Darren O’Day is coming back to Atlanta on a pretty nice contract.
Atlanta announced today O’Day is returning on a $2.25 million dollar deal with a $3.5 million club option for 2021. Personally, I think this is probably the best case scenario for both sides. O’Day only had 5.1 innings under his belt in 2019 after missing all of 2018 when he came over in the Kevin Gausman trade. He apparently showed the Braves front office enough in those innings, he put together a 1.69 ERA and 6 strikeouts over 8 appearances. He also didn’t allow a run in 2 playoff innings.
O’Day’s career has been highly overlooked. When he’s not battling injury, He’s got a career 2.55 ERA and only surrenders a .208 BA. Righties are only hitting .195 against him lifetime. Even though he is 37 years old, this is the perfect buy low situation for Atlanta. I wanted O’Day back and I thought he would cost a lot more than this. He gets some dough this season, and his juicy club option for next year is likely to vest if he can be consistent and stay off of the trainer’s table.
It seems now Atlanta will be turning their attention to Chris Martin. Martin came over midseason in the Kolby Allard trade, he’s a candidate to price himself out of town. We invested a young player in his services and I’d really like to have him back as well. He finished with a 3.40 ERA with the Braves but was unhittable in September, not giving up a single run. This bullpen is starting to come together, and this brilliant O’Day deal is perfect in terms of adding talent and keeping the payroll flexible for other moves.