The Atlanta Braves and free-agent catcher Kurt Suzuki have reached agreement on a one-year, guaranteed $1.5 million contract that includes an opportunity to earn an additional $2.5 million in incentives, sources told ESPN on Saturday.
Suzuki, 33, is a .256 career hitter with a .683 OPS over 10 seasons with the Oakland Athletics, Washington Nationals and Minnesota Twins. He made the 2014 American League All-Star team for Minnesota.
The Braves already have Tyler Flowers, Anthony Recker and Tuffy Gosewisch on their 40-man roster, so the addition of Suzuki gives them a surplus at the catcher position that might necessitate another move.
The Braves' decision to sign Suzuki removes them as a potential destination for Matt Wieters, the top catcher on the free-agent market. Wieters has made four All-Star teams for Baltimore since 2011, but the Orioles declined to give him a qualifying offer in November and signed Welington Castillo to a guaranteed one-year contract in December.