The 2021 Braves were an OK team for most of the season. Then they got hot at the right time and won a World Series without Ronald Acuña Jr. The Braves are trying to do something similar this season. They took it too far by bringing back some of the old gang.
The Braves seem to have a systemic issue with overvaluing players who were on that 2021 team. Signing Jorge Soler made sense. He’d been good since leaving the Braves. The same can’t be said for the other 2021 returnees. Adam Duvall, Eddie Rosario and Luke Jackson all had declined since leaving the Braves.
Braves baseball boss Alex Anthopoulos brought them back, anyway. He believed those players could find their previous form. They haven’t. Rosario already has been released. Duvall has been bad. Jackson isn’t the same, either.
The options weren’t great when Anthopoulos signed Duvall in spring training. The pickings were even slimmer when he signed Rosario in July. But almost any option would have be better than those outfielders. Heck, someone down on the farm surely could do better. The bar is low.
The Braves signed Duvall for $3 million. That’s a rock-bottom price. It’s still bad value for the Braves. Duvall produced -1.0 fWAR over 316 plate appearances through Sunday. Only two MLB players with 300 PAs or more have been worse. One of them is Rosario.
It’s true that the Braves didn’t expect Duvall to play every day. The plan was for him to hit mostly against lefties. He’s doing that well (.850 OPS). But that’s more than offset by Duvall’s terrible hitting against right-handers (.410 OPS) and below-average defense.
Under the circumstances, the Braves shouldn’t have signed an outfielder who is so limited. Jared Kelenic was a project after flopping in Seattle. The other two outfielders, Acuña and Michael Harris, have a recent history of major injuries. There was a decent chance Duvall would have to play more than just a platoon role. We can see how that’s going.
The Braves were desperate for outfielder when they signed Rosario. They should have looked elsewhere. The Braves just couldn’t quit Rosario for some reason. It certainly wasn’t because of his production.
After his 2021 hot streak, the Braves signed Rosario for two years and $18 million. Rosario compiled a combined -0.1 fWAR over 2022 and 2023. He was bad this season for the Nationals. Somehow, Rosario was even worse with the Braves.
The Braves designated Rosario for assignment last week, and he made it through waivers. He opted for free agency rather than report to Triple-A Gwinnett. At least the Braves won’t be tempted to bring Rosario back again.
I figured Jackson was just a throw-in as part of the Soler trade. He had a 5.40 ERA in 36 appearances for the Giants. Surely, the Braves would have him low in the bullpen pecking order. He wasn’t pitching like the guy who helped the Braves win the NL East in 2021 with a career-best season and then was tough in the playoffs, too.
Jackson’s first appearance came with two runners on and two outs. He’s gotten relatively low-pressure work since then. He hasn’t handled it well.
Jackson was charged with four runs during Colorado’s eighth-inning comeback Sunday. While watching it, I was thinking about how Dylan Lee and Dasybel Hernandez have been effective relievers for the Braves this season. They were down at Gwinnett as Jackson was shelled by the Rockies.
At least the Braves did right to reunite with Soler. He’d been good since he was gone. Soler didn’t hit for much power for the Giants this season, but his on-base percentage (.330) was above average. The Braves needed a hitter in their lineup who did more than just swing for the fences. Soler is doing both for the Braves so far (1.019 OPS in his first 11 games).
Soler’s outfield defense is a work in progress. His blunder in right field cost the Braves against the Brewers, but he made a nice catch in left to secure a victory in San Francisco on Monday night. There was risk in Anthopoulos taking on Soler’s contract for 2025 and ‘26. He could be relegated to platoon duty after this season. That would make his $16 million salary very steep.
Soler was a good signing for the Braves despite those potential drawbacks. Since leaving the Braves, he’d shown he could help now like he did before. Duvall, Rosario and Jackson didn’t do that. The magic they helped to create in 2021 is gone.
Rosario can’t hurt the Braves anymore. Soon, Duvall will be able to return to a platoon role. The Braves said Harris is expected to rejoin them Wednesday in San Francisco. Manager Brian Snitker should hesitate to use Jackson unless there’s not much choice.
The 2021 Braves were fun. There has been little joy in reuniting with Rosario, Duvall and Jackson. Maybe next year the Braves will stop trying to mine a past that’s dried up.
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