Braves’ 2026 Bullpen Fix? 3 Early Free Agent Targets to Watch

3 way-too-early Braves free agent targets to save their bullpen in 2026

Arizona Diamondbacks v San Diego Padres
Arizona Diamondbacks v San Diego Padres | Joe Scarnici/GettyImages

 

The 2025 Atlanta Braves bullpen is decidedly not good and frankly, that may be underselling the problem at the moment.

With a 4.18 ERA, 4.02 FIP, and just 1.3 fWAR total through the morning of August 7, the Braves have easily a bottom third relief corps in baseball this season and given the sheer scale of their implosions at times, you could easily make the case that the bullpen is worse than the numbers show.

With the offseason approaching, Atlanta desperately needs to have a concrete and aggressive plan to rebuild their bullpen.

At the end of the season, the Braves are set to lose Raisel Iglesias which, given his performance this year, may be a blessing.

Atlanta will also have some choices to make with regards to Tyler Kinley and Pierce Johnson with their club options and we still don’t exactly know how healthy Joe Jimenez will be after he suffered a setback in his rehab from knee surgery.

At minimum, the Braves at least have a couple prospects in the minor leagues that could help next season.

But with so much change coming for the Braves’ bullpen, here is a look at some of the relievers who are free agents at the end of the season that Atlanta needs to make a strong push to try and sign.

Here are the free agents relievers the Braves should have on their starting wishlist heading into this coming offseason

Robert Suarez

Right now, the Braves don’t have a closer.

That role had gone to Iglesias, but he is a free agent after the season and even if he wasn’t, moving on would still be the best decision.

The good news is that Robert Suarez is a legit closer that is likely to be available as he has an opt-out in his contractand the Padres just traded for Mason Miller.

However, Suarez is also likely to be a very popular name in the offseason which could mean a bidding war. Unfortunately, the Braves are in a position where they may need to overpay to get their bullpen stabilized and it should start with Suarez.

Danny Coulombe

The Braves are not afraid to take a chance on older players or those that the rest of the league undervalues because of perceived injury issues which makes Danny Coulombe an ideal candidate.

While you wouldn’t necessarily name him when asked for the top relievers in baseball and his fastball barely sits in the low 90’s, Coulombe has been a consistent performer the last few years and sports a 1.06 ERA in 43 appearances in 2025.

The 35 year-old lefty should have a robust market and his fastball and extension metrics may not be ideal from Atlanta’s perspective, but a reasonable multi-year deal could land a reliever that is among the best in MLB at missing barrels and limiting hard contact.

Taylor Rogers

Assuming a world where the Braves bring back Pierce Johnson and call up Jhancarlos Lara as a reliever, they should be in good shape when it comes to right-handers.

However, quality lefties are a hard commodity to come by and Taylor Rogers will be among the better ones available in free agency. It would be nice to find a true power arm from the left side and Rogers’ command can be dicey, but he is working on his second straight season with a mid-2’s ERA and his sweeper is borderline unhittable.

 

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