Braves exercise contract options for Hudson, McCann and Maholm

The Braves announced on Tuesday that they would exercise contract options for Tim Hudson, Brian McCann and Paul Maholm for the 2013 season. Dave O’Brien of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution broke the news on Twitter and commented on the implications for the team’s roster:

#Braves just announced they're picking up all three options on McCann, Hudson and Maholm for 2013. No surprise.—
David O'Brien (@ajcbraves) October 30, 2012

Add the $27.5M commited to those 3 to returners and arb-eligibles, it should leave about $25M to get a CF and LF or 3B—
David O'Brien (@ajcbraves) October 30, 2012

Hudson’s option was worth $9 million, Maholm $6.5 million and McCann’s $12 million, according to the AJC’s Mark Bowman.

While it has long been assumed that Hudson and Maholm would return, there was at least some reason to wonder about McCann, who could miss the first month of next season while recovering from right shoulder surgical procedure he underwent two weeks ago.

McCann certainly did not look like himself as he hit .230 with 20 home runs and a .698 OPS this past season. Still the Braves certainly took notice of the fact that he was able to produce this much power while being limited by constant right shoulder discomfort.

Hudson, who has been with the team since 2005, has indicated that he would like to finish his career in Atlanta. He was 16-7 with a 3.62 ERA last season. Maholm was 4-5 with a 3.54 ERA with the Braves after being traded by the Cubs in July.