The Braves, in particular, will have to sort out their starting rotation. Two members of their starting pitching staff last season, Max Fried and Charlie Morton, are headed to free agency, and at this point, Atlanta may prefer to replace Morton, who’s going to turn 41 years old next week. And they may already have a replacement in mind.
According to the sources of MLB.com’s Mark Bowman, the Braves are interested in signing Nathan Eovaldi in free agency, and Eovaldi, in fact, “ranks near the top” of their wishlist. Eovaldi declined his player option worth $20 million with the Texas Rangers, paving the way for a potential move to Atlanta.
The Braves, however, may not find it easy to secure Eovaldi’s services. Rangers president Chris Young already mentioned that they will work hard to keep Eovaldi, who played a crucial part in their World Series run in 2023, in Texas. But the starting pitching turnover in Atlanta could mean that the Braves will operate with a great sense of urgency in this regard.
Fried has been commanding a ton of interest on the free-agent market, while it’s fair to wonder just how many productive innings Morton has left in his arm. The Braves will have to bolster their pitching depth as well to buy some time for Spencer Strider as he rehabs from his major elbow injury.
Eovaldi may be 34 years of age, but his track record over the past few years means that he could be a worthwhile get for a Braves team that’s looking to return to World Series contention in 2025.
Can the Braves reunite Nathan Eovaldi with Chris Sale?
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Nathan Eovaldi has been consistent over the past five seasons; his contributions since 2020 have been worth 12.7 WAR (per Fangraphs). But most importantly, he has always managed to save his best production for the postseason. In 2018, he had an ERA of 1.61 for the World Series-winning Red Sox, and then in 2023, he had an incredible 2.95 ERA across six starts for the championship-winning Rangers.
If the Braves were to sign Eovaldi away from the Rangers, then they will be able to facilitate a reunion between Eovaldi and Chris Sale — the two pitchers who were crucial in the Boston Red Sox’s World Series win in 2018. And after Sale’s Red Sox stint ended up in disappointment, he is back as one of the league’s premier pitchers, and having both this version of Sale and Eovaldi could give the Braves an incredible one-two punch atop the rotation come playoff time.
