Braves Send Depth Infielder to Gwinnett, Giving Hope for Star's Return

The Atlanta Braves made a roster move on Thursday's off day

Atlanta Braves infielder David Fletcher made three starts at second base during the injury absence of Ozzie Albies, who is expected to return tomorrow. / Brett Davis-USA TODAY Sports

The Atlanta Braves appear ready to get one of their stars back from the injured list.

Ozzie Albies, who was placed on the 10-day injured list last week with a fractured "great toe", as the team called it, has reportedly been working out without issue this week and appears poised to return to the lineup on Friday, when he's first eligible to be activated.

The front office is certainly acting as if that is the case, deciding today to outright depth infielder David Fletcher, who was called up when Ozzie went on the injured list, to AAA Gwinnett.

Fletcher, 29, started three games at second base in Ozzie's absence, manning the short side of a platoon with utilityman Luis Guillorme. Fletcher went 2-8 in his five total games of play time, picking up two RBIs. Both infielders were typically pinch-hit for late in games, with the other coming in for defense after the change.

But as we discussed last week, Fletcher may not stick with the organization. Getting enough service time during this most recent call-up to now have more than five years of service time, Fletcher now has the right to reject the assignment to AAA Gwinnett but retain his salary from the Braves. Prior to this recent call-up, being at four years and 168 days of service time, Fletcher could have rejected the assignment but would have been required to give up the remaining two seasons of his contract to reach free agency.

That contract, originally signed with the Los Angeles Angels, pays Fletcher $6M this season and $6.5M next season plus has a $1.5M club option for the 2026 season.

Per the terms of the CBA, Fletcher now needs to let the organization know if he'll reject the assignment and become a free agent or if he'll accept it and report to AAA Gwinnett. Stay tuned; this story may not be over.

UPDATE: Per Justin Toscano of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, Fletcher will be staying in the organization.

Clarity on David Fletcher: He’s staying in the org. He had an advance consent in his contract to be assigned to Triple A. Had he elected free agency, he would’ve forfeited the money. His five years of service allow him to reject assignments, but he signed advance consent.

— Justin Toscano (@JustinCToscano) April 25, 2024