Even on a sleepy pre-Thanksgiving Sunday, the Braves found a way to make minor news by signing Joel Payamps to a one-year, $2.25 million major league deal. The Braves claimed Payamps from the Brewers late
in the 2025 season, gave him a couple of appearances before the season ended, and then outrighted him before the non-tender deadline, with Payamps electing free agency in response.
Payamps has bounced around a ton. He signed with the Rockies out of the Dominican Republic, but was released and caught on with the Diamondbacks, who DFAed him after four big league appearances in two years. He then pinballed around the waiver wire from Boston to Toronto to Kansas City, with a 2021 season where he had a good ERA, okay FIP, and bad xFIP. The next season featured another DFA and him adding Oakland to places he’s called home, with an okay ERA and a highly meh FIP and xFIP. He was then part of the Sean Murphy-William Contreras, and, well, the Brewers were quickly vindicated in their plucking of him from the Oakland roster, as he had a dominant breakout 2023. 2024 was okay but a lot less impressive, as he mostly served as a generic relief guy. 2025 was a complete disaster, though, with him clocking in below replacement, with an FIP way lower than his xFIP.
Payamps has never been much of a command artist, but that side of his arsenal completely fell apart in 2025. There doesn’t seem to be an injury-related underlying cause, and his velocity has held steady. His fastball shape got more generic in 2025, but it was pretty generic in 2023, too. His slider got a lot more horizontal break in 2025, but it’s not clear why that would either reflect or cause an issue. Instead, it seems like the Braves are banking on “better command, et voila,” which could be risky.
So, I’ll just throw this out here: will the Braves get what they wanted from Payamps at a $2.25 million guarantee, or will they end up cutting bait like so many other teams have done on Payamps in the past? After all, Payamps has kind of the unfortunate distinction right now of being a guy where every one of his past employers has affirmatively opted to move on — except, at this point in time, the Braves.
