ATLANTA -- Catcher Kurt Suzuki and the Atlanta Braves agreed to a $3.5 million, one-year contract for 2018.

The 33-year-old has a career-high 18 homers, and the Braves value his work with young starting pitchers.

"You can see the potential and a lot of positives coming out of this,'' Suzuki said. "It is only going to get better, and I am excited to be a part of that.''

General manager John Coppollela said the Braves intend to exercise Tyler Flowers' $4 million option for next year and bring back a catching tandem that ranks second in the National League with 29 home runs.

"I think at this point we would lean that way very strongly,'' Coppollela said. "When we brought back Kurt, part of what it was is he worked so well with Tyler. They are good friends. They work together very well with our young pitching, so it's kind of like that old saying, 'If it ain't broke, don't fix it.'"

Suzuki entered Saturday hitting .271 with 47 RBIs in 76 games and Flowers .283 with 47 RBIs in 91 games.