The Braves wasted little time making their first major move of the offseason, reaching a three-year agreement with right-hander Evan Phillips on Thursday. The deal is worth $35MM, with Phillips set to earn $11MM in 2027 and 2028 before making $13MM in 2029.
It’s a return to where it all started for Phillips, now 32, after Atlanta originally drafted him in the 17th round in 2015. He got a short taste of the majors with the Braves in 2018, throwing 6 1/3 innings before being sent to Baltimore with Bruce Zimmerman and Brett Cumberland in the trade that brought Kevin Gausman and Darren O’Day to Atlanta.
Phillips’ path after that was anything but direct. He spent three seasons as a bullpen depth piece for the Orioles, bouncing between Triple-A Norfolk and Baltimore a dozen times before being let go. Tampa Bay gave him a minor league deal and only three innings before designating him for assignment, and that’s when the Dodgers stepped in by claiming him off waivers.
That move changed everything. From 2022 through 2025, Phillips became one of the most effective relievers in the game while working out of Los Angeles’ bullpen.
Over 184 2/3 regular-season innings, he posted a 2.14 ERA with a 29.6% strikeout rate, a 6.6% walk rate and a 43.3% ground-ball rate. He handled both setup and closing duties, piling up 36 holds and 45 saves while converting 90% of his chances.
His heater averaged 96.2 mph, and opponents managed just 86.7 mph off the bat with a 33.5% hard-hit rate. Among 253 qualified relievers in that span, his ERA ranked sixth.
His rise was interrupted by Tommy John surgery in 2025, and that changed the shape of his free agency. The Dodgers non-tendered him last winter, then brought him back on a one-year, $6.5MM deal even though he wouldn’t be back until July at the earliest and would carry a 110% luxury hit. That was a strong vote of confidence from Los Angeles, and Phillips rewarded it with a strong finish.
The early returns were uneven, as he allowed runs in five of his first seven outings. But he settled in and finished on a tear, giving up only three runs over his final 15 innings while allowing nine hits and three walks and striking out 21 of 57 batters faced, a 36.8% clip. He then added three scoreless postseason innings.
Since the waiver claim that brought him to Los Angeles, Phillips has quietly been one of the sport’s top relievers. He owns a 2.31 ERA in 210 2/3 innings dating back to 2022, plus 18 1/3 scoreless postseason innings across five playoff runs.
In the regular season, he has 47 saves and 49 holds, and he has added a playoff save and four more holds in October. When healthy over the past five years, he has been as good as almost anyone in relief.
Atlanta’s bullpen picture is still taking shape, and Phillips lands in the middle of that uncertainty. Raisel Iglesias has closed for the Braves over the past five seasons and remains a free agent.
He could still return on a one-year deal, but the addition of Phillips - along with Robert Suarez already on a $16MM salary - makes that path harder to see. The Braves can still add another high-priced reliever, but the new contract changes the math.
Phillips joins a group that should feature high-leverage options for Walt Weiss. Lefty Dylan Lee remains an important piece, while Dylan Dodd and Ray Kerr are also expected to get meaningful work, especially after Kerr emerged as a postseason standout during Atlanta’s run to the NLDS. Reynaldo López and Didier Fuentes give the club two more right-handed arms who could end up in either a setup role or a spot in the rotation.
The move also fits the way president of baseball operations Alex Anthopoulos has tended to operate, with Atlanta making one of its biggest free-agent swings early in the offseason. Before this signing, MLBTR’s Payroll Tracker had the Braves at nearly $217MM in 2027 commitments. Phillips pushes that figure close to $228MM and raises their luxury tax number to about $223MM.
Even so, both totals remain below the marks Atlanta finished 2026 with, at $263.3MM and $255.9MM respectively. That leaves room for more work, and the Braves still have obvious needs to address. Shortstop does not have a clear starter, and left field remains unsettled after Mike Yastrzemski struggled badly in the first season of his two-year, $23MM deal signed last December.
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