ATLANTA -- The Braves added more versatility to their roster on Wednesday night, when they signed Mike Yastrzemski to a two-year, $23 million contract.
Yastrzemski will earn $9 million in 2026 and $10 million in 2027. The deal includes a club option worth $7 million for the 2028 season, with a $4 million buyout.
To make room on the roster, the Braves designated outfielder Michael Siani for assignment.
Yastrzemski’s ability to play each of the outfield spots will give manager Walt Weiss a chance to regularly rest each of his three regular outfielders -- Jurickson Profar, Michael Harris II and Ronald Acuña Jr. -- by either using them as the DH or by giving them more days off than Atlanta’s starters have gotten over the past few years.
With Yastrzemski being the better defensive option than Profar, he might get a majority of his outfield starts in left field.
The left-handed Yastrzemski had an .809 OPS against right-handed pitchers and a .427 OPS against lefties this past season. Mauricio Dubón, who will also begin the season on Atlanta’s bench if the team can find a starting shortstop, had a .748 OPS against left-handers and a .602 OPS against righties in 2025.
This mix should give Weiss plenty of options when devising lineups and when needing to make in-game adjustments.
Yastrzemski, 35, had an intriguing second half to his 2025 season after being traded at the Deadline. His batting average and on-base percentage with the Royals following the trade (.237, .339) were nearly identical to his numbers with the Giants (.231, .330). But his power numbers saw a significant boost: The veteran outfielder hit 14 doubles and nine homers in 50 games in Kansas City, compared to 14 doubles and eight homers in his previous 96 in San Francisco. That resulted in a 145-point spike in his slugging percentage (.355 before the trade, .500 after), bringing his season slash line to .233/.333/.403.
Those 50 games were Yastrzemski's first in the Majors not spent with the Giants, with whom he made his debut as a 28-year-old in 2019 after six years in the Orioles' system. From his debut through the end of the shortened 2020 season, he played 161 games and hit .281/.375/.535 (136 OPS+) with seven triples, 31 home runs and 90 RBIs for the Giants and finished eighth in NL MVP voting in 2020.
Although he's never quite matched that level of production since -- he hit .227 with a .425 slugging percentage from 2021-25 -- Yastrzemski remained a mainstay for the Giants until the time of the trade and still leads the club in games played, hits, doubles, triples, home runs, RBIs, walks and runs scored since his debut.
A definite fly ball hitter, Yastrzemski's pull-side power played reasonably well even as a left-handed hitter at Oracle Park. Also notable is his long track record of strong defense in San Francisco, where he was twice named a Gold Glove finalist (2021, '24) spending most of his time in a challenging right field. Yastrzemski's 11 outfield assists in 2025 were also tied for third-most in baseball, trailing only Steven Kwan (13) and Jordan Beck (12), an MLB-high nine of which came before the All-Star break.