As a part of the final moves for today (most likely), the Braves chose to decline Julio Teheran’s $12 million option and bought him out for $1 million, making him a free agent. This follows the Braves re-signing both Nick Markakis and Tyler Flowers to $4 million deals earlier today.
Buying out Teheran isn’t much of a surprise. Now the question is whether or not the Braves will attempt to bring him back at a lesser number. Teheran has grown up as a member of the Braves organization and had an excellent regular season last year. The problem is he hasn’t made the cut for the playoff roster in the past two seasons. Teheran did eventually end up on the team in October, however, due to Chris Martin’s injury. He appeared one time and allowed the game-winning run to score in his first inning. My gut tells me Teheran will probably have more lucrative offers elsewhere, which will end a respectable career in Atlanta.
The Braves also extended a $17.8 million qualifying offer to Josh Donaldson. He will most certainly decline that, but it still allows Atlanta to collect a draft pick if he decides to go elsewhere in free agency. However, the Braves will be attempting to retain him this offseason, as Alex Anthopoulos has reiterated since the end of the season.