The Braves have sent left-hander Danny Young outright to Triple-A Gwinnett, according to his transactions tracker at MLB.com. That indicates he cleared waivers after being designated for assignment last week.

Since he has a previous career outright, Young has the right to reject this assignment and elect free agency, but he may not do so. Since he has less than five years of big league service time, he would have to forfeit his remaining salary commitments in exercising that right. He signed a split deal with Atlanta in the offseason, a pact that pays him a $925K salary in the majors and $400K in the minors, according to MLBTR’s Payroll Tracker. That latter number is more than ten times higher than the minimum salary for Triple-A players, which is $35,800.

He could walk away from the money left on his deal and see what other opportunities are out there but he would likely be limited to minor league offers, since he just cleared waivers. If he stays, he could keep collecting his minor league salary for a few more weeks. He would be eligible for free agency at season’s end if not added back to the 40-man roster before then.

Young was with the Mets in 2025 but required Tommy John surgery in May. The Mets non-tendered him at season’s end, which sent him to free agency. Atlanta signed him while he was still recovering but hoped he could help them out once he was fully healthy again.

That hasn’t panned out. Young came off the injured list July 3 and made 16 appearances with an 8.03 earned run average before being designated for assignment last week. His strikeout and walk rates were close to average but he walked 13 of the 65 batters he faced, an awful 20% clip. Two of those walks were intentional but he also hit three batters and threw a wild pitch.

Assuming Young reports to Gwinnett, he can try to get back on track in a lower-pressure environment. Before this season, he tossed 60 2/3 innings in the majors with a 4.01 ERA, 29% strikeout rate, 9.3% walk rate and 53.3% ground ball rate.

Photo courtesy of John Jones, Imagn Images