Kris Medlen and Brandon Beachy hope to rebound from their second Tommy John elbow surgeries to pitch again in the major leagues, but it’s less likely to be with the Braves after they were made free agents Tuesday.
Medlen, Beachy and right-hander Gus Schlosser became non-tendered free agents, while Braves arbitration-eligible pitchers Mike Minor and relievers James Russell and David Carpenter all were offered contracts. Tuesday was the deadline for teams to offer contracts to all of their unsigned players.
Schlosser was the Braves’ only non-arbitration player who went non-tendered. He had a 7.64 ERA in 15 appearances for the Braves as a rookie in 2015, and was 7-6 with a 4.15 ERA in 25 games (15 starts) at Triple-A Gwinnett.
Medlen and Beachy were injured on consecutive days at spring training and missed the entire season recovering from “TJ” surgery. Medlen was paid $5.8 million during 2014 in what was his second season of arbitration eligibility, while Beachy got $1.45 million in his first arbitration season.
Baseball’s Collective Bargaining Agreement stipulates that teams can’t offer such players under team control a salary that’s less than 80 percent of what they made the previous year, and players who were injured usually get the same amount as the previous season through the arbitration process.
The Braves have not ruled out re-signing them as free agents at a later date.
The Braves discussed with Medlen a one-year offer that guaranteed him $5.8 million with a club option for 2016, but the salary in 2016 – buying out his would-be first year of free agency – was deemed unsuitable by the pitcher.
Medlen, who turned 29 in October, has a 34-20 record and 2.95 ERA in 152 career games, including 30-13 with a 2.96 ERA in 61 starts. He became one of the National League’s top starters after moving from the bullpen to the rotation full-time in late July 2012, going 24-11 with a 2.36 ERA in 43 starts from then through the 2013 season and winning three NL Pitcher of the Month awards in that span.
Medlen and Beachy seek to join Chris Capuano as the only major league pitchers to ever come back and pitch at a high level as starters for a sustained period after a second Tommy John surgery.
Beachy, 28, is 14-11 with a 3.23 ERA in 46 career starts and has 275 strikeouts in 267 2/3 innings, but has pitched in only 18 games in the past three seasons due to three elbow operations including two Tommy John surgeries.
Medlen and Beachy had TJ surgery in March and neither is expected back until at least late May.
