With Sean Murphy down for the count for a month and change, the Atlanta Braves sought to add some reinforcements to its depleted arsenal of catchers. Murphy suffered a cracked rib in the early part of spring training. This forced top prospect Drake Baldwin into a potential starting role. With Atlanta being up and down on Chadwick Tromp, they reportedly looked to sign Yasmani Grandal.

According to Francys Romero, Grandal turned down an opportunity to sign with the Braves last month. Atlanta foolishly moved on from veteran backstop Travis d’Arnaud after his great run with the team. Murphy has the better pop time behind the plate, but has not been the player Braves Country hoped for since coming over from Oakland. It will be up to Baldwin and Tromp for the time being now.

Grandal will be 36 years old this season. The Miami native is a two-time All-Star who has played for five different MLB teams in his big-league career. He most recently spent time with the 2024 Pittsburgh Pirates. It is unclear what he wants to do this season, as he has been a free agent for far too long. He must be waiting for an even bigger injury to happen than the one that Murphy suffered.

Clearly, Atlanta wanted him to be a stop-gap but Grandal was not buying what the Braves were selling.

Yasmani Grandal reportedly not interested playing for the Atlanta Braves

To date, Grandal has played for the San Diego Padres, the Los Angeles Dodgers, the Milwaukee Brewers, the Chicago White Sox and most recently the Padres. He was drafted by the Cincinnati Reds after his stellar college baseball career with the Miami Hurricanes. So why not add another ballcap to the mantle? I just think that Grandal saw the writing on the wall when it comes to the Braves’ future.

Murphy is entering his third season with the Braves. For as good as he was in year one with the team in 2023, he was anything but that last year in his injury-plagued season. While Tromp has shown some competency at the highest level in his occasional cup of coffee with the team, Baldwin is the player Braves Country clamors for. None of their on-the-rise pitching prospects do it for me. Just Baldwin.

So what I am getting at is why would Grandal want to sign with a team where he is not going to play very much, if at all, in Atlanta? He would be merely be insurance until Murphy works his way back from injury. Baldwin has never played in a big-league game before. Tromp has only appeared in a few games here and there with the Braves the last few years. Grandal knows it is Murphy’s job for now.

It will be interesting to see what team ends up signing Grandal at some point during the 2025 season.