Two Braves players fall into top twenty-five free agents for this coming offseason

The team has several pending free agents, albeit greater change is likely in the pitching department than in the position player group, with several arms lacking club options that might extend the organization’s control for another season.

Of course, there’s the demand factor. Bleacher Report’s rating of the top 25 impending free agents includes two Braves, both arms, among the top 25 most in-demand free agents next offseason.

Charlie Morton, a starting pitcher who will be 41 soon after the season concludes, is ranked 20th on the list. Here’s what writer Joel Reuter said regarding Morton’s forthcoming free agent campaign.

Morton has made at least 30 starts for the Braves in three straight seasons, serving as a veteran workhorse with a 3.77 ERA, 1.23 WHIP, and 604 strikeouts in 521 innings. He is the third-oldest player to play in an MLB game this season, following Justin Verlander and Jesse Chavez.

Any discussion of Morton’s upcoming free agency, in my opinion, must include his stated desire to play close to his family, who live in Florida. Logically, there aren’t as many teams that have a realistic chance of signing Morton, with the Braves and the two Florida organizations (including his old team, the Tampa Bay Rays) being the only plausible options if he decides to postpone retirement for another season.

However, Morton is not expected to be the top free agent on this roster. That’s starting pitcher Max Fried, the second-rated pitcher and sixth-best free agent on Bleacher Report’s list. Here’s what Reuter felt of Fried’s upcoming free agency:

Fried finished runner-up in 2022 NL. He received Cy Young votes when he went 14-7 with a 2.48 ERA, 1.01 WHIP, and 170 strikeouts in 185.1 innings, and despite missing time due to injury last year, he was equally productive when healthy with a 2.55 ERA in 77.2 innings. The left-hander is off to a difficult start this year, but he has been an ace-caliber starter when everything goes right, and a successful 2024 campaign might land him a nine-figure paycheck.

Games like last night against Miami, in which Fried tossed a complete game shutout in less than 100 pitches with only three hits and no walks, will only increase the young lefty’s price. He is positioned behind Corbin Burnes in the pecking order due to Burnes’ previous domination – Burnes won the National League Cy Young award in 2021 and has four top-eight Cy Young finishes, as well as a top-15 MVP performance.

Marcell Ozuna, a designated hitter, was surprisingly left off the list, even after accounting for the additional twenty-two “honorable mentions” outside the top 25. Ozuna, the MLB’s current leader in home runs (nine) and RBIs (twenty-seven), has a batting line of.326/.402/.674 and has been one of the top hitters over the last year.

The 33-year-old Ozuna does have a club option for 2025, which if exercised will pay him $16 million for one more season in Atlanta. However, the Bleacher Report list does not end there, as numerous honorable mentions are also available to clubs for the 2025 season.

Despite this, Ozuna is not among the top designated hitter alternatives according to Bleacher Report, with J.D. Martinez, Joc Pederson, and Justin Turner all receiving honorable mentions ahead of him.