MLB free agency: Braves, Brewers re-sign pitchers less than 24 hours after World Series wraps up

Two NL contenders wasted no time making moves with an eye on the 2024 season

The attention has quickly switched to 2024 following the Texas Rangers’ 2023 World Series victory against the Arizona Diamondbacks the day before. In fact, during MLB’s “quiet period,” which lasts for five days following the World Series and during which free players can only negotiate with their most recent teams, two teams signed free-agent contracts with pitchers. Here’s a brief summary.

Braves ink Jiménez

Early in the summer, the Atlanta Braves made a big splash by re-signing right-hander reliever Joe Jiménez to a three-year, $26 million contract. The news was released by the club on Thursday.

On our most recent rankings of the 2023–24 free agents, 28-year-old Jiménez was ranked No. 36. This is a portion of our article:

Over the past two seasons, Jiménez has struck out 32% of batters he has faced, recording a 5.56 strikeout-to-walk ratio and a 128 ERA+. Because he was prone to allowing hard contact in the air, we gave him a little dinging. Despite his ability to hit 95 mph heaters and swing-and-miss sliders, Jiménez has a greater home run tendency than one might anticipate. His career per-nine rate is 1.3, and during the previous season, 45 percent of his batted balls had a velocity of 95 mph or more. If he continues to strike out this many batters, we’re not sure if it will matter in the next year or two, but it would cause us to become a little nervous about the end of a contract that is longer than three years.

The Jiménez signing comes days after the Braves also solidified their bullpen by inking Pierce Johnson to a two-year extension

The Braves had an incredible 2023 season with 104 wins, but the Phillies defeated them in the NLDS. Atlanta is expected to compete for a long time because they have a young core that is largely committed for the foreseeable future.

Brewers bring back Rea

Curt Hogg reports that right-hander Colin Rea has been re-signed by the Brewers. Rea secured a spot at the absolute bottom of our list of the top 50 free agents. This is a portion of our article about Mr. Fifty:

“Rea started 22 times for the Brewers last season, amassing a 95 ERA+ and a 2.89 strikeout-to-walk ratio. He’s not flashy: he doesn’t throw hard, and he didn’t post an awe-inspiring strikeout or ground-ball rate. Rea was competent, however, and we think there’s room for him to upscale his swing-and-miss capacity with more liberal sweeper usage. That breaking ball generated a 36% whiff rate last season, the best of his offerings despite ranking fourth in usage rate. Maybe that’s wrong, and maybe Rea won’t be a league-average starter heading forward. In a time and a place where everyone is seeking a bargain, we’re at least open minded about Rea becoming one.”

 

The Brewers are coming off an NL Central championship, but they will probably lose one of the top managers in the game in Craig Counsell, who could end up going to the Mets alongside his former boss David Stearns.