Today at 8:00 ET is the deadline for MLB teams to offer a contract to arbitration-eligible players. The Braves have nine such decisions to make, but most of them should be fairly straight forward. Here is the list of players that could be non-tendered:
- Shane Greene
- Mike Foltynewicz
- Charlie Culberson
- Johan Camargo
- John Ryan Murphy
- Adam Duvall
- Luke Jackson
- Grant Dayton
- Dansby Swanson
Some of these are quite obvious. There’s no chance Atlanta lets Mike Foltynewicz, Johan Camargo, Dansby Swanson, or Luke Jackson walk for nothing. I’d also expect them to keep around Grant Dayton because he shouldn’t cost too much, has a decent track record, and is another left-handed bullpen option.
There has been talk about the Braves possibly moving on from Shane Greene after their offseason additions to the bullpen. He’s scheduled to make around $6.5 million in arbitration. However, it doesn’t make sense to move a prospect like Joey Wentz for a controllable asset like Greene if you’re going to non-tender him in the offseason. Anthopoulos also said after the Will Smith signing that the Braves are trying to add to their bullpen, not subtract. So for those reasons, I don’t see Greene in another uniform next season unless Atlanta can find a trade partner.
I’d be shocked if the Braves let Charlie Culberson walk, even though it wouldn’t be the most ridiculous thing to happen this offseason. Adam Duvall could be non-tendered, but his red-hot 2019 should keep him around for one more year. An obvious release will be John Ryan Murphy, whose services are no longer needed following the acquisition of Travis d’Arnaud.
We will keep you posted throughout the day, as this could be a busy one for Alex Anthopoulos and company.