YIR: Jewish Braves, Like Team, Look Forward to 2024
Max Fried, Kevin Pillar, and Jared Shuster had varying degrees of success for the Braves in 2023.
There were times during the 2023 season when the Atlanta Braves had three Jewish players on their active roster. Perhaps such a scenario will play out again in 2024, but it won’t be with the same trio of Max Fried, Jared Shuster, and Kevin Pillar.
Shuster will not be returning to the Braves this season as he was dealt, along with a handful of other players, to the Chicago White Sox for reliever Aaron Bummer last month. For Shuster, one of the organization’s most highly regarded prospects a year ago and one who got called up to make a couple spot starts in the second half, the move to a pitching-starved White Sox team that finished with a 61-101 record will likely provide him with more opportunities to live up to his considerable potential. Despite the mounting pitching injuries that derailed one of the best regular seasons in club history, the Braves still have a passel of capable arms and Shuster’s odds of cracking the Opening Day roster (which he did last year) were not particularly great. With Chicago, he could certainly be slotted into the back end of the rotation at the onset of the season.
Pillar came as advertised: a solid veteran clubhouse guy who capably handled left-handed pitching, either as a platoon outfielder or pinch-hitter for starting left fielder Eddie Rosario in the late innings. Coming off a season in which he hit .228 and socked nine homers, the 34-year-old journeyman outfielder, who started in two of Atlanta’s four NLDS games, enters free agency. Given his age and rich injury history, it’s possible that he may have played his last game in the big leagues. But given how popular he was in the Braves’ clubhouse, it’s also certainly possible he returns on a one-year deal or attracts the attention of another ballclub looking to add a veteran presence to their roster.
Barring a blockbuster trade, Max Fried will most definitely be returning to the Braves in 2024, but beyond this season his future in Atlanta remains very much in question. The talented lefty will be 30 when spring training camp opens and is headed into his final year of arbitration before hitting free agency. Generally speaking, players don’t want to deal with the distraction of contract related matters when the games begin, so the window for signing Fried to an extension is closing quickly. There have been recent reports that the Braves and Fried’s camp had engaged in talks about an extension prior to last season, but of course nothing materialized.
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