had any real serious injury concerns for a couple of years now. He’s got 54 starts and 314.2 innings pitched over the past two seasons with very productive results, so he’s the type of pitcher that any contender would love to have. Hence, it makes sense that the Braves may be potentially interested in going after him. It also lines up with Atlanta’s early moves in the offseason appearing to be an attempt to clear up money — Griffin Canning is a decent starter but I’d imagine that Atlanta was probably happier about getting Jorge Soler’s contract off the books. Travis d’Arnaud has been very productive as well but Sean Murphy is on a long-term deal and I’d imagine the Braves probably weren’t planning on paying a backup catcher $8 million when they have options.
So with the Braves trying to clear money, it makes sense that we not only might see the team make a free agency splash but it also makes sense that they’d go after a pitcher of Nathan Eovaldi’s quality as well. Who knows if it’ll actually happen but that’s the fun of Hot Stove Season since it’s the perfect time to speculate about who’s going where and for what cost. This’ll be an interesting rumor to keep track of.