Braves decline option on Travis d'Arnaud: Will they create flexibility for a big signing?

ATLANTA – The Atlanta Braves exercised a $16 million option on Marcell Ozuna's contract for next season but declined an $8 million option on Travis d'Arnaud, making the veteran catcher a free agent and Another sign is that they are preparing to land at least one big free-agent signing.

The Braves made several moves in the past week to increase payroll flexibility. They potentially raised around $27 million by trading Jorge Soler to the Los Angeles Angels, reworked the contracts of starting pitcher Reynaldo López and reliever Aaron Bummer to reduce their 2025 salaries and are now rejecting d'Arnaud option.

They could be preparing for a run at shortstop — Milwaukee's Willy Adames tops the free-agent shortstop list — or possibly try to re-sign their own prized free agent, left-hander Max Fried.

They made Fried a standard one-year qualifying offer ($21.05 million) ahead of Monday's 5 p.m. deadline, which guarantees draft pick compensation if Fried signs with another team. He is expected to have a minimum five-year contract with an average annual value of closer to $30 million than $25 million.

The Braves didn't hold back d'Arnaud, a valued team leader who could be re-signed as a free agent, presumably at a lower salary.

It was clear the team would pick up its club option on Ozuna, an All-Star DH who has been Atlanta's most consistent hitter over the past two seasons, hitting .289 with 79 homers, 204 RBIs and an OPS of .916 and 148 OPS+ beat during this period.

They were also expected to decline a $7 million option on backup Luke Jackson (which they did) and instead pay a $2 million buyout, per the terms of the contract he signed with San Francisco had signed. Jackson made Soler a trade-deadline deal with the Giants when the injury-plagued Braves needed an outfield bat last summer.

But it was also widely assumed that the Braves would exercise the team option on d'Arnaud, regardless of his age (35) and his diminished performance over the past two seasons since his All-Star performance in 2022, the last time as he entered a season as the team's main catcher.

Catcher Sean Murphy was acquired from Oakland in a trade after the 2022 season and became the primary catcher, although d'Arnaud moved back into that role in 2024 when Murphy missed Opening Day two months after suffering an oblique strain and also when Murphy collapsed badly in the second half.

D'Arnaud hit .268 with a game-best 18 home runs, 60 RBIs and an OPS of .791 and 117 OPS+ in 426 plate appearances in 2022. In the last two seasons, he hit .232 combined with an OPS of .714 and 94 OPS+ in 633 PAs, although he still had 26 home runs in that span, with plenty of game-ending or go-ahead hits and home runs.

Even though d'Arnaud was out of the lineup, the Braves valued his influence on the pitching staff and his role in the clubhouse so much that it was assumed he would return. That still seems like a reasonable possibility, as that experience and leadership could be even more important after the Braves fired catching coach Sal Fasano last month and announced Fasano's position would not be filled.

However, it is notable that Drake Baldwin, the Braves' top position player prospect, has significantly increased his stock over the past two years, including an impressive performance in Triple A in 2024 that reinforced the belief that he is ready if the Braves need him at the major league level. Murphy and Baldwin could be the catching duo if d'Arnaud isn't re-signed.

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(Top photo by Travis d'Arnaud: David Berding / Getty Images)