Braves Reportedly Bringing Back Tyler Flowers After Declining His Option
By Parker White
When Atlanta Braves legend Brian McCann called it a career following their NLDS loss to the St. Louis Cardinals, it left a void behind the plate the Braves needed to address.
On Monday, the team helped that cause by re-signing catcher Tyler Flowers to a one-year, $4 million deal.
Source: The Braves will bring Tyler Flowers back with a 1-year, $4 million deal. Because Flowers' $6M option was declined, he received the $2M buyout. So, he's still getting $6M. It's just an accounting procedure that allows for just $4M to count toward the 2020 payroll.
— Mark Bowman (@mlbbowman) November 4, 2019
Flowers had a $6 million option the Braves decided to decline, giving the veteran backstop the $2 million buyout that was attached. So the 33-year-old catcher will still end up getting a total of $6 million, but with the new contract, it allows for only the $4 million to go against against Atlanta's 2020 payroll.
Braves, Tyler Flowers Agree To New Deal https://t.co/8dHFmYttA2 pic.twitter.com/KXaJvgpNsZ
— MLB Trade Rumors (@mlbtraderumors) November 4, 2019
The 2019 season accounted for Flowers' fourth year in Atlanta, and while he's still an excellent pitch framer, he struggled at the plate and slashed only .229/.319/.413 with 11 home runs and 34 RBI over 310 plate appearances.
The Braves will certainly be scouring the market for another catcher to pair with Flowers, preferably someone who can handle an everyday workload. However, during his time with the Braves, Flowers has split the duties in half with another veteran, a strategy the team could go with once again in 2020.