While the Braves have watched three of their own marquee free agents leave town, there’s still hope Alex Anthopoulos will finally break this string of silence.
Max Fried inked a record-breaking contract to join the Yankees; Charlie Morton left for a one-year deal with the Orioles, and A.J. Minter, most recently, agreed to a two-year pact with the Mets.
Alex Anthopoulos has yet to sign a free agent to a major league contract, but that could come to an end very quickly. The Braves have been linked to a potential blockbuster free agent in Tanner Scott, and he could make a decision this weekend, per Jon Morosi.
https://twitter.com/jonmorosi/status/1880462962630291638
Scott is the top relief arm on the market and would be a pretty significant upgrade over A.J. Minter. He would immediately become the Braves top high-leverage pitcher in non-save situations, and when Raisel Iglesias’ contract is up, he could take over as the full-time closer.
Tanner Scott has thrown 150 innings with a 2.04 ERA over the last two seasons. MLB Trade Rumors projects he will land a four-year deal worth $56 million, but with the way the market has exploded for pitchers, nobody should surprised if he far exceeds that figure.
In fact, there are murmurs of a record-breaking deal. Sean McAdam of MassLive indicated that Tanner Scott could receive $20 million per year on a new contract. In terms of net present value, that would set a new record for a reliever.
The Braves did have a deal in place for Jeff Hoffman that was near $50 million before a flagged physical resulted in him signing with the Blue Jays. So the funds are there for them to work something out, and at this point, there aren’t that many more free agents worth handing that kind of money.
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Brian Rothmuller/Icon Sportswire
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