The Braves are once again in the market for the kind of pitcher Alex Anthopoulos tends to love: useful, experienced, and not about to command a massive free-agent payout. That makes Matthew Boyd an easy name to circle this offseason.
Anthopoulos has built a reputation for chasing value, especially when the Braves are shopping for starting pitching. Atlanta has not gone the big-ticket route for a free-agent starter during his tenure, and this winter looks likely to follow that same pattern. Boyd checks a lot of the familiar boxes.
If you want a simple comp, think of him as a left-handed version of Tyler Mahle. Boyd is headed into his 13th season in 2027 and is coming off a mixed year with the Cubs. He made the All-Star team in 2025, but a rough first half this season dragged down his overall line.
Over a little more than 126 innings, Boyd finished with a 3.91 ERA, 4.21 FIP, and 1.0 bWAR. He opened the year by struggling through his first four starts, but he steadied himself after the break and posted a 3.57 ERA in the second half. That late-season run gives him some momentum as free agency approaches.
The age is the big factor here. Boyd will be 36 next season, which makes a long-term deal feel unlikely. That is exactly where Anthopoulos has often operated, stepping in with a one- or two-year offer instead of chasing a lengthier commitment.
Boyd’s profile also fits the need. He leans on a five-pitch mix and doesn’t overwhelm hitters with pure stuff anymore, but he also doesn’t hand out many free passes. His walk rate is above average, and that helps him keep innings from spiraling.
For a Braves team that needs durable starting pitching, Boyd looks like the kind of back-end innings eater Atlanta could target. It’s the sort of move that fits both the roster need and the general manager’s track record.
In Other News...
Braves Face A Painful Offseason Question About Their Core
Atlantas postseason exit has pushed the focus quickly from October disappointment to a winter of uncomfortable roster math, and the Braves know the conversation will not stay on the surface for long. There is still plenty of respect for the way Walt Weiss guided a team through a difficult season, but the bigger issue is how much of this core can be counted on to look like itself again when spring training opens.
A few of the clubs most important decisions are now tangled together: the trade that swapped William Contreras for Sean Murphy still hangs over the catcher picture, Jurickson Profars place in the organization has become a real question after his PED suspensions, and Austin Rileys recent performance left more doubts than answers. Add in the injury concerns around Spencer Strider, Spencer Schwellenbach and Reynaldo Lpez, and the Braves are staring at an offseason where the margin for error may be thinner than it has been in years. [Read more 🡒]
Braves Prospect Diego Tornes Faces Pressure Atlanta Cant Ignore
Diego Tornes arrived with the kind of international pedigree the Braves hoped would help restock the system, and Atlantas track record with recent signings gives his development a little extra weight. Signed before the 2025 season, Tornes enters 2027 as one of the organizations most closely watched young players, especially after a rookie-ball debut that offered more questions than answers and kept the Braves waiting for signs that the investment is trending in the right direction.
The challenge for Tornes is bigger than one prospect making a personal leap. Atlanta has had too many recent international signings stall out because of disappointment or health problems, so every step he takes this season will be viewed through that lens. If he can start to look like a real success story, it would mean more than just progress for one player and give the Braves a needed lift in an area where they cannot afford many more misses. [Read more 🡒]
Braves Fans May Finally See What Fueled The Contreras-Acua Tension
William Contreras has kept showing why Milwaukee was eager to make him part of its future, and his postseason work has only added to the buzz around what he became after leaving Atlanta. The former Braves catcher has thrived with the Brewers, turning himself into a more complete player and giving Milwaukee reason to believe it has one of the sharper backstops in October.
For Braves followers, the intrigue is less about what Contreras has done elsewhere than what his success may have meant back home. Mark Bowman raised the possibility that the firing of catching coach Sal Fasano after the 2024 season could have had something to do with the way Contreras developed in Milwaukee, but there has been no official confirmation of that line of thinking. The result is one of those baseball subplots that lingers because the performance is real, the aftermath is visible, and the full explanation still has not been put on the record. [Read more 🡒]