Atlanta Braves avoid salary arbitration with left-handed pitcher Sam Freeman

Braves avoid arbitration hearing with Freeman

The Atlanta Braves announced on Thursday evening that they have came to an agreement with left-handed pitcher Sam Freeman.  The lefty will receive $1.075M in 2017 which is just below the projected $1.2M that MLB Trade Rumors predicted.

The 30-year-old lefty pitched well for the Braves in 2017 out of the bullpen.  He held a 2.55 ERA in the 58 games he appeared in.  He only gave up three home runs all season, struck out 59 and walked 27.

He felt like a solid and consistent pitched out of the pen for Braves manager Brian Snitker.

This is a good move for both parties.  Left-handed (good) relief pitchers can be tough to find.  Right now on the Braves 40-man roster they have 12 lefties!  That’s a pretty huge ratio of left-handed to right-handed.

That number gets reduced a little when you throw in starting pitchers Luiz Gohara, Sean Newcomb, Scott Kazmir and Max Fried.  Gohara and Newcomb will most likely be in the starting rotation.  Fried could be in the pen if that’s the direction the Braves want to take with him.

Let’s list off the lefties we have currently on the roster to get a better idea…

Relief Lefties on the 40-man and predicting where they’ll start 2018

LHP Jesse Biddle — appeared in 27 games at Double-A in 2017, probably start there or Gwinnett

LHP Rex Brothers — in the bullpen

LHP Grant Dayton — recovering from Tommy John surgery

LHP Sam Freeman — in the bullpen

LHP Max Fried — in the bullpen

LHP Luiz Gohara — in starting rotation

LHP Scott Kazmir — could compete for a starting job, could be in the pen, could be in Triple-A

LHP Jacob Lindgren — I like Lindgren, but will most likely start in Triple-A since depth

LHP Adam McCreery — pitched at High Single-A and Single-A in 2017, probably back to Florida

LHP A.J. Minter — in the bullpen

LHP Sean Newcomb — in starting rotation

LHP Ricardo Sanchez — pitched at High Single-A in 2017, probably stay there or get the bump up to Double-A

So yeah, if you eliminate Biddle, Dayton, Gohara, McCreery, Newcomb and Sanchez, you’ve got six left-handed pitchers who could be competing for a bullpen spot out of Spring Training.  Could this be an advantage to the Atlanta Braves?  Absolutely.

Teams have been opening up the checkbooks for relief pitching.  Braves may be able to shop a few of these guys.

Next: Braves: MLB arbitration-figures swap date looms

Three players remain as arbitration-eligible Braves who have not reached an agreement.  Folty, Vizzy and Winkler.

Deadline to agree to terms prior to swapping figures is Friday.

Historically, the Braves have been a “file-and-trial team” which means they stand by the thought that once the filing deadline passes, they will declare an end to further arbitration negotiations.  This means if they don’t agree, the two sides will proceed to prepare for a ‘trial’ in front of the MLB arbitrator in February.

Mike Foltynewicz – $2.7MM service time 2.163

Arodys Vizcaino – $3.7MM service time 4.168

Dan Winkler – $800K service time 3.000