Atlanta Braves Hot Stove Report – January 21, 2018

Welcome back 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 week through the start of spring training as we sift though everything Braves.

Anthopoulos At ChopFest

The Braves annual fan festival took place this weekend at The Battery. Despite sketchy weather, Braves Nation turned out in force. Among the autograph signings, picture taking opportunities, and a uniform “re-fresh”, Braves GM Alex Anthopoulos held court to dish on the offseason. As you would expect however, there were not many hints as to how the Braves would wrap up the Hot Stove season.

Anthopoulos reiterated that the Braves were primarily focused on adding an outfielder. Most intriguing was that he indicated to reporters that there were three outfielders available via free agency or trade that would fit the Braves, one of which has not been mentioned in the typical rumor mill.

I am not going to speculate, but readers certainly can give it a whirl. What’s your suggestions? Here are what I think the criteria are for a player that is what the Braves are looking for.

• Would be workable hitting 4th
• Is at least average defensively
• Is either under team control at a reasonable rate or could be had short-term
• Can be obtained via free agency, or…
• Can be obtained in a trade of prospects that doesn’t include Austin Riley or William Contreras

Braves Linked To Dodgers Joc Pederson

One player that fits all of the above criteria is Dodgers outfielder Joc Pederson. The Dodgers have been rumored to be shopping the left-handed hitter according to the Athletic’s Ken Rosenthal, and one of the teams that have “checked in” on him is Atlanta.

With the Dodgers apparently in discussions to add free-agent outfielder A.J. Pollock, trading Pederson does make some sense for them. For Atlanta, Pederson would add a hitter who hits right-handed hitters particularly well in an NL East whose starting pitchers are heavily tilted to the right side (of current projected starting pitchers, the only non-Brave left-handers are Steven Matz and Jason Vargas of the Mets, Patrick Corbin of the Nationals, and Wei-Yin Chen and Caleb Smith of the Marlins). Pederson would likely platoon against left-handers, but the Braves have built-in platoon partners in place such as Charlie Culberson, Adam Duvall, or even super-utilityman Johan Camargo.

Pederson also is strong defensively, with plenty of range to handle spacious left field at SunTrust Park, allowing Ronald Acuna to move to right field where the team could better utilize his arm.

That all said, nothing appears imminent, and the Chicago White Sox are the team that seems to be more “in” on Pederson at the moment.

Sonny Gray Rumors End With Reds Trade

On Monday the New York Yankees finally traded right-hander Sonny Gray to the Cincinnati Reds. The Yankees packaged minor league lefty reliever Reiver Sanmartin along with Gray to acquire Reds second base prospect Shed Long and a compensation-round draft pick.

The deal was contingent on the Reds signing Gray to an extension, which turned out to be a 3-year, $30.5 million pact.

While the Braves were long rumored to have interest in Gray, and was rumored to have come close to acquiring the former All-Star in December in a three-team trade that involved the Texas Rangers, the Yankees likely extracted more value for Gray by allowing the Reds time to work out the extension. It is unlikely the Braves would have been interested in an extension.

Minor League Additions

The Braves have added five players on minor league contracts in the last four weeks.

• Just before New Year’s Day, the Braves signed left-hander Jordan Harrison. A late-round draft pick by Tampa Bay in 2016, Harrison pitched effectively for the AA Montgomery Biscuits and the AAA Durham Bulls last season, and will compete for a spot with either Gwinnett or Mississippi.

• Last week the Braves also added former Boston farmhand right-hander Lukas Young. Young was drafted in the 21st round out of the University of Mobile in the 21st round in 2017 and appeared in 32 games with class-A Greenville of the South Atlantic League last season. Young represents more of a project, with control-over-command stuff right now. He would likely be looking for a spot with Rome.

• The Braves also added right-hander Jonathan Aro. The 28-year-old was signed was originally signed out of the Dominican Republic in 2011 by Boston and got a cup of coffee with the big league Red Sox in 2015. He was traded by the Red Sox after that season to Seattle as part of the trade that saw Wade Miley also go to the Mariners and Carson Smith go to Boston. Aro got another quick look in the majors in 2016, but in 2017 he was slapped with a 50-game drug-related (non-PED) suspension. The Padres signed him as a minor league free agent for 2018 and he spent all last season with the AAA El Paso Chihuahuas. Aro owns a 3.14 ERA in 173 AAA innings and should be a strong contender for a spot in Gwinnett.

• On Friday, the Braves added right-handed sidearmer Ben Rowen, a former 22nd-round pick in 2010 by the Texas Rangers out of Virginia Tech. He made to the big leagues with Texas in 2014, but was traded the following April to Baltimore. Despite pitching well, the Orioles released Rowen from their AA team mid-season 2015 and he was quickly snatched up by the Cubs, starting Rowen’s tour of several organizations. He briefly was called up to Chicago, but was designated without appearing in a game and ended up being claimed by the Toronto Blue Jays, and he finished up 2015 with their AAA Buffalo affiliate. Rowen would end up being claimed the following year off waivers by Milwaukee, and he got his second and to-date final major league action, pitching in 4 games for the Brewers in September 2016. The next two seasons saw him signing one-year minor league deals with the Mets and the Reds respectively, but last year he was given his release by the Reds after 10 unimpressive games at AAA Louisville. Rowen ended up with the Sugar Land Skeeters of the independent Atlantic League to finish off the season.

• Last week I started my annual Braves System Depth series, starting with first base. It was clear that the Braves would likely look outside the system to add at least one first baseman, and on Friday they did so, signing veteran minor leaguer Andy Wilkins. Wilkins was a 5th-round selection by the Chicago White Sox in 2010, but has also seen paychecks from the Blue Jays, Dodgers, Orioles, Mariners, Rangers, Brewers, and Twins, getting major league plate appearances with Chicago in 2014 and Milwaukee in 2016. Wilkens will brings some left-handed pop to likely either the AA or AAA line-up, and has a good reputation as a defender and in the clubhouse.

 

Rumors, News, and Innuendo

• RHPs Mike Soroka (shoulder inflammation) and Darren O’Day (hamstring) and SS Dansby Swanson (wrist) all should be able to participate in spring training from day one according to Braves manager Brian Snitker at Saturday’s ChopFest event, though all three will be somewhat limited in Grapefruit League action early on as a precaution. O’Day was acquired at the deadline last year in the trade that also netted the Braves right-hander Kevin Gausman from Baltimore and he will likely step into the set-up role vacated by former Orioles and Braves teammate Brad Brach. Soroka is expected to compete for a spot in the Braves rotation.

• Anthopoulos indicates that the team and right-fielder Nick Markakis have maintained a dialogue this offseason, but the sides have not yet agreed to anything. It seems likely that the Braves would only be interested in bringing back Markakis on a one-year deal that may not guarantee him a starting spot.

• While the free agent market has been once again slow-moving overall, one area that has seen steady movement has been for the top-end relief pitchers. The exception is right-handed closer Craig Kimbrel. While there is no doubt mutual interest in a reunion between Kimbrel and the Braves, Anthopoulos does not seem inclined to pay a chunk of payroll to any reliever.

• At a season ticket Q&A last week, Anthopoulos told fans that “there’s one trade concept right now that 70% of the deal we would agree to, the 30% is probably where we are going back and forth. I don’t know if we are going to get it done, but the main piece of the deal I think we ultimately would be OK, it’s the add on.” Like the “three outfielders” comment, it’s almost impossible to guess what this could be referring to.

• On Tuesday there was a false report circulating that the Braves had reached terms with free agent Marwin Gonzalez, formerly of the Houston Astros, on a 3-year, $56 million contract. That of course would be a huge payout, and it seemed dubious from the start, and in fact it was denied very quickly by the team, with the tweet that initially made the claim having sense been deleted. While the Braves no doubt would be interested in the versatile Gonzalez, they certainly wouldn’t entertain paying him over $18 million a season.

• MLB Pipeline is currently running their Top 10 By Position Lists in anticipation of their new Top 100 Prospects list on Saturday. The Braves landed two players on the right-handed pitcher list, Mike Soroka (#6) and Kyle Wright (#9). The Braves got their third prospect listed on the third baseman list, with Austin Riley appearing at #3. While the Braves did not place anyone on the first base, second base, or catcher lists, William Contreras did get an honorable mention for the catchers. Shortstop and outfield are next up, with Cristian Pache a possibility for the outfielder list.

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