The Braves opened camp in 2026 in anticipation of a full season for the outfielder/designated hitter. Jurickson Profar. He missed 80 games in 2025 following a PED suspension but was productive upon his return. As designated hitter Marcel Ozuna Outdoors, Profar and newly signed outfielders Mike Yastrzemsky There was plenty of runway for frequent playing time.
Of course, we now know that Profar is unlikely to play a single game in 2026. He is seeking another PED-related suspension, with the penalty for a second offender increasing from 80 games to 162 games. Profar and the MLBPA appear intent on appealing the ban, but there is no precedent for a suspension being completely overturned.
At best, Profar can only hope for a slight reduction, and that’s rare. right handed Michael Pineda In 2019, the suspension was reduced from 80 games to 60, but only after he presented sufficient evidence that the banned diuretic he had taken was not used as a masking agent for PEDs. Profar did not test positive for a masking agent, but rather for exogenous testosterone.
Assuming Profar’s ban for the season remains in place, Atlanta will have some decisions to make. The Braves have already shed a shortstop and two rotation arms this spring. Ha-seong Kim He needed surgery to repair tendons in his hand after slipping on the ice in the offseason. the right wing Spencer Schwellenbach and hurston world rep Both had elbow surgery to remove loose bodies and/or bone spurs.
The Braves are now without Profar, who they had hoped would get regular at-bats and build a solid .248/.358/.446 batting line (126 wRC+). He returned from suspension last year and had 355 plate appearances. The veteran switch hitter had a high walk rate of 13.2% and struck out only 15.8% of his plate appearances. He hit 14 home runs, 16 doubles, one triple and stole nine bases (on 11 attempts).
Losing Schwellenbach, Profar, Kim, and Waldreb before the halfway point of spring training is a tough way to start the season for an Atlanta club hoping to be in better health than they had in an injury-ravaged 2025 campaign. But if there’s a silver lining for Braves fans, it’s that Profar’s suspension will put him on the restricted list and forfeit his $15 million salary. Not only did the Braves relieve themselves of $15 million, they also saved $3 million in associated luxury taxes they would have paid to the league.
There’s no guarantee that Atlanta will reinvest all the money it’s currently saving. The Braves could rely on internal solutions to fill newly discovered roster gaps and then rebalance as the trade deadline approaches. While this is a defensible strategy, the counter argument is that spending some of the money on immediate additions increases the team’s chances of making it to the end of July as a contender.
While most of the free agent and trade markets have been picked up, there are a few options President of Baseball Operations Alex Anthopoulos could explore with an unexpected $15 million in salary flexibility later in the winter. MLBTR’s Tim Dierkes covered this topic more briefly in yesterday’s Mailbag, but let’s look at a few more possibilities.
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