The Braves announced that outfielder Bryan De La Cruz has been signed to a non-guaranteed deal for the 2025 season. De La Cruz’s deal is specifically a split contract, not a minor league deal. The contract is an early birthday present for De La Cruz, who turns 28 years old tomorrow.
No stranger to the NL East, De La Cruz broke into the majors with the Marlins in 2021 and spent parts of the next four seasons in the Miami outfield. A part-time role turned into essentially everyday duty by the end of the 2022 campaign, and De La Cruz hit .263/.311/.420 with 37 homers over 1200 plate appearances for the Fish during the 2021-23 seasons.
Unfortunately, the production trended downward, from a 111 wRC+ in 219 PA in De La Cruz’s rookie season to a 99 in 2022, then a 90 in 2023, and down to a 77 wRC+ in 2024. De La Cruz hit 21 homers this past season but only with a .233/.271/.384 slash line in 622 combined PA with the Marlins and Pirates. The bulk of the struggles came after Pittsburgh acquired De La Cruz at the trade deadline, as De La Cruz hit only .200/.220/.294 in 168 PA with his new team.
The dropoff was so drastic that the Pirates opted to non-tender De La Cruz rather than pay him a projected $4MM salary in the first of three arbitration-eligible seasons. Given those three years of control and the fact that the Bucs gave up two prospects for De La Cruz at the deadline, it would’ve been understandable if the Pirates had kept De La Cruz around for another look, yet the $4MM price tag and his sub-replacement level play made the non-tender a justifiable call.
De La Cruz has essentially been a power-only player to this point in his career, and he has had consistently solid hard-contact numbers. However, making contact has been a struggle since De La Cruz has a 25% career strikeout rate, and he doesn’t often take walks. De La Cruz has experience at all three outfield positions and he has a good throwing arm but is considered a middling defender at best.
The non-guaranteed nature of the contract means that the Braves lose nothing by seeing what De La Cruz can do in Spring Training. If he can get himself on track at the plate and more consistently translate his power into steady production, the Braves suddenly have a controllable outfielder in the fold through the 2027 season. De La Cruz has two minor league option years remaining, adding more flexibility to Atlanta’s decision-making about whether or not to deploy him on the active roster.
The Braves’ need for outfield help is no secret. Ronald Acuna Jr.’s recovery from a torn ACL could stretch well into May, Jarred Kelenic wasn’t particularly productive in his first season in Atlanta, and Jorge Soler (though mostly a DH) was traded to the Giants in a salary dump right at the outset of the offseason. De La Cruz could ideally pair with Kelenic in a platoon in left field once Acuna is back, and perhaps might be viewed as a starter capable of holding the fort in right field in Acuna’s absence. That said, De La Cruz’s contract certainly won’t preclude the Braves from continuing to seek out a more clear-cut starting outfield option in the coming months.