The Atlanta Braves have signed free agent reliever Will Smith in the first major free-agent signing of the off-season. The price-tag: $39 million over three years. Smith was arguably the best reliever available in free agency and may have been of interest to the St. Louis Cardinals. But the Braves say Mark Melancon will still be the team’s ninth-inning guy.
That’s right, the Braves now have a guy with 48 saves the last two years, who went to All-Star game in 2019, as their eighth inning guy. Smith was 6-0 with a tight 2.