2025 Braves General Discussion

Wow, this guy's numbers are crazy, both walks and strikeouts. In 2024 he did pitch 21 innings in the big leagues with a 1.66 ERA, his walk rate was "just" 4.15/9 innings but his K rate was also just 6.65 per nine innings. In the minors and majors those numbers have been nuts before that. In 2021 he pitched 8.2 innings for the Astros, with 17 walks and 15 K's.

$200m? Yea you can fuhgetaboutit. That's about $70m too rich for the Braves. Maybe when he's 37, and on the downside of his career might the Braves try and low ball him...

From MLB trade rumors:

“When Soroka pitched to a 6.39 ERA with as many walks (24) as strikeouts through his first nine starts of the season, projecting him to even land a big league deal would’ve seemed questionable. A multi-year deal would’ve seemed laughable. But when the White Sox dropped Soroka to the bullpen in mid-May, his season quietly took off. It was easy to overlook silver linings on a historically awful team that lost a modern-day-record 121 games, but Soroka’s transformation in the bullpen was legitimately intriguing.

Beginning with a four-inning long relief showing at Yankee Stadium, Soroka punched out seven batters. He went on to fan 15 in 9 1/3 frames over his first three relief outings. From May 18 through season’s end, Soroka pitched to a 2.75 ERA and struck out a gargantuan 39% of his opponents. That includes a two-month absence due to a shoulder strain, but Soroka returned in late September averaging an improved 94.5 mph on his heater and closed out the season with 7 1/3 shutout innings and a 13-to-2 K/BB ratio. His overall command was an issue, as Soroka walked 13% of opponents even after his move to relief.

Still just 27 years old, Soroka is uncharacteristically young for a free agent. He broke into the majors as a 20-year-old with the 2018 Braves and looked immediately ticketed for stardom, notching a 2.79 ERA over his first 200 1/3 innings. A cavalcade of injuries has derailed Soroka since, including consecutive seasons ruined by a torn right Achilles tendon. Beyond this year’s shoulder strain, he’s had two prior IL stints due to shoulder inflammation.

Health is an obvious concern, but Soroka is a former top prospect who fanned nearly 40% of his opponents following a move to the bullpen and who won’t turn 28 until next August. Some teams might be interested in plugging him back into the rotation. Others could view him as a potential high-end reliever based on the swing-and-miss he’s shown in relief. Whichever role he’s in, Soroka’s pedigree, age and ability to miss bats make him a sneaky candidate for a multi-year deal.“

I don’t know if that’s true or not, I wouldn’t be surprised if it was. And I’m certainly no member of the Kranitz fan club. But I’d like to have six guys we could use as starters going into the season, because Sale will be a health concern, so will Lopez, Strider coming back from TJ…..we’re likely going to sign Charlie again and probably blow $15M on him which is ridiculous, and he’s about 75 years old now and a candidate to break down. If we try to go into the season with exactly 5 starters again, with health concerns, we’re going to be looking at another “organizational depth” SP season. We could start out using Soroka in the pen, he put up Jimenez like numbers after mid May last year, and have him as a back up plan for SP. he should be better than the AAA crew we have. And he should be pretty cheap. Of course he would also still be a health concern too, but it’s getting to be where every pitcher in baseball is.

I’m not saying we should definitely do this I just see it as an option. It’s hard to say what we SHOULD do because pitching has become such a health gamble.

Chris Sale wins 2024 NL Cy Young Award
www.cbssports.com/mlb/news/chris-sale-wins-2024-nl-cy-young-award-braves-veteran-beats-zack-wheeler-paul-skenes-for-first-honor/