The Braves on Thursday settled with both Max Fried and A.J. Minter – their two arbitration-eligible players without salaries before Thursday’s deadline – to avoid arbitration hearings, the team announced.
In 2024, his final season before free agency, Fried will make $15 million, up from $13.5 million last year. That he agreed with the Braves on a salary doesn’t influence his chances of remaining with the club past this season, as salary arbitration simply is part of baseball’s economic system.
Minter, who also is entering his walk year, will earn $6.22 million, which is more than the $4,287,500 he made last season.
These settlements mean the Braves won’t have any arbitration hearings this winter.
The deadline was 1 p.m. Thursday for clubs and arbitration-eligible players to agree on salaries for the 2024 season. If the sides weren’t in agreement by this deadline, they would’ve had to exchange salary figures and head to an arbitration hearing. Clubs and players can still settle on salaries past the deadline, and any time before the hearing, but the Braves are known as a “file and trial” club, which means they often end up in a hearing if an agreement is not finalized by the deadline.
But the Braves avoided this with Fried and Minter.
Fried, who made only 14 regular-season starts in 2023 because of injuries, still received a nice bump from last year’s $13.5 million salary. Fried posted a 2.55 ERA before October, when he allowed three earned runs over four innings in the National League Division Series against the Phillies in his first start back from dealing with a blister.
Minter had a 3.76 ERA as a late-inning arm. And that number probably is inflated by a rough start to the season, which included some poor luck. Minter, who pitched 64-2/3 innings and even collected 10 saves, had a 2.60 ERA from May 1 through the end of the regular season.
To be more specific: Fried and Minter weren’t the Braves’ only arbitration-eligible players. Luis Guillorme and Huascar Ynoa also were on this list, but the club already announced it would pay Guillorme $1.1 million and Ynoa $825,000.
Fried, the Braves’ left-handed ace, ended up in a hearing in each of the past two years. He won his case in 2022, but lost it in 2023. There’ll be no hearing this year.
These hearings shouldn’t always be viewed as a big deal. Austin Riley lost his arbitration case in 2022, but signed a long-term extension months later. Dansby Swanson ended up in arbitration, but still wanted to stay in Atlanta long-term.
In December, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported that Fried and the Braves, at that point, hadn’t discussed a contract extension since before the 2023 season. The sides exchanged offers, but the talks eventually fizzled.
That Fried and the Braves even engaged in discussions means there was interest in continuing the partnership.
Now, Fried will make $15 million in his final season before free agency.
And if all goes well, he’ll likely earn much more than $15 million per year on whatever deal he commands in free agency, assuming the Braves don’t surprise everyone and extend him before then.
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