Braves sign OF De La Cruz to 1-year deal

The Braves added a high-upside bat to their outfield mix on Sunday, signing Bryan De La Cruz to a one-year, non-guaranteed deal for 2025.

De La Cruz, who turns 28 on Monday, hit the market ahead of schedule when he was non-tendered by the Pirates on Nov. 22 following a tough end to the 2024 season. Despite getting off to a solid start with the Marlins, posting a .707 OPS with 18 home runs, his production tanked following his July 30 trade to Pittsburgh; he hit just three more home runs with a .514 OPS over his final 44 games of the season.

De La Cruz spent his first three and a half seasons in Miami, where he was one of the club’s few legitimate power threats; his 55 home runs for the Marlins since 2021 stand as the third-most over that period, trailing Jazz Chisholm Jr. (64) and Jesús Sánchez (59).

Despite the potential he’s shown in his young career, De La Cruz still has work to do to establish consistency at the Major League level. Although his 2022 campaign, in which he ranked among league leaders in expected batting average (96th percentile), expected slugging (94th), hard-hit rate (86th) and sweet-spot rate (100th), showed there’s plenty of talent to build on, his production has long been limited by a lack of plate discipline. He posted a career-high 30.1% whiff rate in 2024, and although his chase rate was down from 2023, it still ranked in the 22nd percentile (32.6%).

Although he has played all three outfield positions in his Major League career, De La Cruz is a more prototypical corner outfielder; among 2024 qualifiers, he ranked in the 88th percentile in average arm strength (90.3 mph on competitive throws) but ended the year with a career-worst -8 Outs Above Average.

In 475 games, De La Cruz is a career .253/.297/.407 hitter with 58 home runs, 208 RBIs and a 90 OPS+.