With Austin Riley going down for the season, roster moves were bound to happen ahead of the Braves NL East showdown with the Philadelphia Phillies. Most notably, the club signed Gio Urshela to replace Riley at third base. To make room on the 40-man roster, A.J. Minter has been transferred to the 60-day IL.
The #Braves today signed INF Gio Urshela to a major league contract and placed INF Austin Riley on the 10-day injured list, backdated to August 19, with a fractured right hand. To make room on the 40-man roster, Atlanta transferred A.J. Minter to the 60-day injured list.
— Atlanta Braves (@Braves) August 20, 2024
Our own Alex Lord already discussed the acquisition of Gio Urshela earlier this morning when the signing was originally reported. He was recently designated for assignment by the Tigers after hitting just .243 with five homers and a .619 OPS over 92 games, good for -0.6 WAR. Pretty ugly, but what can a team reasonably expect to acquire this late in the season?
The hope is Urshela can join the Braves and at least provide slightly above replacement level production. Five years ago, he was regarded as one of the up-and-coming third basemen in the game with the Yankees, recording an .889 OPS over 132 games in 2019. That kind of production is likely unreasonable, but even from 2021-2023, Urshela posted a 105 OPS+ over 332 games. He’s got some game.
The other noteworthy transaction is the Braves moving A.J. Minter to the 60-day IL. Last week, it was announced he would need hip surgery, but Brian Snitker wasn’t ready to announce that Minter was out for the season. This guarantees it, a terrible ending for one of the Braves best relievers over the last five years who is in a contract season.
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Photo: Rich von Biberstein/Icon Sportswire
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