Dansby Swanson, Austin Riley, Max Fried among Braves headed to arbitration

FORT MYERS, Fla. — The deadline for teams to exchange salary figures for arbitration-eligible players was Tuesday. The unique date was a result of MLB’s lockout, which required schedule maneuvering when business resumed earlier this month.

The Braves had eight arbitration-eligible players: outfielder Adam Duvall, shortstop Dansby Swanson, third baseman Austin Riley, starting pitcher Max Fried, and relievers Luke Jackson, Sean Newcomb, Tyler Matzek and A.J. Minter.

They settled with Minter ($2.2 million), Matzek ($1.4 million) and Newcomb ($900,000). All deals are non-guaranteed. Duvall, Swanson, Riley, Fried and Jackson are headed for arbitration, making for a large and notable contingent of cases that will occur during the regular season.

Riley is coming off the best season of his career, hitting .303 with a .898 OPS. Riley won a Silver Slugger and finished seventh in MVP voting. MLB Trade Rumors projected him to make $4.3 million in arbitration.

Duvall, 33, is projected to make $9.1 million in arbitration, per MLB Trade Rumors. He hit 38 homers with a league-leading 113 RBIs last season. Jackson, projecting at $3.8 million, bounced back from a tough 2020 season with a 1.98 ERA across 71 games in 2021.

Fried possibly will make his second opening-day start in a few weeks. He’s coming off another strong season, one that ended with six scoreless frames in the team’s World Series-clinching Game 6 victory over the Astros. Fried owns a 2.84 ERA across the past two seasons. He’s projected to earn around $7.1 million in arbitration.

Swanson will be a free agent after the season. He’s projected to earn $10.1 million in his final time through arbitration. A Cobb County native, Swanson hit .248 last season, setting career bests in home runs (27), doubles (33), RBIs (88), runs (78) and hits (146). He appeared in 160 of 162 games.

Starter Mike Soroka also was arbitration-eligible, but he and the team reached a $2.8 million deal last week.

Players and teams can still reach an agreement after the deadline, but the Braves operate under a file-and-trial approach, so barring a multiyear extension, their players will head to arbitration where a panel will determine the individual’s salary.

Notes:

- A Georgia native robbed a fellow Georgia native early in the Braves’ 4-0 win over the Twins on Tuesday. New Braves slugger Matt Olson (from Gwinnett County) blasted a ball to the center-field wall that would’ve produced at least an RBI double, but Twins outfielder Byron Buxton (a Baxley native and renowned defender) made a leaping grab.

- Top outfield prospect Michael Harris continues to impress. He had a hit, walk and stole his third base of spring Tuesday. Manager Brian Snitker once predicted Harris, 21, would be a young big leaguer. He’s done nothing to dispel that thought thus far this spring.

- Right-hander Spencer Strider pitched two scoreless innings, striking out three Twins. Strider, who made his debut in October 2021, showed the big arm that makes him an intriguing prospect. He reached 100 mph on four pitches, according to Baseball Savant, and surpassed 96 mph on 20 occasions.

“We saw a big arm in him last year during the brief look we got,” Snitker said. “I like him a lot. I’ve been very impressed with a lot of our young guys we’ve seen in this camp and he’s one of them.”

- Right-hander Huascar Ynoa preceded Strider, allowing two hits over three otherwise clean innings. Ynoa is among the five pitchers competing for starts to open the season. It’s safe to consider him one of the favorites to secure a rotation spot after he showed promise during the 2021 campaign. Before his frustration got the best of him and he broke his hand punching a dugout bench, Ynoa had a 3.02 ERA across his first nine games, helping stabilize the Braves’ rotation during a difficult period.

- Remember the days when much of the watercooler Braves talk centered on prospects? Or what the team could fetch for a veteran like Jaime Garcia at the trade deadline?

Feels like ages ago. Now the reigning World Series champs, the Braves are prioritizing the present. Since the lockout ended, they’ve been perhaps baseball’s most active team. And they haven’t been acquiring kids.

The ages of some notable Braves signees:

Closer Kenley Jansen: 34

Reliever Collin McHugh: 34

Outfielder Eddie Rosario: 30

Outfielder Alex Dickerson: 31

Reliever Tyler Thornburg: 33

Reliever Kirby Yates: 34

Catcher Manny Pina: 34

Those are in addition to Olson, who’s 28 and just inked an eight-year deal. The Braves have more than enough youth to sustain their success, and they’re supplementing it with a handful of veterans who fit the clubhouse culture and have experienced meaningful games.

- The Braves are minus-300 to make the postseason, according to odds released by BetOnline.ag. They’re plus-240 to miss the postseason. That translates to a 75% chance the Braves qualify for the postseason. The only teams with implied better odds are the Mets (75.6%), White Sox (80%), Astros (80%), Yankees (80%), Blue Jays (80%) and Dodgers (90.9%).

- Right-hander Kyle Wright makes his spring debut Wednesday against the Rays. Wright, who appeared in four games across the regular season and postseason a year ago, is among the five pitchers vying for a rotation spot.