The Atlanta Braves have had a busy week, but that didn’t stop them from coming up with a creative way to incentivize one of their fringiest roster candidates to stick around.
Vidal Bruján, the 27-year-old utility man who has thus far struggled to establish himself as a full-time big-leaguer, was a Braves waiver claim in August, when injuries were truly plaguing the roster. He remained under team control this offseason and was arbitration-eligible for the first time, but it also wasn’t entirely clear he deserved a roster spot.
While it’s one thing to keep him on the 40-man roster throughout the winter, the Braves in theory would have struggled to keep Bruján around if he didn’t make the 26-man roster out of spring training, because he’s out of minor-league options. So they created a feasible solution on Thursday.
The Braves announced on X that Bruján had agreed to a one-year, split contract, which means he’ll be paid different salaries if he’s in the major leagues versus the minors. But more importantly, it gives Bruján some incentive to stick around, though he may still have a decision to make at some point.
Though contract figures have not been reported, Bruján has to be getting some sort of financial incentive to accept a minor-league assignment if he is outrighted to Triple-A. His goal will obviously be to make the major league roster out of spring training, but it’s too early even to say what his competition for look like for one of the last few position player spots.
Once considered a top prospect, Bruján has played in 261 major league games for five teams (Braves, Baltimore Orioles, Chicago Cubs, Miami Marlins, Tampa Bay Rays). He has a .199 batting average and .543 OPS in those games, while stealing just 16 bases and being caught 14 times.
Meanwhile, the Braves are in an interesting position with the shortstop depth chart, as Bruján and recent trade addition Mauricio Dubón can both play there in a pinch, but it wouldn’t necessarily advisable to have one of them starting there every day.
Signing a more dependable free-agent shortstop would undoubtedly ease Braves fans’ minds, but it would almost certainly decrease Bruján’s odds at cracking the opening day roster.
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