The Atlanta Braves have only made one move this offseason. They addressed their offensive needs to signing Jurickson Profar to a three-year, $42 million deal.
However, the pitching staff remains a question mark, as there are holes to fill thanks to the departures of Max Fried and Charlie Morton. So far, the Braves have done nothing to boost their rotation.
They do have Chris Sale at the top and Spencer Strider will return from his injury. But they would be wise to add another starter.
Bleacher Report’s Kerry Miller proposed the idea of Atlanta targeting Nick Pivetta.
“It’s possible Alex Anthopoulos still has a key move or two left up his sleeve before the season begins. Plenty of respectable starting pitchers are still available in free agency—Jack Flaherty, Andrew Heaney, Max Scherzer, and Nick Pivetta, to name a few—and Atlanta is always a candidate to swing some trades.”
Pivetta went 6-12 with a 4.14 ERA in 26 starts and one relief appearance with the Boston Red Sox in 2024, though he did average 10.6 strikeouts per nine innings.
If he can stay healthy, he can be a viable source of veteran innings for the Braves as they try to bounce back from their Wild Card Series loss to the San Diego Padres. They’re going to need at least one more arm if they want to return to October.
The 31-year-old right-hander began his career with the Philadelphia Phillies in 2017 and was traded to Boston in 2020. He’s been a serviceable middle-to-back-end rotation arm throughout his career.
We’ll see if Atlanta makes him an offer this winter.
More MLB: Braves loosely linked to $100 million ex-Dodgers World Series champion
