Braves Among Teams With Interest In Walker Buehler

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The Braves are among the clubs showing early interest in free agent righty  , reports MLB Networks Jon Morosi ( ).  Buehler, 30, reached free agency for the first time this winter and, despite a strong finish to his postseason, is generally viewed as a rebound candidate on the heels of a dismal showing in 2024. This past season marked Buehlers first year back from the second Tommy John surgery of his career, and some rust was quite clear.  After not pitching at all in 2023, Buehler to sed 75 1/3 innings in the big leagues but was tagged for a 5.38 ERA with career-worst strikeout and walk rates of 18.6% and 8.1%, respectively. Triston Abram Jersey  His four-seamer, which averaged 96.5 mph from 2017-20, clocked in at an average of 95 mph, per Statcast. He entered 2024 with an 11.6% swinging-strike rate but logged an 8.2% mark in 2024  ranked 190th out of the 204 pitchers who threw at least 70 innings.  The Padres rocked Buehler for six runs acro s five innings in his first postseason start, but he went out on a high note. In 10 subsequent innings, he was unscored upon, recording a 13-to-4 K/BB ratio in the proce s. That includes a pair of scorele s starts (four and five innings apiece), and what will go down as a gutsy closing effort in the ninth inning of World Series Game 5, when Buehler finished off the Yankees to clinch L.A.s championship just 48 hours after hed started Game 3.  Atlantas need for rotation reinforcements is rather clear. The Braves saw  and  become free agents when the season ended.  likely wont be ready for Opening Day as he continues rehabbing from last years UCL surgery. The Braves rotation, as currently constructed, will be headlined by likely Cy Young winner  , converted reliever  and 2024 breakout rookie  . Options for the fourth and fifth spots at the moment include  (acquired for  ),  ,  ,  and  .  Sale, of course, was dominant in a 2024 season thats already netted him NL Comeback Player of the Year honors and is all but guaranteed to result in his first career Cy Young Award. But as good as he was in 24, the lefty will pitch next year at age 36 and only pitched a total of 151 innings in the four-year span prior to this Braves renai sance. It cant (or shouldnt) be simply a sumed that hes once again good for 29 to 33 starts annually. Similarly, Lopez was excellent but mi sed time due to a forearm strain while shattering his own recent workload standards. The Braves surely hope that both will be as effective in 2025 as in 2024  and as healthy or even healthier  but thats far from a given.  Some form of rotation supplement is likely, and the Braves typically havent spent at the levels likely nece sary to retain Fried  at least when it comes to free agents. Most of their long-term deals have focused on players who are either early in arbitration or have not yet reached arbitration. Those contracts all typically begin in a players mid- or late-20s. Fried will be 31 next year. A reunion seems unlikely, especially with the Braves likely to pay the luxury tax for a third straight season and with Fried likely to command an annual value north of $25MM. Atlanta would be facing a tax of at least 50% on Frieds annual value in 2025.  Exactly what type of contract Buehler will command remains unclear. He was at one point one of the games promising young aces, pitching 564 innings of 2.82 ERA ball with a 27.7% strikeout rate and 6.1% walk rate from 2018-21. That version of Buehler hasnt been seen in three years, however. Its po sible some clubs feel theres enough upside to guarantee him multiple years right now. A two-year deal with an opt-out feels feasible, and maybe a club would put down a three-year offer with a more modest AAV and hope for a return to form.  Its notable, though, that the deep-pocketed Dodgers are the team most familiar with Buehler, his medical history and what to expect from his performance moving forward  and they opted against extending a $21.05MM qualifying offer to the right-hander. On the one hand, thats good news for his market and gives any club signing him to a short-term deal the po sibility of recouping draft pick compensation with a QO of their own if Buehler performs well. On the other, the lack of a QO can be construed as a red flag.  If Buehler is amenable to a one-year deal, he fits the broad profile of what the Braves have targeted in free agent starting pitchers. Last offseasons three-year deal for Lopez was the first time under Atlanta president of baseball operations Alex Anthopoulos that the team signed a starter to a multi-year deal  although even that can be viewed as something of an exception. The team expre sed interest in trying to stretch Lopez out from the time of his signing, but there was always a po sibility hed return to a bullpen role if the experiment didnt work. Anthopoulos has been far more willing to put down market-rate AAVs on relievers (in the $8-11MM range) than on conventional starters. Anthopoulos also knows Buehler better than most free agents, given his former role as the vice president of baseball operations in the Dodgers front office  a role he held when Buehler was drafted and was on the rise through the Dodgers system.  Sam Lindsey Jersey