After falling out of serious World Series contention last season due largely to ongoing injury issues, the Atlanta Braves have yet to see their fortunes improve.
The bad luck continued shortly after the team re-signed former Gold Glove winner Ha-Seong Kim to a one-year, $20 million deal to be its everyday shortstop. While in South Korea, Kim slipped on ice and suffered an injury that will keep him sidelined for at least four months of the upcoming season. Atlanta quickly moved to address the sudden hole on the roster.
According to the Associated Press, the Braves agreed to a one-year, $1 million contract with free agent dual position star who offers positional versatility, capable of playing both the infield and outfield. The signing came one day after the team announced Kim would miss four to five months following surgery to repair a torn tendon in his right middle finger.
While the Mateo addition drew attention, it may have overshadowed a quieter move with potential upside. Around the same time, it emerged that the Braves had signed veteran pitcher Sean Reid-Foley to a minor league deal, a transaction that appeared on his official player profile.
Reid-Foley previously spent three seasons with the Toronto Blue Jays before pitching four years with the Braves’ division rival New York Mets. Shoulder issues derailed his 2024 campaign, leading the Mets to place him on waivers before the season. After going unclaimed and being sent to the minors, he later joined the Arizona Diamondbacks organization before being released again, eventually landing in Atlanta.
Now with the Braves, Reid-Foley will attempt to rediscover the form that once made him a valuable major-league arm. He owns a career 4.10 ERA with 151 strikeouts across 131.2 innings at the MLB level, showing he can compete against top competition.
Once considered a high-end prospect, Reid-Foley was a consensus Top-100 player in baseball during his time in the Blue Jays’ system in 2017. Drafted in the second round of the 2014 MLB Draft, he reached the majors by 2018. However, control has been an issue in recent seasons, as evidenced by a high walk rate in Triple-A last year. Encouragingly, he showed improvement in the Mexican Winter League, issuing just five walks while striking out 18 batters across 14 appearances for Hermosillo.
