Braves Add Two, but Say Goodbye to Another 2021 Champion

While the Braves bring in a couple of depth, Travis d'Arnaud bolts for the West Coast

The 2024-25 offseason has already been one of change. Kevin Seitzer, among other coaches, was fired. Jorge Soler, brought back in desperation last summer, was traded. Recently, Travis d'Arnaud's option was declined.

The latter seemed like no big deal for many fans. The prevailing wisdom was that d'Arnaud, who turns 36 in February, would either return to the Braves or possibly retire after several concussions, which have limited the veteran in recent years. But on Tuesday, we discovered that d'Arnaud was neither returning nor heading off into the sunset. Instead, he received a two-year contract with the Angels - or Braves West - for $12 million. He'll join the recently traded Soler and Sal Fasano, one of the coaches the Braves let go along with Seitzer, with the team managed by Ron Washington. A California boy from birth, d’Arnaud will now be closer to his home while playing in Anaheim.

It's a bit of a gut punch. Since coming to the Braves before 2020, d'Arnaud has been a fan favorite and productive catcher. He was a 2020 Silver Slugger winner and was an All-Star in 2022. He bashed seven postseason homers with the Braves, including two in the World '21 World Series.

Speaking of that 2021 roster, with free agents like Max Fried, Charlie Morton, and A.J. Minter, the changeover from that World Champion roster continues. Not counting the several members who left and then returned, of the 56 members of that team, only nine remain if the free agents aren’t brought back.

So, why say goodbye to d’Arnaud? Well, it depends. If the Braves go out and sign another catcher to team with Sean Murphy who makes reasonably close to what the Braves were due to pay d'Arnaud in 2025 ($8 million) then the Braves were pinching pennies or perhaps d’Arnaud wanted to play closer to his home. If they don't add another catcher with a notable salary, maybe the Braves were leaving the door open for Drake Baldwin, considered by many to be the top position prospect in the system right now. The Braves return Chadwick Tromp as well.

Or maybe it comes down to payroll allocation. $8 million is a lot of money - especially for a guy who started 131 games since the Braves traded for Murphy. The Braves might felt a highly-paid backup catcher, though just as highly-respected, was a luxury the Braves could live without.

The loss of d'Arnaud is a tough one. His production at the plate will be missed along with his handling of the pitching staff, but he was also considered a genuinely good person who loved to have fun and keep things light. He leaves despite providing Atlanta with the most memorable hit-by-pitch in history.

Change is inevitable and the Braves announced a couple of additions before the d'Arnaud signing. On Monday, the Braves acquired reliever Enoli Paredes and infielder Nick Allen in separate deals. Paredes, 29, originally debuted in 2020 with Houston. After three years, but only 37 games, he next appeared last season with the Brewers. He didn't strike out many and walked a few too many, but hitters struggled to square up the ball against him. Nevertheless, he was waived toward the end of the season, and divisional rival, the Cubs, grabbed him. He made one appearance for them.

Signed to a minor league deal, Paredes joins the Braves with a chance to battle for a spot on the opening-day roster. Paredes has a three-pitch mix of a four-seamer, slider, and sinker. He used to throw a curveball, but didn't use it in the majors last year. None of his pitches have noteworthy movement, but the fastball and slider especially were difficult for hitters to do much with in 2024. Though not a big mover, the fastball generates good spin, though he's lost a few digits of velocity.

Paredes isn't overpowering in any sense. He relies on getting hitters to offer at his pitches skating out of the zone. The righty won't generate an absurd amount of whiffs, though. But the contact he gets off those pitches is often weak and gobbled up by the defense. Because he can't overpower you, he relies on hitting his spots - and having a catcher capable of stealing strikes. Luckily for him, Sean Murphy is one of the better framers.

Meanwhile, Nick Allen, acquired for minor league reliever Jared Johnson, is your average slap-hitting, good glove, okay-speed middle infielder. He's barrelled up just seven of the 581 batted balls over the last three seasons. That's an average of 1.2% when the MLB average is 7%. That, among other metrics, leaves us with a xwOBA of .241 in the bigs. To put that into context, Orlando Arcia, during a terrible season, had an xwOBA of .263 last year - bottom 2% in MLB. For Allen, that would be 13 points better than his career best.

There's precious little to hang your hat on offensively with Allen. He doesn't strike out much and his whiff rate is 4% below average. But because pitchers have no concern with his bat, they have little reason not to attack him.

The plusses to his game are mostly found when he doesn't have a bat. He was exceptional defensively in 2022 - ranked among the 95th percentile in Outs Above Average. His arm isn't elite and his speed is just above average, but he possesses good instincts and range. He's far more than an okay fill-in at shortstop defensively. He can handle the position with ease.

But where he fits into the picture for the 2025 Braves is a little unclear. It's hard to consider him competition for Arcia. The only things Allen holds over Arcia are a bit more speed and a better ability to make contact. While Allen has been productive at the plate for the Las Vegas Aviators, the Triple-A team of the then-Oakland Athletics, those numbers (a .930ish OPS the last two years) come in an environment known to inflate offensive numbers to ridiculous numbers. To be more frank - you can't trust numbers coming out of the Pacific Coast League.

If Allen isn't here to push Arcia and he's also out of options, what is he here for? I have a couple of theories.

The first is that Allen gives the Braves a possible replacement for Arcia should they deal him. While that seems unlikely, the shortstop market is shallow. If the Braves upgrade at shortstop, they can dangle Arcia, who just went to an All-Star Game in 2023, as a possible consolation prize for a team that missed out. Allen then provides a capable option off the bench for defense.

My second theory is that the Braves are just hedging their bets. If they are unable to upgrade at shortstop, having Allen in reserve allows them to pinch-hit for Arcia deep in games and not worry they are sacrificing defense in later innings.

And then there is my wild theory - perhaps Allen's value isn't primarily at shortstop. Let me preface this by saying that this theory is extremely unlikely. That said, Ozzie Albies' defense has regressed notably over the last two seasons. He's never been particularly good going to his right, but he made up for it a bit with his numbers going toward first base. Perhaps having the more rangy Matt Olson over Freddie Freeman hurts his numbers, but the metrics have declined for Albies going to his left. Beyond that, his arm strength has always been rated very poorly. His offense makes up for much of his defensive problems, but late in games, when weaknesses shine their brightest, Albies' defense could hurt the Braves. Allen could help with that. Do I think that's what they were thinking? No. It's just a Walkoffwalk theory.

Overall, it remains to be seen what role - if any - Allen will play for the 2025 Braves. Johnson, the reliever who heads to the A's, had a nice year as Rome's closer. The problem for Johnson was that he's been around since 2019 and has yet to appear in Double-A. He racks up strikeouts, but control problems can dog him. Rule 5 eligible, Johnson didn't rank very highly as a prospect. He heads to Sacramento both because of this trade and because John Fisher is garbage.

With the addition of Allen, the Braves' 40-man roster is currently at 38.