Braves: Mike Soroka and Max Fried are Indeed Super

Not that we really doubted it, but the Atlanta Braves officially found out on Tuesday that they have a couple of super players atop their starting rotation.

News has been slim lately for the Atlanta Braves since the signing of Charlie Morton, but on Tuesday we found out that their two top pitchers will get a nice little bump in salary.

Of course, this is something we all expected, but again, the news is light these days.

Mike Soroka and Max Fried were both granted super-two status, meaning they’ll reach arbitration a year sooner than normal and have four years getting paid through arbitration.

That means both players will receive a contract through arbitration for the 2021 season, giving them a big bump over the pre-arbitration contract of around $500K.

MLB Trade Rumors had already predicted that Fried would get anywhere from $2.4-$4.6 million in 2021 through arbitration, while Soroka could get around $2 million.

The two young studs will still be under team control through the 2024 season.

That’s really the window I’ve been looking at for this Braves team — they need to get a World Series title with this group over the next four seasons.

With Fried and Soroka both reach arbitration a year earlier than expected, you have to wonder if this prompts the Braves to start thinking about giving them extensions and/or signing them through their arbitration seasons.

That’s something that they’ve certainly done in the past — they did it with Ronald Acuna and Ozzie Albies most recently.

Pitchers are a bit more volatile and risky because they’re always one big injury away from ending their career or being out for most of two seasons.

I mean, I hate to point it out, but neither Fried nor Soroka have been a spectacle for heath throughout their careers.

Fried with Tommy John and the blisters, and Soroka with the shoulder issues and Achilles (obviously the Achilles was a freak accident).

I still think we’re another season or two away from that possibly happening, but we’ll see if this announcement speeds up the Braves’ timeline for those discussions.

Either way, it’s a good day for Fried and Soroka who will get a much-deserved boost in salary for the upcoming season.