Welcome to the Hot Stove Report, your semi-regular capsule of all of the off-season news, rumors, transactions, and winter league action for the Atlanta Braves. Check in with us every Monday through the start of spring training as we sift though everything Braves.
Acuña In Japan
How do you know that Braves outfielder Ronald Acuña Jr. loves playing baseball? Well, you can just watch him play and it becomes readily apparent. Or you could listen to him talk about it. Or you can just realize that he never wants to stop playing it. Two years ago that impulse lead him to Australia, and the following year to Arizona. This year he agreed to playing on the MLB-Japan All-Star Tour Series team, currently making its way through a 7-game schedule in the Land of the Rising Sun.
The exhibition squad is packed with offensive stars, many of them from the NL East. In addition to Acuña, the squad includes Marlins catcher J.T. Realmuto, Mets shortstop Amed Rosario, and the Phillies Rhys Hoskins and Carlos Santana. The pitching however isn’t quite so star-studded however, and the Japanese national team has a 2-1 lead in the series after a 7-3 MLB victory on Sunday. The MLB squad defeated the Yomiuri Giants 9-6 in a one-game exhibition on Thursday.
Acuña has gone 3-for-15 while starting three of the four games, including a double against the Giants.
Kazmar Re-Ups for 7th Season in Gwinnett
Sean Kazmar Jr. has re-signed with the Gwinnett Stripers and all is right with the world.
The all-time Gwinnett hits and games leader and Valdosta, GA native, Kazmar is valued by the organization for his professionalism, an exemplar for young players. He’s also very versatile, able to play any position in the infield and both corners of the outfield, a useful player to have on the roster when players could suddenly be called up or traded with little notice.
The 33-year-old Kazmar hit .254/.296/.314 last season while appearing in 99 games, playing first, second, and third base.
Winter League Report
Arizona
The Peoria Javelinas went 3-2 this week to maintain the AFL’s best record at 18-8. The Braves contingent to the team continues to play key roles. This week it was outfielder Izzy Wilson bringing the lumber, hitting home runs in each of his two starts and going 3-for-8 with a walk. Wilson is only hitting .212 in limited action with Peoria, but sports a healthy .350 OBP and .576 slugging percentage.
Featured outfielder Cristian Pache had a tougher go of it this week. scraping up only 2 hits in 11 at-bats, but drawing a pair of walks. Pache also reportedly hit the wall hard going back on a fly ball on Friday and had to come out of the game.
On the pitching end, left-hander Kyle Muller continued his good work out of the bullpen, throwing a scoreless inning on Wednesday while striking out two. Fellow lefties Thomas Burrows and Adam McCreery also each pitched a scoreless inning this week.
Dominican Republic
Mississippi Braves infielder Luis Valenzuela is following a strong offensive season with the ‘Sip with a strong offensive season with the Águilas Cibaeñas. Valenzuela is hitting .348/.370/.435 with two home runs on the season and had a 6-game hitting streak snapped on Saturday.
The Braves have two pitchers in the league as well, both pitching for Estrellas Orientales. Right-hander Wes Parsons has a 3.86 ERA in 4 starts. In Parsons last start he allowed only one run but struggled with command and was pulled in the 4th inning. Right-hander Jacob Webb has been serving as closer for the team and has only allowed 1 earned run in 10 innings while striking out 14 and earning 4 saves.
Venezuela
Mississippi left-hander Ricardo Sanchez missed two months of the season with an injury, but he’s making up for some of those lost innings by working in his native Venezuela. Sanchez currently sports a 3.52 ERA in 5 starts and 23 innings for Navegantes del Magallanes. This week he had his best start of the season, going 6 innings while giving up only one run and striking out 5.
[SHAMELESS PLUG: Check out the updated OFR prospect list every Thursday in the month of November.]
Rumors, News, and Innuendo
- A week after reporting that Cleveland was looking to shed payroll, ESPN’s Buster Olney this week posted that the Chicago Cubs were “open” to trading third baseman Kris Bryant. Bryant reportedly never meshed with departed hitting coach Chili Davis, and as typical with Scott Boros clients has not been interested in signing a contract extension with the team. Cubs president Theo Epstein played down the rumor the following day. If Bryant were available, the Braves would seem to be an unlikely trade partner, given that Atlanta has Johan Camargo and Austin Riley already in house at third base, though Bryant could also play left field.
- The hot stove season got it’s first quasi-major trade this week, and if you had Mariners’ Jerry Dipoto in your office pool at the first GM to pull it off you got some easy money. Old friend Mallex Smith found himself once again property of the Seattle Mariners two years after being a part of the club for less than two hours after being traded by Atlanta in the Luiz Gohara deal. Smith was flipped to Tampa for pitcher Drew Smyly, who ended up getting hurt and not pitching a single inning for Seattle. Smith is coming off a .296/.367/.406 season with the Rays, stealing 12 bases. Smith may hit lead-off for Seattle, given the remarkable lack of production the team got from Dee Gordon last season. Heading to Tampa was catcher Mike Zunino, a strong defensive catcher with significant power but poor contact skills. Zunino was a popular suggestion as a Braves trade target in some quarters.
- Dipoto indicated that the Mariners will try to “re-imagine” their roster this offseason. I don’t know what that means, but apparently they will try to sell off short-term assets for long-term assets, which used to be called simply re-building, but perhaps I just re-imagined that. In any case, that set off a rush of rumors mostly centered around outfielder Mitch Haniger (unlikely, giving the four years of team control remaining) and left-hander James Paxton (more likely, given that he’s in his third year of arbitration).
- The annual November GMs meeting happened this week, and as usual there was not a lot of player movement. Teams and agents are still in the “feeling out” stage of the offseason. Look for activity to ramp up as the calendar approaches the November 20 deadline for teams to add eligible minor leaguers to their 40-man roster or risk losing them to the Rule V draft. Check back in this space next weeks for a detailed look at the players the Braves could protect — or lose.
Mailbag Q&A
Thanks once again to readers on the Outfield Fly Rule Facebook forum for questions.
Q: What buy low targets do you think the Braves should target this offseason? I’ll also throw in the James Paxton question: does he fit our team and what do you think it would take to convince Jerry Dipoto to let us take him off his hands? Any other Mariners you could see as a realistic trade target for the Braves? Also, general thoughts on the Braves performance in the AFL? – J. Manning
A: Four questions for the price of one, what a bargain!
In free agency, I wouldn’t mind the Braves taking a look at journeyman right-hander Nate Karns. Karns missed all of the 2018 season recovering from surgery for Thoracic Outlet Syndrome. Recovery from the surgery has taken longer than hoped, but he should be ready for action in 2019. Though a starter his whole career, I wouldn’t mind the Braves trying him out as a reliever as he rebuilds stamina. He likely could be had for a minor league contract and a major league spring training invitation.
James Paxton could fit pretty much any team, including the Braves. Paxton is a 30-year-old left-handed starter with two years of team control left and literal no-hit stuff. The knock on Paxton has been his lengthy injury history; he set a major league career high in innings pitched in 2018 with 160.1. Dipoto should demand a hefty package in return, and if he’s looking to “re-imagine” the roster with major league or near-major league talent, I would think a package of something like third baseman Austin Riley, right-hander Kyle Wright, and left-hander Kyle Muller would be a fair deal, though one I think the Braves would be loathe to give up.
To be honest, I don’t think the Braves and the Mariners match up particularly well on anyone, but there are two Mariners free agents I could see the Braves take a look at: outfielder Denard Span and right-handed reliever Adam Warren.
I have been pleased overall with the Braves in the AFL, with Wilson’s 2-homer week a highlight. I also like the quality outings by the left-handed relievers; Braves relievers overall had not faired well in the AFL the last several years. One player that’s struggling however is right-hander Jeremy Walker, who has a given up runs in bunches in his 5 starts. Coming off a strong second half with Florida and a dazzling AAA debut in his last start of the season, it’s a disappointing come-down. Hopefully he can string together a couple of strong starts to finish the fall season.
Q: Is Austin Riley worth holding on to, or do we sacrifice him in a trade to get an arm or a piece that we need on the field? – L. Rodriguez
A: I think very highly of Austin Riley. We’re still counting down the OFR Top 50 prospects, but it’s probably not much of a spoiler to reveal Riley is in the top 5. I believe he has the makings of a top-5 third baseman in baseball at some point in the future. The question is simply does the team want to cash in on that potential now for a more immediate return. One thing I would like to see the Braves do this spring, if he’s still with the organization, is give him some reps in the outfield. Though he projects as an above average defensive third baseman, it would be a way to get both him and Johan Camargo in the line-up.
Q: Should we sign an outfielder via free agency or trade? Or is it time to go the farm route and bring up a guy from our farm system? – M. Thornton
A: The Braves will almost certainly bring in at least one, if not two, outfielders from outside the organization this winter. Cristian Pache is a great prospect, but he should not be counted on to make an impact at the major league level until 2020.
Q: Should the Braves put Julio Teheran on the trade block or not? If so then what do you honestly think we can get for him? – J. Dale
A: The Braves should listen to all offers for everyone, but increasingly it’s looking like Teheran could get squeezed out by the younger pitchers. While it’s not imperative that he be traded, he should not go into 2019 assured he will automatically be a starting pitcher for Atlanta, which would be a disaster for him going into his contract year.
That said, Teheran likely has value around the league as a starter who reliably provides 170+ innings every year. Teheran improved on his career numbers against left-handed batters, and his second-half numbers (3.86 ERA, 70 inning, .186/.292/.318 batting line against) could give some suitors the feeling they may catch lightning in a bottle with him. On his own, Teheran could be exchanged for an established part-time veteran position player or quality reliever, even with the $12 million guaranteed to him.
Q: What’s your opinion for the Braves to sign Michael Brantley? – J. Lamb
I like Brantley as a somewhat more powerful and younger but less durable Nick Markakis. He would be a quality hitter for the line-up, but should be considered more of a complimentary piece rather than a true middle-of-the-order threat. I don’t care for the idea of adding Brantley and catcher Wilson Ramos, as conjectured by MLB.com Braves beat writer Mark Bowman this week. Which each player is fine individually, both have had a checkered medical past and I would prefer to have at least one of the two open spots in the line-up filled by a player with a better track record of staying on the field.
Your Moment of Zen
🕵️♂️ OZZIE STOLE A RUN 🕵️♂️
Watch @Braves star Ozzie Albies turn a routine grounder back to the pitcher into a crafty run home. pic.twitter.com/HGeDYNQ1ya
— FOX Sports: Braves (@FOXSportsBraves) July 6, 2018
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