Early Monday afternoon, the Atlanta Braves made a self-evident move when they exercised the club option on Marcell Ozuna and signed him for another season. It certainly seemed like Travis d'Arnaud would join in as well, especially considering it was already reported and assumed that d'Arnaud would also pick up his option.

Well, as it turns out, this was another one of those abrupt about-faces we've come to expect from the Braves this season. Travis d'Arnaud is now a free agent after the Braves declined the club option. Luke Jackson is also now a free agent.

As for Luke Jackson's option, that's no particular surprise. Jackson had a rough season on the mound in 2024 (125 ERA, 108 FIP between San Francisco and Atlanta) and the change of scenery didn't produce much magic in that regard. It's definitely surprising that the Braves are letting Travis d'Arnaud go since he was effectively Atlanta's No. 1 catcher in 2024 due to injuries and lackluster performance from Sean Murphy. Although this was not d'Arnaud's best season in a Braves jersey, he was still one of the team's most productive hitters that season and played perfect defense as a backstop.

It's definitely a bit of an odd decision and the only thing I can think of at this moment is that the Braves as an organizational figure will be starting d'Arnaud's age 36 season in 2025 and we probably believe that will see something similar to what he did in 2023 (84 wRC+) and 2021 (79 wRC+) rather than betting on him to improve his performance by Repeated in 2024. Plus, top prospect Drake Baldwin is waiting in the wings and basically has nothing left to prove in Triple-A after the season he just had. As of now, Baldwin would likely be the second catcher for the Braves, assuming everything goes well in spring training.

In any case, it's still a somewhat surprising move considering how certain the language has been around Travis d'Arnaud and the status of his club option. He will now test the free agency waters, and that could very well mean d'Arnaud will wear a different uniform for the first time since 2019 if he doesn't return via free agency at some point.