News Braves Team Notes

[Atlanta Braves]

Braves Outright Anthony Molina

The Braves announced that right-hander Anthony Molina has been sent outright to Triple-A Gwinnett. It seems they quietly put him on waivers in recent days as there was no public indication he had been designated for assignment. The move drops their 40-man count to 39.

Molina, 24 in January, has never pitched for Atlanta. He was just claimed off waivers from the Rockies a couple of weeks ago. The Rockies had selected him from the Rays in the 2023 Rule 5 draft. He didn’t pitch especially well but the Rockies were rebuilding and kept him on the roster through that whole season regardless. He finished 2024 with 59 2/3 innings thrown mostly out of the bullpen, although technically one outing was a start as an opener. He allowed 6.79 earned runs per nine with a 15.5% strikeout rate, 8.3% walk rate and 41.9% ground ball rate.

By keeping him for the full year, the Rockies obtained his full rights and were no longer bound by the Rule 5 restrictions. He split 2025 between the major league bullpen and the Triple-A rotation. He tossed 69 2/3 Triple-A innings with a 6.59 ERA, 15% strikeout rate, 8.8% walk rate and 46.2% ground ball rate. His 34 2/3 big league innings resulted in a 7.27 ERA, 15% strikeout rate, 3% walk rate and 40.8% grounder rate.

Those aren’t the most exciting numbers but it surely doesn’t help that he was in very hitter-friendly environments. The Triple-A Albuquerque Isotopes play in the Pacific Coast League, famously tough for pitchers, while Coors Field is also notorious for its hostility to hurlers.

Molina averages around 95 miles per hour with his fastball and also features a cutter, slider, curveball and changeup. Atlanta will try to get more out of that arsenal in a friendlier setting. Since this is Molina’s first career outright and he has less than three years of service time, he doesn’t have the right to elect free agency.

Photo courtesy of Isaiah J. Downing, Imagn Images

Source: https://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2025/12/braves-outright-anthony-molina.html

 

[Atlanta Braves]

Braves Sign Ian Hamilton To Major League Deal

The Braves announced the signing of reliever Ian Hamilton to a one-year, non-guaranteed contract. Atlanta opened a 40-man roster spot this afternoon when they ran Anthony Molina through waivers. Hamilton is represented by ALIGND Sports Agency.

Hamilton hit the market last month when he was non-tendered by the Yankees. His projected arbitration salary wasn’t far above the league minimum, but he had spent the final two months of the season on optional assignment to Triple-A. Hamilton made 36 appearances before being sent down. He pitched 40 innings of 4.28 ERA ball, striking out a quarter of opponents against a worrisome 13.3% walk rate.

The 30-year-old righty has pitched parts of six MLB seasons between the White Sox, Twins and Yankees. He had a career-best 2.64 ERA behind a 29% strikeout rate for New York back in 2023. His production hasn’t been as strong over the past couple years. Hamilton’s grounder rates have fallen while the free passes jumped this year. He gets plus swing-and-miss rates on his slider but hasn’t gotten great results on his 95-96 MPH sinker.

The 2025 season was Hamilton’s third and final minor league option year. He’ll battle for a middle relief spot in camp. If he doesn’t make the Opening Day roster, the Braves would need to take him off the 40-man and either trade him or run him through waivers.

Hamilton has between three and five years of MLB service time. He’d therefore have the right to decline an outright assignment and elect free agency if the Braves get him through waivers unclaimed, but doing so would mean forfeiting his salary. If he pitches well enough to stick on the roster, Atlanta could control him via arbitration through 2028.

Atlanta doesn’t have a ton of roster flexibility with regards to the bullpen. Raisel Iglesias, Robert Suarez and Aaron Bummer are locked in at the back end. Dylan Lee has two minor league options but is certainly going to be on the roster. Hamilton, Joel Payamps, Danny Young and swing types Bryce Elder, Grant Holmes, José Suarez and Joey Wentz are all out of options. While an injury or two in Spring Training could open roster space, they’re certainly not going to have room for all those pitchers on Opening Day.

Image courtesy of Dan Hamilton, Imagn Images.

Note: This post initially incorrectly referred to Hamilton’s contract as a split deal.

Source: https://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2025/12/braves-sign-ian-hamilton-to-major-league-deal.html

 

[Atlanta Braves]

Braves Sign Elieser Hernandez To Minors Contract

The Braves signed Elieser Hernandez to a minor league deal back in November, as per the right-hander’s MLB.com profile page. Hernandez spent the end of the 2025 season in the Blue Jays’ farm system, and he elected minor league free agency at season’s end.

Atlanta saw plenty of Hernandez during his days with the Marlins from 2018-22, as Hernandez posted a 5.04 ERA over 287 2/3 innings as both a starter and a reliever. Miami parted ways with Hernandez in November 2022 by sending him to another NL East rival in the Mets, but Hernandez didn’t see any big league action during his lone season in New York, as injuries sidelined him for the majority of the year.

The righty caught on with the Dodgers and Brewers in 2024 and tossed 15 2/3 innings at the MLB level before electing free agency rather than outright assignment off of Milwaukee’s roster. He then signed with the LG Twins of the Korea Baseball Organization since July 2024, and posted a 4.14 ERA, 27.17% strikeout rate, and 8.5% walk rate over 113 innings across the 2024-25 seasons. This caught the attention of the Jays, but Hernandez’s minor league contract with Toronto resulted in just a 7.91 ERA in 19 1/3 frames with Triple-A Buffalo.

Over his 303 1/3 career innings in the Show, Hernandez has a 5.10 ERA, 7.6% walk rate, and a 21.8% strikeout rate. His biggest problem has been the long ball, as Hernandez was taken yard 73 times during his relatively limited Major League career. This inability to keep the ball in the park limited Hernandez’s effectiveness in any capacity as a starter or long reliever.

While Hernandez did do a better job of limiting homers in the KBO League and even in his brief stint with the Jays, his tough results in Buffalo suggest that the right-hander is still a work in progress. The Braves will become the latest team to take look at Hernandez, and he’ll be one of many pitchers with MLB experience in Atlanta’s spring camp on minor league contracts. Hernandez’s ability to start games might give him at least a leg up on a Triple-A assignment, though the Braves have plenty of starter-capable pitchers already on hand in a depth capacity.

Source: https://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2025/12/braves-sign-elieser-hernandez-to-minors-contract.html