Atlanta Braves sign R.A. Dickey to one-year contract (Updated)

The Atlanta Braves have been very vocal about their collective desire to add starting pitching during the off-season and, on Thursday morning, the team broke its own news with another piece of that puzzle. Long-time MLB starter R.A. Dickey will be joining the rotation for the 2017 season, with a club option for the 2018 campaign.

At this early stage, financial terms were not disclosed by the team, but this is an interesting move. Dickey is 42 years old and, more importantly, he is a knuckle-baller that could create some uncertainty when it comes to the catching position. Furthermore, the Braves already made an investment in Josh Collmenter, leaving room for speculation as to just how aggressive the team will be elsewhere.

The veteran right-hander has completed seven consecutive seasons with at least 169 innings pitched, including a stretch of five straight campaigns (one of which was a Cy Young-winning performance with the Mets in 2012) in which he exceeded 208 innings. With that in mind, Dickey fits the mold of an innings-eater that the Braves can rely on, even if the baseline of his overall performance (4.46 ERA, 5.03 FIP with the Toronto Blue Jays in 2016) may not be terribly high at this stage in his career.

There will be other shoes to drop and further analysis on this move in the near future, but for now, the Atlanta Braves have another veteran option for the 2017 starting rotation.

UPDATE:

Looks like $8 million guarantee for Dickey with a $500K buyout in 2018