This is the second time Atlanta has taken Ragsdale off the waiver wire. The first came in mid-September, but the O’s reclaimed him about a week later. Ragsdale, 28 in May, just made his major league debut in 2025. He made two appearances for the O’s, allowing eight earned runs in five innings. That’s clearly a small and unimpressive example, so Atlanta is likely putting more value on its minor league track record.
Before 2025, Ragsdale was in the Giants system. He generally had a high-strikeout and high-walk profile. From 2021 to 2024, he logged 267 2/3 minor league innings with a 4.07 earned run average. He struck out 32.1% of batters while walking 9.8% of the time.
The Giants placed him on their 40-man roster in November 2024 to keep him out of the Rule 5 draft. Because his results were positive this year, they appointed him for an assignment at the end of July. That led him down the waiver wire to Baltimore, Atlanta and then back to Baltimore. He finished 2025 having thrown 89 2/3 Triple-A innings with a 5.22 ERA, 19.5% strikeout rate and 12.2% walk rate.
It obviously wasn’t a good year, but Ragsdale isn’t far from being a standout prospect for the Giants. On the way to 2025, Baseball America ranked him #17 in the system while FanGraph had him at No. 11. He still has some options, so Atlanta could keep him in Triple-A, continuing his development as a starter or perhaps moving him to the bullpen.
Walker, 31 in December, is a basic lefty reliever. His track record in the Major League isn’t particularly long, with 26 appearances over the past three seasons, pitching for the Mets and Blue Jays. He has a 6.59 ERA in 27 1/3 innings. His minor league work is intriguing, though. From 2022 to 2025, he pitched 131 2/3 innings at the farm with a 3.90 ERA. His 11.6% walk rate was certainly high, but he also retired 30.5% of the batters he faced during that time with a steady diet of grounders.
The left-hander bounced around the league in 2025, going from the Jays to the Phillies via a minor trade and then to the Orioles via waivers. He exhausted his last season of options along the way and is now out of options.
He has less than a year of service left, but the O’s signed him to a major league deal earlier this month. Salary figures have not been reported, but Walker will likely be paid at a rate nominally above the league minimum. The idea for the O’s agreeing to such a deal is that it would theoretically make it more likely that he clears waivers and sticks as non-roster depth.
Atlanta prevented that in this case. They had multiple open roster spots and used one of them to get Walker. For the time being, he also gives them an option for left-wing help Aaron Bummer, Dylan Lee and others. However, it wouldn’t be surprising if Atlanta tries to pass Walker off waivers down the road so they are the ones who get to keep him as a depth option without him taking up a roster spot.
Photo courtesy of Kevin Sousa, Imagn Images
#Braves #claim #Carson #Ragsdale #Josh #Walker