Braves news: Charlie Morton surprise, Griffin Canning's future, Angels' Soler plan

The World Series just ended and Alex Anthopoulos has already made a major move. That's just the response Atlanta Braves fans wanted to see after an extremely disappointing 2024 campaign.

Atlanta acquired Griffin Canning in a deal that sent Jorge Soler to the Los Angeles Angels. It's a strange trade on paper, but when taking into account that the Braves cleared a good amount of money by shipping Soler off to Los Angeles, it makes a lot more sense.

The latest Braves news covers some fallout from that trade, as well as one potential offseason surprise.

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Braves news: Fans can only laugh at the Angels' plan for Jorge Soler

In dire need of an offensive boost, the Braves acquired a familiar face —Jorge Soler — at the 2024 trade deadline. He wasn't the best fit with Atlanta, but given his history with the Braves and the low cost it took to acquire him, the addition made some sense.

Sure enough, Soler's production improved in a Braves uniform. He hit nine home runs and had an .849 OPS in 49 games played, and even hit a home run in Atlanta's short postseason. His bat was solid, but with Marcell Ozuna locked in at DH, his glove was an issue in right field. That's a big reason why the Braves traded him, and that's a big reason why the Angels' plan for him is a funny one to fans.

There are sure to be plenty of opportunities for Soler to DH, but according to Sam Blum of The Athletic, it sounds like Soler is going to play a good amount of outfield for them. Whether that's left field, right field or both remains to be seen, but either way, yikes.

He has never been that great of a defender, but Soler was particularly bad with Atlanta in the field this past season. After exclusively appearing as a DH for the San Francisco Giants, Soler was forced to play outfield in Atlanta. His -10 DRS and -7 OAA in just 326 innings of work tell you all you need to know. Among the 385 players to play at least 300 innings at a position, Soler in right field ranked 368th in DRS. He did that despite playing just 304 innings in right field. He was that bad.

Will Soler provide the Angels an offensive boost? Almost certainly. However, his atrocious fielding might cancel most or all of that offense out. Just ask Braves fans.

Braves news: Does Griffin Canning have a future in Atlanta?

Clearing Soler's money was the No. 1 priority in the trade, but getting something of value back would be a nice plus. Griffin Canning might be that.

The 28-year-old is coming off an abysmal season with the Angels. But in 2023, he posted a 4.32 ERA in 24 appearances (22 starts) for Los Angeles. Not stellar, but a decent back-end innings eater, especially when considering the upside that comes from leaving an organization like the Angels and joining one like the Braves. Canning has a Gold Glove on his ledger as well, which doesn't hurt at all.

While Canning looks like an interesting reclamation project on paper, there's one important thing to keep in mind: his 2025 contract.

In his final year of arbitration, Canning is projected to earn $5.4 million. No, that's nothing close to what Soler has on his deal, but $5.4 million isn't nothing, either. That's enough money for the Braves to spend on a decent reliever or potentially a bench bat. How sure are we that the Braves would be comfortable paying Canning that kind of money?

Atlanta will need to address their rotation with Max Fried and Charlie Morton entering free agency and Spencer Strider without a clear timeline for his return from his injury. But is Canning at $5.4 million the way they want to do that?

If the season started today, Atlanta would have Chris Sale, Spencer Schwellenbach and Reynaldo Lopez locked into their rotation with two open spots. Canning would be a candidate to fill a spot, but so would guys like Grant Holmes, Ian Anderson, Bryce Elder, A.J. Smith-Shawver and Hurston Waldrep. Canning might be better than all of those guys, but again, is he worth keeping around at $5.4 million? If they think they have something with Canning, they probably will. If not, then this becomes interesting.

Might the Braves keep him around? Absolutely. Is it possible that the Braves choose to simply non-tender Canning to give themselves even more financial flexibility? Also absolutely. Their main objective was to clear Soler's money. Anything they can get from Canning would be a bonus. With that in mind, there's certainly a non-zero chance that they chose to trade Soler for a player they had no interest in keeping.

Braves news: Charlie Morton might not be retiring after all

Two things felt like clear locks once the Braves season came to an end. Max Fried was almost certainly going to get more money than Alex Anthopoulos would be willing to offer him in free agency, and Charlie Morton was going to retire. What happens with Fried is to be determined, but Morton's future might not be as set as we once thought. According to Mark Bowman of MLB.com, Morton appears to be leaning toward pitching again in 2025.

"There was also an assumption that Morton would retire, but the hurler, who will turn 41 on Nov. 12, is leaning toward pitching at least one more season," Bowman wrote.

If Morton is indeed planning on pitching one more season, he certainly makes a lot of sense for the Braves. Age might be a concern with most pitchers, but with Morton, it's easy to be confident that he'll be the mostly reliable arm he's always been.

Despite being 40 years old, the right-hander posted a 4.19 ERA in 30 starts and 165.1 innings of work. Command was an issue at times, and he had some awful clunkers, but Morton also had some brilliant outings for Atlanta. Plus, 30 starts and 165 innings from mostly any starter has a good amount of value considering how prevalent pitching injuries are.

Bowman believes Morton could be an option on a one-year deal worth $10-15 million. For a Braves team that needs rotation additions and depth, it'd be pretty foolish not to consider bringing Morton back at that price. They'd still love to get a front-end starter, but you can't do much better than Morton as a No. 4 or No. 5 starter even at 41 years of age.