Alex Anthopoulos has developed a reputation as one of sports’ top general managers thanks to his work over the last decade to transform the Braves into World Series contenders.
AA has built his reputation by extending stars early, beginning with Ronald Acuna Jr. and Ozzie Albies. It continued with Austin Riley, Spencer Strider, and Michael Harris II before expanding into deals with Matt Olson and Sean Murphy.
However, minor changes have also helped to the Braves’ success, with Ray Kerr potentially joining Atlanta down the stretch this season and in the future.
Anthopolous adopted a different approach this offseason, acquiring good players from clubs looking to offload them for salary reasons. The headliner was Jarred Kelenic, but the Braves also traded for Ray Kerr, effectively paying for Matt Carpenter’s contract in order to obtain the left-handed reliever.
In 27.0 innings of MLB action in 2023, Kerr has an ERA of 4.33 and a FIP of 4.18. In terms of ERA+, he was 5% below than league average. However, in AAA, he posted an impressive 2.25 ERA in 36.0 innings. At both levels, he was able to strike out 30.7% of batters in MLB (11.7 per nine innings) and 29.0% in AAA.
Kerr has some exciting stuff, and he made his Braves debut last week against the Red Sox, but it was his performance Friday night against the Cubs that got fans excited about his possible future in the bullpen.
Kerr sat on the bench against Boston and struck out once. Kerr retired all six batters he faced in the sixth and seventh innings, striking out three and grounding out two. His fastball was at 97 mph, and the curve looked deadly.
The Braves acquired Ray Kerr by picking up $4 million of Matt Carpenter’s salary. The 29-year-old has options and is under team control till 2030. It’s another move that might benefit Alex Anthopoulos and the Braves.