Atlanta braves gives official Update on Michael Soroka trade rumors
The question is whether Atlanta will bring back point guard Michael Soroka in the final year of free agency.
That being said, Michael Soroka’s 2023 didn’t go as he or the Atlanta Braves planned.
Soroka’s start to spring training, trying to bring him back to the major leagues for three years after suffering two Achilles tendon injuries (requiring three surgeries), was delayed by a hamstring injury just days before the pitcher and catcher show up.
In February.
After opening the season at AAA Gwinnett, Soroka earned his major league shot in late May and made two starts on West Coast Atlanta against Oakland and Arizona before returning to Gwinnett.
He reportedly shuttled between Gwinnett and Atlanta over the summer, managing his service time to give Atlanta control of his contract for one more year.
Ultimately, that plan didn’t work, as a season-ending injury placed Soroka on the disabled list, ending his season and extending his career to five years.
Soroka posted a 2-2 6.40 ERA in 7 games (6 starts) in Atlanta with 29 strikeouts (8.1 K/9) and 12 walks (3.3 BB/9) in 32 ,1 innings.
At Gwinnett, he made 17 starts, going 4-4 with a 3.41 ERA and 9.5 strikeouts per nine innings.
Soroka also struggled with home runs at the major league level, allowing nine home runs to a 2.5 HR/9 rate in 32.1 innings. (For context, in his 2019 rookie season, he led the entire National League in HR allowed over nine innings with just 0.7 HR.) Under the contract, Atlanta agreed to pay Soroka $2.8 million in the first year of arbitration, and the player and team agreed to pay the same amount again in 2022 and 2023 when Soroka returns.
He is in his final year of arbitration and is expected to receive a small raise, up to $3 million (MLB Trade Rumors has been accurately predicting this for years).
Why is Atlanta Soroka not recommended?
The first reason is health.
Now that he ended the season on the 60-day disabled list with a right wrist injury that left his fingers numb, there are questions about what could have gone wrong and whether it’s bad enough to keep him out in 2024.
Now five years into his tenure, there are other complicating factors besides the “pending free agency” issue.
This means that any player with a tenure of five years or more can opt out of being assigned to the minor leagues and instead walk away.
Free contract.
That’s exactly what happened to Yonni Chirinos in Tampa Bay. He was right.
While facing his five-year call-up, Atlanta refused to release him. It also explains why Chirinos played so long in Atlanta before getting injured.
If they sign him to the minor leagues, they could opt for free agency instead.
In reality, this is an Atlanta meets Soroka scenario. With five years left, he can become a free agent at any time if the team wants to send him to AAA, which could leave Atlanta without compensation.
Based on his performance in the regular season, it’s unclear if Soroka’s stuff has returned to the level needed to stay in the rotation all season.
Therefore, it is in Atlanta’s best interest not to sign Soroka, but to invite him to spring training and try to re-sign him to a minor league contract. If he doesn’t pitch well enough to make the opening day roster, a minor league deal means he could start in Gwinnett and still be available if he shows the necessary development or the Braves suffer an injury.
As we learned this season, starting rotations can happen multiple times at any given time.
But isn’t this a risky plan?
This is correct.
There could be several teams willing to offer Maple Maddux a standard major league contract and a rotation spot in hopes that he can approach the form he showed before suffering a hamstring injury Achilles in 2020.
So while there have been some in the national or Atlanta media speculating that Soroka will not be tendered, I believe he will either be offered a deal that includes a club option for 2024 or Atlanta will take him to arbitration.
