With A.J. Minter entering free agency and Joe Jimenez out for at least half of the 2025 campaign, potentially the entire season, the Braves need to bolster the bullpen.

We know Alex Anthopoulos prefers to swing biggest via trade, most notably Joe Jimenez, Pierce Johnson, and Raisel Iglesias when it comes to the relief core. That could be his preference again this offseason, but at least one Braves trade target has been taken off the market.

According to Bob Nightengale, the Brewers “plan to hang onto closer Devin Williams until at least the All-Star break” and will re-evaluate whether to keep or trade him.

Williams has been arguably the best reliever in baseball since entering the league. His last five seasons have seen him post a 1.70 ERA and fan 41% of the batters he’s faced over 222.0 innings.

The Braves will have to turn their attention to other options. Cardinals closer Ryan Helsley is another potential trade target. The Cardinals are seemingly resetting, and though he might not be Devin Williams, he’s damn close, boasting a 1.83 ERA over the last three seasons with a 12.1 K/9.

There’s plenty of other free agent options on the market as well, like Tanner Scott, Clay Holmes, Jeff Hoffman, Kenley Jansen, and Carlos Estevez. That also doesn’t include internal candidates that could potentially fill the void left by Jimenez and Minter.

Reynaldo Lopez can be used as a reliever if the Braves overkill the rotation, and Daysbel Hernandez could be on the cusp of establishing himself as a high-leverage arm. There are a lot of avenues for the Braves to consider, but I expect Alex Anthopoulos to bring in at least one external candidate, if not multiple.

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