Don’t look now, but the Atlanta Braves made a move today to reduce their exposure to the Competitive Balance Tax (CBT).
No – seriously. That’s the (correct) assessment of MLB’s Mark Bowman as he reported on today’s re-signing of catcher Tyler Flowers.
Source: The Braves will bring Tyler Flowers back with a 1-year, $4 million deal. Because Flowers' $6M option was declined, he received the $2M buyout. So, he's still getting $6M. It's just an accounting procedure that allows for just $4M to count toward the 2020 payroll.
— Mark Bowman (@mlbbowman) November 4, 2019
This is a bit odd… more than just odd, actually.