Grading the Braves 4 biggest moves of the offseason so far
By Tim Boyle
2) The Braves added to the bullpen by trading for Joe Jimenez
The Braves trade for Joe Jimenez cost them minor leaguers Jake Hibbinbotham and Justin-Henry Malloy. In return, they get a reliever with a year of control left and an upside they will hope to tap into.
Jimenez had his first season of an ERA under 4.00 in 2022. As much as ERA doesn’t fully define a reliever’s effectiveness in full, it’s the best way to tell us whether or not he’s keeping his team in the game.
He’ll join the Braves with a lifetime 5.24 ERA in 266 innings of work. Last year may have been an awakening for him. Jimenez was 3-2 with a 3.49 ERA with a rate of 12.2 strikeouts per 9 and a much-improved 2.1 walks per 9 rate. A year earlier, the latter was an atrocious 6.9 per nine.
The Braves must really like the potential Jimenez possess. His numbers definitely don’t seem to suggest he’s much more than an innings eater. With just a single year of control, one has to wonder if the Braves could have done better than using a roster spot on him.
How Atlanta shapes the rest of the bullpen could go a long way toward determining if this trade works out or not. As of now, fans may be wishing they simply signed a more proven and effective free agent.
Braves grade for the Joe Jimenez trade: C-