Former World Series-winning catcher signs with Braves

The Braves have signed catcher Sandy Leon and right-hander Jackson Stephens to minor league contracts, as per the MLB.com bio pages for both players.  For Stephens, he returns to the organization after rejecting an outright assignment in favor of free agency earlier this week.

Leon’s addition seems like a pure depth move for the Braves with Sean Murphy on the 10-day injured list.  Since there usually isn’t a set timeline for oblique injuries, it isn’t yet known when Murphy might be back in action, so signing Leon gives Atlanta a bit more flexibility at Triple-A Gwinnett.  Travis d’Arnaud and Chadwick Tromp are handling catching duties on the big league roster, and Sebastian Rivero was the only catcher on the Gwinnett roster with any prior MLB experience.

The 35-year-old Leon has played in each of the last 12 Major League seasons, suiting up for six different teams.  Leon has also been part of the Reds and Royals organizations without seeing any regular-season playing time, as Leon took part in Kansas City’s training camp this past spring after being signed to a minors deal.  The Royals decided they had enough catching depth and released Leon back on March 23, so it didn’t take long for Leon to land another opportunity.

Defense and game-calling has long been Leon’s calling card, allowing him to carve out a long career as a part-timer and backup catcher despite a .208/.276/.311 slash line over 1729 career plate appearances.  He won a World Series ring with the 2018 Red Sox and appeared in 21 games for another championship just last season with the Rangers, though Leon spent most of 2023 with the Triple-A affiliates of the Rangers and Guardians.

Stephens was first outrighted off a 40-man roster back in 2019 when he was a member of the Reds, and he has since had the ability to reject any other outright assignment in favor of free agency.  Since he is now out of minor league options, Stephens has bounced on and off Atlanta’s 40-man multiple times since first joining the team during the 2021-22 offseason, opting for free agency and then returning after some period of time on a new contract.  Last November, Stephens again opted for free agency before re-signing on a split contract with the Braves, and it isn’t known if this new deal is also a split arrangement or if it’s just a straight minor league pact.

Stephens posted a 4.83 ERA over 63 1/3 innings with the Reds from 2017-18, then spent the next three seasons pitching in the minors, the Mexican League, and on the sidelines altogether due to the canceled 2020 minor league campaign.  He resurfaced after signing with the Braves and has a respectable 3.56 ERA, 20.2 percent strikeout rate, and 9.8% walk rate in 65 2/3 frames since the start of the 2022 season.  Thirty-nine of Stephens’ 44 Atlanta appearances took place in 2022, as the righty spent a lot of last year either in the minors or in DFA/free-agent limbo.