The Braves have moved left-hander Danny Young off the 40-man roster and outrighted him to Triple-A Gwinnett, according to his transactions tracker at MLB.com. In practical terms, that means he cleared waivers after Atlanta designated him for assignment last week.
Young does have some leverage here because he’s been outrighted before, which gives him the right to refuse the assignment and choose free agency. But that decision would come with a cost. With less than five years of major league service time, he’d have to give up the rest of the salary guaranteed in his deal to walk away.
Atlanta signed Young to a split contract in the offseason that pays him $925K in the majors and $400K in the minors, according to MLBTR’s Payroll Tracker. That minor league rate is still well above the Triple-A minimum of $35,800.
If he stays in the organization, he can keep drawing that salary for the next few weeks. If not, he could test the market, though his options would likely be limited to minor league deals after clearing waivers.
He’d be eligible for free agency at season’s end if he isn’t added back to the 40-man roster before then.
The Braves had hoped Young could help once he was healthy, especially after his 2025 season with the Mets ended in May when he required Tommy John surgery. New York non-tendered him after the season, sending him to free agency, and Atlanta brought him in while he was still rehabbing.
The results never really came around. Young returned from the injured list on July 3 and made 16 appearances before last week’s DFA, but he posted an 8.03 ERA over that stretch.
His strikeout and walk numbers were roughly average, but the control problems were glaring: he walked 13 of the 65 hitters he faced, a 20% rate. Two of those free passes were intentional, but he also hit three batters and uncorked a wild pitch.
If Young reports to Gwinnett, he’ll have a chance to reset in a less intense setting. Before this season, he had thrown 60 2/3 innings in the majors with a 4.01 ERA, a 29% strikeout rate, a 9.3% walk rate and a 53.3% ground-ball rate.
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