{"id":27883,"date":"2025-01-20T22:40:45","date_gmt":"2025-01-20T22:40:45","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/?p=27883"},"modified":"2025-01-20T22:40:45","modified_gmt":"2025-01-20T22:40:45","slug":"braves-named-best-fit-for-top-remaining-free-agent-starter","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/?p=27883","title":{"rendered":"Braves named best fit for top remaining free agent starter"},"content":{"rendered":"
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While Braves fans complain about the Dodgers signing Tanner Scott away from them in free agency, Alex Anthopoulos is still mulling potential deals, and one that MLB.com\u2019s Thomas Harrigan\u00a0believes should come to fruition is one with Jack Flaherty.<\/p>\n

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\u201cFor a team with championship aspirations, the Braves\u2019 rotation has a ton of question marks following the free-agent departures of Max Fried and Charlie Morton. If reigning NL Cy Young Award winner Chris Sale and 2024 All-Star Reynaldo L\u00f3pez can replicate last year\u2019s surprising success, Spencer Schwellenbach can build on his strong rookie season and Spencer Strider can make a healthy return from right elbow surgery at some point in the first half, Atlanta could have one of the best starting staffs in the game.\u201d<\/p>\n

Harrigan is right. Despite losing Max Fried and Charlie Morton in free agency, the Braves still boast one of the most impressive starting staffs in baseball. Chris Sale was the best pitcher in the National League. Reynaldo Lopez finished with a sub-2.00 ERA, and Spencer Schwellenbach is primed to break out as a frontline starter. That\u2019s not even mentioning Spencer Strider\u2019s return to Atlanta.<\/p>\n

If everything goes right, the Braves won\u2019t miss a beat. However, as Harrigan notes, that\u2019s a lot of ifs. Lopez, Sale, and Schwellenbach had fairly healthy years, but each has concerns going into 2025, and Strider is coming off internal brace surgery. There\u2019s reason to be worried.<\/p>\n

\u201cBut those are some big ifs. Signing the best starter remaining on the free-agent market would allay those concerns and quell some of the criticism surrounding Atlanta\u2019s quiet offseason, during which the team has subtracted a number of notable players while only adding outfielder Bryan De La Cruz. The Braves don\u2019t typically pursue expensive free-agent starters, but Flaherty\u2019s reported willingness to consider a short-term deal with a high average annual value could make him a financial fit for Atlanta.\u201d<\/p>\n

As Harrigan pointed out, a recent report from Ken Rosenthal and Will Sammon of The Athletic suggesting that Flaherty is willing to take a shorter deal with a higher average annual value should put the free agent on the Braves\u2019 radar.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

Flaherty is coming off a career year, striking out 30% of the batters he faced, posting the lowest walk rate of his career and finishing with a World Series ring. The reason the Braves might be hesitant is well-documented, though.<\/p>\n

Jack Flaherty\u2019s last healthy and effective season before the 2024 campaign came prior to the pandemic, with shoulder issues in 2021 and 2022 limiting him to just 114 1\/3 innings over that two-year span.<\/p>\n

The veteran is coming off a season in which he went 13-7 with a 3.17 ERA, 3.47 FIP and 1.07 WHIP in 28 starts, but the durability concerns are real.<\/p>\n

\u2014<\/p>\n

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Photographer: John Cordes\/Icon Sportswire<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/article>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

While Braves fans complain about the Dodgers signing Tanner Scott away from them in free agency, Alex Anthopoulos is still mulling potential deals, and<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":27884,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-27883","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-mlb"],"yoast_head":"\nBraves named best fit for top remaining free agent starter - NEWS USA<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/?p=27883\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Braves named best fit for top remaining free agent starter - NEWS USA\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"While Braves fans complain about the Dodgers signing Tanner Scott away from them in free agency, Alex Anthopoulos is still mulling potential deals, and\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/?p=27883\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"NEWS USA\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2025-01-20T22:40:45+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/avtvip-2025-01-21T054015.508.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"900\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"900\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"MrThanh\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"MrThanh\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"1 minute\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/?p=27883\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/?p=27883\",\"name\":\"Braves named best fit for top remaining free agent starter - 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