Atlanta Braves Hot Stove Report: December 10, 2018

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.

Winter Meetings

Sunday was the official start of baseball’s Winter Meetings with the start of the baseball Jobs Fair and the announcement of the Veteran’s Committee Hall of Fame inductees (congratulations to Lee Smith and Harold Baines). They will end on Thursday with the Rule V draft. Owners will meet to discuss business strategy, agents with meet with front office executives to try to find places for their players, a veritable swarm of media will descend to winkle out any bit of rumor, but most importantly team front office executives will meet to lay the groundwork for, and some cases hammer out, trade deals.

Braves GM Alex Anthopoulos has indicated he doesn’t much care to do trades at the Winter Meetings given the fishbowl atmosphere of the event, but even so it’s likely that irons will be put in fires, which could lead to something being hammered out later. For example, last year the Winter Meetings started the Braves and the Dodgers discussing the deal that eventually led to Matt Kemp being traded to Los Angeles for a package of players that included Charlie Culberson and Brandon McCarthy.

While the trade market has been active so far, mostly thanks to Mariners GM Jerry Dipoto, this will truly mark the start of open season for free agency with many players preferring to have a new contract completed before Christmas. When it comes to free agency, this off-season has been slightly warmer than last year’s notoriously slow-moving market. Already some well-known free agents such as C.C. Sabathia, Brian McCann, Donaldson, Jonathan Schoop, Patrick Corbin, and Nathan Eovaldi have found homes; at this point last year, the most significant pre-Winter Meetings signings were Welington Castillo and Tyler Chatwood.

Braves Add Two Infielders on Minor League Deals

The Braves were not idle last week, officially adding two infielders on minor league deals.

Pedro Florimon was officially announced last week after having come to agreement with Atlanta several weeks ago. The 31-year-old Florimon has been up and down in the majors over the last 8 seasons, spending the last two with the Philadelphia Phillies, where he has his .274/.320/.444 over 125 plate appearances. Braves may most remember Florimon as the position improbably pressed into relief pitcher duties on Opening Day of 2018 as rookie manager Gabe Kapler ran out of pitchers due to pulling Aaron Nola in the 4th inning. Thus Florimon went into the record book as the first and so far only position player used as a pitcher on an Opening Day.

The Braves also signed 34-year-old infielder Andrés Blanco, who also just completed a stint with the Phillies. Blanco has hit .257/.320/.422 in 667 plate appearances over the last four seasons for Philadelphia. The Braves have already reportedly given Blanco an invitation to spring training. Blanco has a strong reputation as a positive clubhouse presence.

What’s interesting is the similarities between the two players. In addition to being teammates on the 2017 and 2018 Phillies, both are switch-hitters with little power but good defensive versatility. It is possible that both will be ticketed for AAA Gwinnett, where Sean Kazmar Jr. was the only rostered middle infielder, but they could also be insurance in case another team wants last year’s top utility player, Charlie Culberson, included in a deal after a breakout season.

Top 50 Prospects Bonus!

Before Matt Chrietzberg and I could even finish the OFR Top 50 prospects list, the Braves traded #22 prospect Ricardo Sanchez to the Los Angeles Dodgers for good friend cash considerations. Since there’s no longer 50 Braves in the top 50 list, here is the report on the new #50 on the list, sliding on after Sanchez’s removal. Never let it be said that OFR doesn’t give you your money’s worth.

50. Walter Borkovich, RHP
Age: 23 | Throws: R
1.47 ERA | 3.29 FIP | 34 G, 6 GS | 85.2 IP | 1.58 BB/9 | 5.88 K/9 (A, A+)
Current Assignment: A Rome
Acquired: MiLB Free Agent — 2017
Prior Year Ranking: NA

When a player goes undrafted after posting a 2.01 ERA in his senior season at a Division I school like Michigan State, the tendency among amateur prospect watchers (like me) is to wonder “what’s wrong with him?” A quick look at Borkovich’s stats points out a likely indicator: a 5.55 K/9 in his senior year. That’s not a mark that many pitchers can get away with in college, much less the pros.

Sometimes though it’s worthwhile to not dwell on the numbers, or the age, and just let a player’s performance speak for him. And in 2018, Borkovich performed spectacularly. Spending the first 2/3rds of the season in the Rome bullpen, Borkovich was an easy selection for the SAL All-Star team after posting a 2.08 ERA in 47.2 innings spread over 28 appearances. His strikeout rate still didn’t “wow” anyone, but the 47% groundball rate did. Borkovich was promoted to advanced-A Florida to start August and was immediately pressed into the rotation, where there was a need after Kyle Muller and Ian Anderson were promoted in succession to AA Mississippi and Joey Wentz continued to have trouble staying on the mound after back-to-back oblique injuries. Borkovich really opened some eyes with three starts of 5, 6, and 6 innings pitched without allowing any runs. Borkovich was returned to Rome to close out the month with the R-Braves heading into the playoffs and needing pitching help. In three regular season starts with Rome, he pitched 21 innings and allowed 3 earned runs. He was the starting pitcher in the deciding Game 2 of the semi-finals against Lexington and pitched well matched up against 1st-rounder Daniel Lynch.

Borkovich gets away without striking out too many batters by inducing weak contact with a sharp slider that breaks down and away from right-handers and a sinking 89-91 fastball that is his primary weapon against lefties. When he gets in trouble however, he can break out a mid-90’s four-seamer that surprises hitters. He also has a tight curveball that he uses like a change-up to give hitters another look.

Borkovich is the kind of pitcher that could actually put up better numbers as he climbs the organizational ladder. He rarely makes mistakes in the strike zone, and could benefit from higher-level umpiring. He did so well in the rotation that it seems like the Braves may leave him there in 2019, starting him off in Florida, but I believe he’s better suited to the bullpen where his pitch mix can play up.

Walter Borkovich video from 2080 Baseball

Rumor, News, and Innuendo

• The Braves filled one big whole in their dugout for 2019, hiring former Marlins, Orioles, Brewers, and most recently Phillies pitching coach Rick Kranitz to take that same job in Atlanta. Kranitz was surprisingly let go by the Phillies in November, and many Phillies pitchers expressed distress at the change.
• Late Sunday night, Fancred.com reporter Jon Heyman tweeted that “Braves seem to have Keuchel atop their wish list.” This echoes what the Boston Globe’s Nick Cafardo rumormongered last week, as reported in the Hot Stove Report. While I am a believer of the adage where there’s smoke there’s fire, this still seems like a stretch. Anthopoulos continues to show disinterest in long-term free agent deals, and it seems unlikely that Keuchel, one of the top free agent arms in the market now that Corbin signed with the Nationals, would be interested in such a deal. Also, Braves beat writer Mark Bowman of MLB.com tweeted flatly after the Cafardo rumor that “he Braves have not had any contact with Dallas Keuchel or his representatives”, a stance he reiterated this morning. Finally, Heyman has a reputation for carrying water for agent Scott Boros and his clients, of which Keuchel is one.
• The Braves have added to their already substantially larger front office, picking up former Orioles director of scouting Gary Rajsich and scouting supervisor Kirk Fredriksson. Both men were let go by the Orioles after a substantial shake-up that included the general manager and manager.
• Per AJC beat writer Gabe Burns, the Braves have “checked in” with both Seattle on outfielder Mitch Haniger and Arizona on David Peralta. According to Burns, Seattle showed an outright disinclination to deal Haniger at this time. Peralta may be had, but the prospect price tag appears to be higher than the Braves would prefer.
• Speaking of Seattle, the Braves apparently were also in pursuit of Mariners closer Edwin Diaz, but balked at the prospect price tag for Diaz alone. The Mets snagged Diaz by taking on the upside-down contract of 35-year-old second baseman Robinson Cano, and it still cost them 2018 1st-rounder outfielder Jarred Kelenic and two other well-regarded pitchers.
• The Athletic Braves beat writer David O’Brien indicates that the Braves remain interested in free agent outfielder Michael Brantley, but not at the reported 3-year/$60 million contract that Brantley is seeking.
• Catcher J.T. Realmuto is still property of the Miami Marlins, with the Mets the team most recently rumored to be actively in trade talks. The Marlins apparently want Brandon Nimmo, Michael Conforto, or Amed Rosario included in a package, which so far the Mets are resisting. Quite frankly, such a deal doesn’t make much sense for either team. I don’t know why the Marlins are asking for current major league players when they could get more bang for their buck by stocking their farm with high-upside minor leaguers in the A/AA level; likewise, it doesn’t seem to make much sense for the Mets to strengthen one area of their team while simultaneously weakening another. But then again, I’m all for NL East adversaries making poorly optimized trades.

Your Moment of Zen

Chad Sobotka struck out the side and cut the @Braves' magic number to four with this NASTY slider. 😳 pic.twitter.com/4MGwyewuTF

— Bally Sports South (@BallySportsSO) September 21, 2018