Breaking: Braves Make Surprise Move To Sign 26.4 Million With….

The white flag doesn’t usually get waved in early May, but it is hard to see things turning around anytime soon down in Miami.

After a playoff appearance in their first season under Skip Schumaker things have quickly turned sour in 2024 for the Marlins. Their 9-25 record thus far makes it just two teams with a worse winning percentage, the Chicago White Sox and the Colorado Rockies.

Perhaps knowing the low probability chance of their season turning around, Miami made the first big trade of the 2024 regular season. The key playing departing from Miami is 2023 NL batting title winner Luis Arraez, who is headed to San Diego in exchange for a multi-prospect haul.

Miami fans can’t be thrilled with the decision to enter another rebuild, but it does appear they did well in this trade. The Marlins were able to pry away the Padres 6th, 9th, and 13th best prospect for a clearly declining player.

Arraez still hits for a high average, but his 108 wRC+ and pedestrian .372 slugging percentage doesn’t make him a huge difference maker in a lineup. Partner that with Arraez being the worst defender in baseball if you go by OAA (-8) and FRV (-6), getting this type of haul for a DH that isn’t even slugging .400 is actually a job well done of getting ahead of the curve by Miami.

While it’s a savvy move now, there’s no denying the Marlins got even worse at the MLB level with this transaction. Not many pundits were ready to declare Miami a NL East division contender before the season started, but even then not many of us saw things going this poorly.

Not much really changes for the Atlanta Braves after this move. Many already penciled the NL East as a two-horse race between Atlanta and Philadelphia (who have won seven straight), and Miami waving the white flag this early only further fortifies that thought.

The Atlanta Braves have been without catcher Sean Murphy for a month, after he suffered an oblique strain on March 29. And although it was just a Grade 1 strain, the club has not provided a timetable for his return.

Murphy resumed catching work nearly two weeks ago, but up until now, he had yet to swing a bat. Fortunately, Murphy took a step in the right direction this week.

Justin Toscano of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported that Murphy swung off a tee for the first time in Seattle and will continue to build his strength.

Although he is far away from a rehab start, this news was definitely refreshing for Braves Country, as Murphy has certainly been missed in the lineup.

More Braves News:

The Braves fell to the Los Angeles Dodgers 4-3 in an eleven inning contest. Atlanta is now 20-10.

AJ Smith-Shawver and Hurston Waldrep each appeared in Baseball America’s Top 100 prospect list.

After several incredible outings in April, Owen Murphy brings home the Pitcher of the Month honors in the South Atlantic League.

Today marks Opening Day for the Florida Complex League, and the Braves have assigned several names, including Jose Perdomo and Luis Guanipa to the roster.

Hurston Waldrep had a solid outing in Double-A Mississippi on Thursday, where he allowed just one run in 5.2 frames. More in the minor league recap.

The latest Braves Mailbag addresses your questions about offensive struggles, a Marcell Ozuna extension, and more.

Mark Bowman of MLB.com discusses Joe Jiménez’s slider success, his ability to get soft contact, and more.

Nike is working with MLB to bring on some uniform changes, and here’s what Tyler Matzek had to say.

Braves Podcasts:

The Battery Power Podcast is relocating to the Foul Territory network and will now be called Hammer Territory.

The latest episode of Battery Power TV discusses the Braves’ offensive struggles and previews the series in Los Angeles.