Potential Braves Free Agent Targets: Left Field
- Tyler O’Neill
- Jurickson Profar
- Mark Canha
- Michael Conforto
- Alex Verdugo
- Tommy Pham
- Jesse Winker
Left field was an issue for the Braves going into last offseason, and they chose to address it by taking a gamble on a young talent in Jarred Kelenic and added some insurance by bringing back Adam Duvall. The experiment with Jarred Kelenic wasn’t a total failure, but by the end of the season, he was completely phased out of the lineup. The same with Adam Duvall, who had a dismal 2024 campaign and might be thinking about retirement heading into 2025.
Unless the Braves feel like Jorge Soler can play in the outfield next season, which isn’t likely based on his defensive play this year, someone has to be brought in to compete with Jarred Kelenic in left field. There aren’t many marquee names listed above, but there are plenty of veteran upgrades.
O’Neill is coming off a huge year for the Red Sox in which he blasted 31 homers in just 113 games. He shouldn’t cost an arm and a leg and absolutely crushes left-handed pitching to the tune of a 1.180 OPS last season, making him an ideal platoon option with Jarred Kelenic.
Jurickson Profar is coming off a career year with the Padres, recording 3.7 WAR and an .839 OPS. It won’t be easy to pry him away from San Diego, but money talks.
Mark Canha isn’t going to change the trajectory of an organization, but he’s a veteran with a career .763 OPS that could provide some worthwhile competition for Kelenci in left field.
Alex Verdugo is a candidate that could be looking for a one-year deal in an attempt to rebuild some value and re-enter free agency next offseason after the worst offensive campaign of his career.
Tommy Pham is a veteran with a ton of postseason experience, and Jesse Winker has been a fantastic addition for the Mets, as New York continues their Cinderella playoff run.
Dalton is a perfect 4-0 in his career against the Falcons, 2-0 with the Bengals and a win with the Saints and Cowboys each. He only threw one pass for Dallas, but in the other three contests, Dalton was dealing.
In those three games against the Falcons, Andy Dalton was 55-of-81 passing for 740 yards and six touchdowns. Fortunately for Atlanta, the Panthers are a much worse team than any of those other three.
Since taking over for Bryce Young, Dalton owns a 1-2 record as a starter with a 65.1% completion percentage, 675 yards, five touchdowns and two interceptions.
The veteran signal caller completed 18-of-28 passes but for only 136 yards and an interception last week, good for a 61.0 passer rating. In Dalton’s first two starts, he averaged 170 yards a game, with five touchdowns and one interception.
The Falcons, on the other hand, have had mixed results on defense. They haven’t been able to stop the run at any point, with opposing offenses averaging nearly 150 yards per game, ranking near the bottom of the league. Jimmy Lake’s defense has allowed opposing passers to complete a league-best 74.34% of passes, even though they’re only allowing 187.4 passing yards per game.
The Falcons don’t give up a lot of pass yards because offenses can just run down their throat. Against a run-heavy Panthers offense, they’ll have their hands full. It’ll be one of those games that Falcons fans expect to win but they might be surprised how much fight the Panthers have on Sunday.
