The Braves have work to do in their rotation, and Luis Gil should not be treated like the answer.
Atlanta got through 2026 with pitching coach Jeremy Hefner and the Braves making it work, but the starting staff still looks shaky heading into the offseason. Chris Sale remains terrific, but he’s getting older, and the other four spots are as unsettled as they’ve been in years. What the Braves do next will depend in part on how they feel about the recovery of some injured arms, but the expectation around the organization is clear: they probably need to add a couple of starters.
Free agency may offer more starting pitching than several other parts of the market, but the group is still not especially deep or varied. Tarik Skubal is likely out of reach for Atlanta, and there should be plenty of competition for names like Freddy Peralta, Michael King, Clay Holmes, and/or Sonny Gray. With the supply thin and prices likely to climb, the trade market could make more sense for the Braves.
That’s where Yankees right-hander and former Rookie of the Year Luis Gil enters the conversation. He is being talked about as available, and on the surface he looks like the kind of arm a team might want to kick the tires on. But Atlanta should only consider him if the price is almost nothing.
It’s easy to see why Gil still draws attention. He won Rookie of the Year in 2024 and posted nearly 3 WAR, while also bringing a mid-90s fastball and good extension to the mound.
But the rest of the profile is a mess. Over the last couple of seasons, he has allowed too much hard contact, and both his walk rate and chase rate have sat near the bottom of the scale.
That combination is trouble: too many free passes, not enough swings outside the zone, and too much loud contact when hitters do connect.
There’s also the health piece. Gil missed significant time last year with a shoulder injury, and that matters.
Shoulder problems are tougher to dismiss than many other injuries for pitchers, and the phrase “shoulder inflammation” can be a warning sign rather than a clean bill of health. His drop in production makes that concern even harder to ignore.
If the Yankees non-tender Gil and the Braves decide to take a shot on him with a minor league deal or a very cheap MLB deal, that’s reasonable. There’s still a path for him to sort things out, either as a starter or in the bullpen, and those contracts wouldn’t carry much risk. But if Atlanta gets aggressive and sends back a real prospect before the non-tender deadline, that would be a mistake.
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