The Braves have agreed to terms on a one-year contract with free-agent catcher Kurt Suzuki, pending a physical exam.
The contract will pay Suzuki, a 10-year major league veteran, a guaranteed $1.5 million and will include incentive bonuses that could more than double that amount.
Suzuki is expected to split the Braves’ catching duties with incumbent starter Tyler Flowers, potentially making Anthony Recker, their backup catcher at the end of last season, available for trade.
Suzuki, 33, has been with the Minnesota Twins the past three seasons. In 106 games — 373 plate appearances — last season, he had a .258 batting average, eight home runs, 49 RBIs and a .704 OPS (on-base plus slugging percentages).
He made the American League All-Star team in 2014, when he had a .288 batting average, three home runs, 61 RBIs and a .727 OPS in 131 games, but his performance fell off sharply in 2015.
Suzuki reached the major leagues with Oakland in 2007. He played his first five seasons with the A’s, then split two seasons between Oakland and the Washington Nationals before joining the Twins as a free agent.
He has a career batting average of .256 with a .311 on-base percentage, .372 slugging percentage and 83 home runs in 1,208 games.
Like Flowers, he is a right-handed hitter.
The potential incentive bonuses in Suzuki’s contract with the Braves reportedly will total $2.5 million.
