Braves Exercise Marcell Ozuna's 2025 Option

The Atlanta Braves exercised designated hitter Marcell Ozuna's $16 million club option for the 2025 season on Monday. It was a no-brainer decision for the Braves after Ozuna was once again one of the best all-around hitters in the game in 2024. The 33-year-old veteran Dominican slugger helped carry Atlanta's offense this year with Ronald […]

Braves Decline Option On Travis d'Arnaud

The 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 […]

Braves Sign Reynaldo Lopez To Three-Year Deal

The Atlanta Braves signed right-hander Reynaldo Lopez to a new three-year, $30 million deal on Saturday, the team announced. Lopez will earn $8 million in 2025, $14 million in 2026, and $8 million in 2027. He originally signed a three-year deal with the Braves last November that included a club option for 2027. Additionally, the […]

Lessons Learned For Fantasy Baseball 2025

Welcome back to the Lookahead; this week we apply lessons from 2024 to our 2025 draft prep. One of the primary, overarching goals with this column is simple: how can we improve as fantasy players? Just as a shop owner doesn’t know what to order next without taking inventory, so too should we reflect on […]

Jorge Soler Traded To Los Angeles

Atlanta Braves outfielder Jorge Soler is being traded to the Los Angeles Angels in exchange right-hander Griffin Canning according to Jeff Passan of ESPN. Last season with both the Giants and Braves, Soler held a .241/.338/.442 line with 21 home runs, 64 RBI with a 68:141 BB:K ratio. Canning held an underwhelming 5.19 ERA, 1.40 […]

Drake Baldwin Could Make MLB Debut In 2025

The Atlanta Braves could turn to catching prospect Drake Baldwin, who is considered the team's No. 5 prospect per MLB Pipeline, next season if there's a catching injury to either Sean Murphy or Travis d'Arnaud. Baldwin, 23, was impressive in the minors in 2024 and has continued that in the Arizona Fall League, hitting .310 […]

Braves Unlikely To Break The Bank To Keep Max Fried

The Athletic's David O'Brien writes that the Atlanta Braves are unlikely to get into a bidding war to retain impending free-agent left-hander Max Fried. The Braves exceeded luxury-tax thresholds each of the last two seasons and will be returning Chris Sale, Reynaldo Lopez, Spencer Schwellenbach and Spencer Strider. Fried will be 31 in January, a […]

Fantasy Baseball Dynasty/Keeper League Outfielders To Stash For 2025

Welcome back, RotoBallers. It may be the offseason but we don't stop thinking about fantasy baseball in these parts, especially if you play in a dynasty/keeper league. I am starting a new series on players to grab and stash before the 2025 season. Spring training or even just offseason analysis could generate buzz on some […]

Fantasy Baseball Dynasty/Keeper League Infielders To Stash for 2025

Welcome back, RotoBallers. It may be the offseason but we don't stop thinking about fantasy baseball in these parts, especially if you play in a dynasty/keeper league. I am starting a new series on players to grab and stash before the 2025 season. Spring Training or even just offseason analysis could generate buzz on some […]

Starting Pitchers: Fantasy Baseball End-Of-Season Report Card (Part 2)

The 2024 fantasy baseball season is in the books. It seems like the perfect time to look back and reflect on the season: What went right and what went wrong. One of the biggest determinants will likely have been how the starting pitchers you drafted early performed throughout the year. Our focus here is on […]

2024 Fantasy Baseball Awards - RotoBaller Staff Picks

After a long, exciting, and at times, frustrating 187 days, the 2024 fantasy baseball season is behind us. Throughout the summer, we saw top prospects begin to establish themselves as the league’s next generation of stars and saw several veterans continue their dominance. Let’s stroll down memory lane and hand out several awards to the […]

The Best Fantasy Baseball Waiver Wire Pickups Of 2024

We saw several big breakouts in 2024, from Brent Rooker to Jack Flaherty to Seth Lugo—but those players at least got drafted in most leagues, if very late. No, here we want to celebrate the true difference makers, the guys who came out of left field (not literally; we aren’t confined to just outfielders). Here […]

Starting Pitchers: Fantasy Baseball End-Of-Season Report Card (Part 1)

The 2024 fantasy baseball season is in the books. It seems like the perfect time to look back and reflect on the season: What went right and what went wrong. One of the biggest determinants will likely have been how the starting pitchers you drafted early performed throughout the year. Our focus here is on […]

Eric Cross' Top 100 Dynasty Rankings for Fantasy Baseball (October 2024)

Another fantasy baseball season has come and gone, but in dynasty, when one season ends the next one begins. Rankings don't reset, they simply continue on. We saw plenty of notable performances down the stretch in 2024, both good and bad which created plenty of movement in my final Top 500 dynasty rankings update of […]

Eric Cross' Top 100 Dynasty Prospect Rankings for Fantasy Baseball (October 2024)

Well, the 2024 season is in the rearview mirror, and we are now turning our attention to 2025. Sure, it's only the first day of October when this article is being published, but as dynasty managers know, there's never a bad time to improve your roster for the future. At this point in the year, […]

MLB DFS: DraftKings, FanDuel Daily Fantasy Baseball Picks (10/8/24) - Today's Top Lineups

Happy Tuesday, RotoBallers! After the American League wrapped up their Game 2s on Monday night, we turn to pivotal Game 3s in the NLDS tonight. Both series are perfectly poised at one game apiece, and a Game 3 win will be a huge boost to a team's chances of advancing to the NLCS. Philadelphia and New […]

Braves To Pick Up Options On Travis d'Arnaud, Aaron Bummer

Atlanta 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 […]

Braves Planning To Pick Up Marcell Ozuna's Option

Atlanta Braves president of baseball operations Alex Anthopoulos said that the team is planning to exercise their club option for the 2025 season on outfielder/designated hitter Marcell Ozuna for $16 million. It's a no-brainer decision after Ozuna made the All-Star team for the third time in his career in 2024 by hitting .302/.378/.546 with a […]

Chris Sale Feels Great After Throwing Side Session

Atlanta Braves left-hander Chris Sale (back) threw a side session on Friday and felt great. President of baseball operations Alex Anthopoulos told Sale earlier this week that he would have been on the roster for the National League Division Series had the Braves advanced past the San Diego Padres in the Wild-Card Series. Sale had […]

Spencer Strider Not A Lock For Opening Day 2025

Atlanta Braves president of baseball operations Alex Anthopoulos said it's too early to know when right-hander Spencer Strider (elbow) will be back and said it could be as soon as Opening Day in 2025 or as late as early June, if for some reason he needed more time. Right now, there have been no setbacks […]

Ronald Acuna Jr. Not Guaranteed To Be Ready For Opening Day 2025

Atlanta Braves president of baseball operations Alex Anthopoulos said that it's too early to know when outfielder Ronald Acuna Jr. (knee) will be back. Anthopoulos said it could be as soon as Opening Day or as late as early June, if for some reason he needs more time. Right now, there have been no setbacks […]

MLB DFS: DraftKings, FanDuel Daily Fantasy Baseball Picks (10/3/24) - Today's Top Lineups

Happy Thursday, RotoBallers! After the Tigers, Royals, and Padres swept their opponents, we are left with one Game 3 showdown between the Mets and Brewers. It'll be Jose Quintana versus Tobias Myers to start, but DFS managers should expect both teams to use their entire bullpens to advance to the next round.  For showdown mode […]

Max Fried Exits After Being Hit With Comebacker

Atlanta Braves starting pitcher Max Fried was hit in the hip with a comebacker in the second inning of Wednesday's 5-4 loss to the Padres, with manager Brian Snitker stating during the broadcast that the impacted area was bothering Fried and that was why he ultimately decided to take him out. Fried was masterful his […]

MLB DFS: DraftKings, FanDuel Daily Fantasy Baseball Picks (10/2/24) - Today's Top Lineups

The MLB playoffs continue Wednesday with four more Wild Card games. While we don’t have a ton of options to choose from, there is still money to be won in DFS, so let’s dig into the matchups. This article will provide my daily fantasy baseball lineup picks for DraftKings and FanDuel on 10/2/2024, with the […]

Max Fried Gets Game 2 Nod In Wild-Card Series

Atlanta Braves left-hander Max Fried has been tabbed to take the ball in Game 2 of the wild-card series versus the San Diego Padres on Wednesday at Petco Park. The Braves decided to go with right-hander AJ Smith-Shawver, who has made just one start in 2024, for Game 1 on Tuesday night. It will be […]

AJ Smith-Shawver Starting Game 1 Against Padres

Atlanta Braves right-hander AJ Smith-Shawver has been named the starter for Game 1 of the wild-card series against the San Diego Padres at Petco Park on Tuesday night. The Braves didn't have ideal options to choose from to start against a strong Padres offense to kick off the three-game series, as Smith-Shawver got the nod […]

Chris Sale Officially Out For Wild-Card Series

Atlanta Braves left-hander Chris Sale (back), the favorite to win the National League Cy Young award in 2024, is officially out for the wild-card series against the San Diego Padres at Petco Park this week, as he was left off the team's playoff roster. Sale was scratched from Game 2 of the doubleheader against the […]

MLB DFS: DraftKings, FanDuel Daily Fantasy Baseball Picks (10/1/24) - Today's Top Lineups

Happy Tuesday and Happy Postseason, RotoBallers! Welcome to October baseball. After Monday's results, the Mets will travel to Milwaukee, while the Braves will head West to San Diego. Arizona missed out by losing the season tiebreak to both teams.  Fortunately, things are far cleaner on the AL side. Detroit and Tarik Skubal take on Houston and […]

Grant Holmes Tosses Four Scoreless Innings To Help Clinch Playoff Spot

Atlanta Braves right-handed pitcher Grant Holmes stepped up when it mattered most in Monday's Game 2 3-0 win over the Mets. In a must-win situation, Holmes was slotted into the starting lineup after Chris Sale (back) was scratched due to back spasms. Making just his seventh start of the season, Holmes pitched four innings, allowing […]

Ian Anderson, AJ Smith-Shawver, Bryce Elder Candidates To Start Against Padres

Atlanta Braves right-handers Ian Anderson, AJ Smith-Shawver and Bryce Elder are all candidates to start Game 1 of the wild-card series against the San Diego Padres at Petco Park on Tuesday. Anderson has some of the best postseason numbers of all time, but he hasn't pitched in the big leagues since 2022. The Braves may […]