Another Braves contract extension is due.

The Braves have won 11 of their previous 13 games, are an MLB-best 19-7, and are coming off a series victory over the team with the second-best record in baseball. They have arrived as expected to start the 2024 campaign, but what makes this early season run so remarkable is that they are succeeding without their stars performing at their peak.
Marcell Ozuna has been the team’s best offensive player, while Reynaldo Lopez has been the Braves’ best starting pitcher. Hell, I could even make the argument that the most valuable player of the first month has been A.J. Minter. The hard-throwing lefty has blossomed into one of the best relievers in baseball over the last few years and has been critical to the Braves’ scorching hot start. Following yesterday’s game, in which he pitched a scoreless 10th inning, Minter has already tied his career high for wins in a season with five. If you do the math, he’s on an absurd pace of nearly 60 wins. Of course, that’s not going to happen, but it doesn’t change the fact that we are past due for a Minter contract extension.

Regarding contract extensions, Max Fried has dominated the conversation in the run-up to the season. With Spencer Strider out for the season, there is hope that the veteran Braves ace, who is scheduled to become a free agency this winter, would stay in the team for the duration of his career. Although Minter has shown to be immensely vital to the success of the team and is scheduled to become a free agency at the end of the season, that is a subject that has been going on for years and will remain a storyline throughout the season. He intends to stay in Atlanta for the duration of his career, so keeping him there shouldn’t cost the earth.
The Braves spent a lot of money bolstering the bullpen this past offseason, handing a three-year, $26 million contract to Joe Jimenez and a two-year, $14 million contract to Pierce Johnson. The result has been one of the best high-leverage bullpens in baseball to this point in the season, but things would look much less advantageous without Minter. Unlike Fried, Minter feels like a prototypical Braves extension candidate. He’s a southern boy who has made it overwhelmingly evident he wants to remain with the organization. It won’t be cheap, but it’s time for the Braves to bust out the checkbook and make this happen. He’ll have no shortage of suitors if they allow him to get to free agency, which as we know, makes things much more difficult.