Monday brought some expected and unexpected news for the Braves.
The major but expected news of the day for Atlanta was that Chris Sale was named a finalist for the 2024 NL Cy Young Award. The other Finalists are Zach Wheeler and Paul Skenes. While both Wheeler and Skenes are certainly deserving to be recognized among the three best pitchers in the NL, it seems pretty obvious Sale is the clear favorite to win the award next week. He was that amazing on the mound this year.
The unexpected news of the day came in the form of a trade as the Braves acquired infielder Nick Allen from the Athletics in exchange for minor league arm Jared Johnson. Allen has shown some good glove work in the past, as the majority of his value lies in his defense. Though he has not had much success at the plate in the majors, he has enjoyed some good success over the past two years at Triple-A. It will be interesting to see where Allen stands on the roster as the offseason progresses.
Braves News
The Braves signed Enoli Parades to a minor league deal. Parades had a 1.66 ERA across 21+ innings in 2024, but walks batters at a very high rate. He did have some intriguing minor league production.
Drake Baldwin made his debut for Team USA in the Premier 12 league.
Check out the season reviews for Cavan Biggio and Owen Murphy.
MLB News
The finalists for each of the major awards were announced on Monday, including the MVP and Cy Young Awards.
Rays shortstop Wander Franco was arrested once again following another incident on Monday.
