5 months agoThe Atlanta Braves declined their $8 million club option on catcher
Travis d'Arnaud for the 2025 season, according to sources. d'Arnaud will now hit the open market. In addition, the Braves also declined the option on right-handed reliever
Luke Jackson. The Braves were expected to pick up d'Arnaud's option after they were eliminated in the wild-card series against the San Diego Padres, but Atlanta evidently decided to go in another direction with catching prospect
Drake Baldwin being a realistic option to make his big-league debut in 2025. The Braves also have
Sean Murphy at the position. d'Arnaud, 35, hit .238/.302/.436 with an above-average .739 OPS, 15 homers and 48 RBI in 99 games in 2024, but his fantasy value was capped while sharing playing time with Murphy. He could have more fantasy upside next year, depending on whether he can land a starting role elsewhere.
--Keith Hernandez - RotoBallerSource: ESPN.com - Jeff Passan
6 months agoAtlanta Braves president of baseball operations Alex Anthopoulos said that the team is planning to exercise their 2025 club options for catcher
Travis d'Arnaud ($8 million) and left-handed reliever
Aaron Bummer ($7.25 million). d'Arnaud saw much more playing time than expected in 2024, even when
Sean Murphy was healthy. He was the better offensive backstop of the two also, hitting .238/.302/.436 with a .739 OPS, 15 home runs, 48 RBI and 40 runs scored in 99 regular-season games for Atlanta. The 35-year-old veteran should be expected to split duties at catcher with Murphy again in 2025. Bummer, 31, could be Atlanta's primary late-inning left-hander in 2025. In his first year with the Braves in 2024, he went 4-3 with a 3.58 ERA, a 1.43 WHIP and 69 strikeouts in 55 1/3 innings over his 56 appearances out of the bullpen.
--Keith Hernandez - RotoBallerSource: 929 The Game - Grant McAuley
6 months agoAtlanta Braves catcher
Travis d'Arnaud is not in the starting nine on Sunday afternoon as the Braves look to complete a three-game sweep against the Kansas City Royals. The backstop was the hero on Saturday evening as he launched a walk-off home run. As a result,
Sean Murphy will slot in behind the dish and catch for right-hander
Charlie Morton. Fantasy managers should expect d'Arnaud to get the nod in at least one game of the doubleheader against the New York Mets on Monday. Murphy is a solid play in DFS this afternoon as he will bat in the seven-hole and should have many RBI opportunities against Kansas City right-hander
Alec Marsh.
--Andy Smith - RotoBallerSource: MLB.com
6 months agoAtlanta Braves catcher
Travis d'Arnaud stepped up to the plate in the bottom of the ninth 0-for-3 with a pair of strikeouts to that point in the game, but belted a pitch from Royals reliever
Sam Long over the center-field wall for the walk-off 2-1 win. The victory was huge for the Braves as both the Mets and Diamondbacks both lost as the three teams vie for the final two Wild Card spots. The veteran backstop has had a rough month, slashing .163/.280/.256 in 43 at-bats, and it was his first long ball since August 26. The 35-year-old has put together a solid season as a real-life catcher, not so much for fantasy, logging 97 games played with a .236-15-48-39-1 line working as the Braves backup, although he worked as the starter while
Sean Murphy was out with injury.
--Jarod Rupp - RotoBallerSource: ESPN
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