The Braves don’t intend to take a long time deciding whether to bring up recent signee Jose Bautista, Michael Hoad of Sportsnet.ca writes. GM Alex Anthopoulos says that the club is “optimistic [Bautista is] going to have an opportunity to come up,” so it seems the expectation is that the former star will indeed get a shot. He’ll be looking for a return to form at the plate even as he makes a surprising return to third base after nearly a decade spent mostly in the outfield. But Anthopoulos did note that he hasn’t made any promises of a MLB promotion, so it seems that Bautista will at least have to show something to get a crack at boosting a Braves team that is off to a nice start.
Here are a few notes on some National League players who are already slated to move onto or off of a major league roster:
- The Padres have optioned righty Luis Perdomo, per a club announcement, with reliever Kirby Yates being activated from the DL to take his roster spot. Though he showed a good bit of promise last year, Perdomo has been tagged for 13 earned runs in 14 innings in his first four starts of the 2018 campaign. Though he has given up quite a lot of hard contact, the resulting .510 batting average on balls in play surely seems like an outlier. Beyond the performance considerations, the move helps the team manage a roster that has quite a few moving parts.
- Marlins pitching prospect Merandy Gonzalez is heading to the majors for the first time, as MLB.com’s Joe Frisaro writes. Skipper Don Mattingly says he’ll use his new hurler as a long relief option for the time being. Gonzalez is a starter by trade, and has some long-term hopes of working in a big-league rotation, but at the moment is appealing mostly because he offers the possibility of filling some innings and is already on the 40-man. Miami added Gonzalez in the trade that sent reliever A.J. Ramos to the Mets last summer.
- There’s nothing official yet, but Andrew Baggarly of The Athletic tweeted the “informed speculation” that outfielder Mac Williamson will join the Giants tomorrow. There are still some complications, but the 27-year-old has clearly played his way to a call-up. In fifty trips to the plate at Triple-A, he’s hitting a ridiculous .487/.600/1.026 with six home runs. Meanwhile, veteran Hunter Pence has managed only one extra-base hit, nine singles, and two walks in his 61 MLB plate appearances. It seems he will be headed to the DL with a thumb issue.
Why bring Bautista up when Flaherty is playing so well?
Because the more Flaherty plays, the more exposed he gets and the less effective he is.
Mstrchef13… not the most logical explanation I’ve heard. Sure, I think we can agree he’s playing way better than expected … but we all also know he’s not likely to maintain this path. Bautista really only seems to be a power bench option, which is something we lack incredibly
And the less chance he gets to ever improve or adjust. Take away everyone’s playing time so you can be 100% sure they won’t fail
Quick, sell the team so you don’t lose!!
Hunter pence is a bum
Hardly
Nope, just old. A critical component of two championship runs is hardly a bum. Father Time is gonna catch up with you some time, too, podner.
Not to mention the amount of punishment he put on his body. Another player that always give it his all and is never afraid to sacrifice his body. He may be unorthodox but Pence is far from a bum.
I love Pence but the dude has been a detriment to winning baseball games for a while now. Hoping this is a year long “thumb issue”.
yeah I mean a lot probably has to do with his spinal issue – I imagine that over time it has to be reducing mobility and putting more strain on the body regardless of how much effort he puts in.
Only took AJ and ANDY three seasons to realize Perdomo is awful. Sooooo I’m guessing we are in for three more seasons of Bryan Mitchell before they ultimately sack up and realize the same…. that they took on headleys contract for an absolute dud of a pitcher.
Must suck to be a padres fan
It could be worse. We could be Reds fans.
Who’s your team?
Dork. Come to San Diego for a few days and it will be like pulling teeth without novacane to go back to whatever suck-burg you’re from and team you root for.
He’s not talking about the weather,the beaches,zoo,or any other aspect of the area. Just that the Padres have a long-long history sucking.
San Diego, pretty sure Scholars still maintain that the translation was lost hundreds of years ago..
And had to get rid of Solarte in the process…
They took on Headley’s contract to avoid the ire of the union for not spending enough, which happened to four teams
No…. they took on headleys contract in order to obtain Mitchell. There’s really no way around that. If they took on headleys contract to avoid conflict with the union for not spending enough…. then they would have just traded for headley. Plain and simple. That’s not what happened. They took on his contract as part of the price for Mitchell, who they instantly anointed as a regular in their rotation. They signed hosmer to the biggest contract in team history, and were KNOWN to be in pursuit of him all offseason. The headley contract was not to appease the union for “spending money”. It was part of their play for Mitchell. There’s really no way around that
That theory is so dumb
Serves the padres right for poaching a guy from rookie ball, calling him a major leaguer and putting him on the roster. There should be major penalties for teams tanking and not making their best effort to win every year. No way he was one of the top 25 guys the year he was poached. Annoying seeing stats skewed by 1/3 to 1/2 of the teams pulling this crap every year.
Oh, come on. 1/3 to 1/2? There are like 4 teams “tanking,” and by far the best way to get better quickly is to find undervalued assets wherever you can. The Padres didn’t “poach” Perdomo – they purchased him from the Rockies, who selected him from the Cardinals in the Rule 5 draft because the Cards didn’t think he was worth protecting. The Padres made a calculated effort to get a good arm into the organization with some upside. It hasn’t worked out terribly well so far, but if he develops a third pitch he may become something. When you play in a division with huge-market teams like the Dodgers and Giants, this is the way you have to win. This is what the last two World Series winners did, remember?
I don’t think you understand how the rule 5 draft works. Contending teams add players through it who probably aren’t one of their top 25 players
Shut up, troll. You were saying this same crap last summer. If the Cardinals didn’t want Perdomo to be “poached” from then there was a simple solution: put him on the 40-man roster! And Preller isn’t nearly the first GM to use the Rule 5 draft in such a manner. It is how the Minnesota Twins got Johan Santana, for example.
U tell em Ryan
My question is why not Phillips? I feel like he has a higher floor than Bautista… Surprised he wasn’t signed.
While I don’t think Phillips is that great of an option, you are correct in saying he would at leaat probably be a much better choice than Bautista – esp if they seriously want to try him at third. JoeyBats looks beyond done with a horrible ageing line the last couple seasons
Which, didn’t the Braves try this last year with Ryan Howard as well? With serviceable longer-term guys still out there, I just don’t get what they are doing at all
They want a right handed power bat. Phillips doesn’t exactly fit that role. And Ryan Howard was a guy who the braves knew was never going to play a game at the mlb level. It was a cheap no risk move to see if he happened to have anything left.
Had to look it up for S&Gs because I was sure I remembered it, and sure enough, thats exactly what Braves fans were saying about the Howard signing. Things such as:
“Great signing by Braves! They need a power bench bat in the worst way”
Anyway, Bautista has lost 100+ OPS points the last couple years as he progressed past 35, and was down to .203/.308/.366/.674 last season. That’s just an 80 wRC+ and a 164 ISO. Phillips, who also bats Right, can run, and can actually play the position, batted 75 OPS points higher for the Braves last season, sporting a 97 wRC+ with a 132 ISO …I can’t imagine that extra 30 ISO is worth the 75 point drop in OPS and 20 point loss of wRC+ from a guy with no speed and who can’t play the position they are trying him at – and thats if he doesn’t see another big drop in production in now his age 37 season.
Tack on the fact the Jose is one of the most hated players in the league with a history in about every city, and you got yourself a real headscratcher
Minor League deal. $1M at most, if he makes the roster, which is not a given. AA knows this guy better than anyone, so why not give the guy a chance? Remember, we have a lineup regularly having a catcher or Nick Markakis batting clean-up. We could use an upgrade, if he isn’t the worst defensive 3B ever.
As much as I’ve appreciated what Flaherty has done, I don’t think it’ll continue to last. If Bautista is in shape and shows that he is ready, that’d be a great option. Remember, this is the same team that employed John Rocker and AJ Pierzynski – we don’t mind productive pariahs.
I’m sure you can get Chris Carter from the Angels for nothing – why not give him a chance instead?
I mean, he has a dramatically better shot of producing that desired power (not being 37, and displaying much more power recently, and all) and he too was once a 3rd Baseman (but again, won’t be trying to relearn the position at 37 years old) – plus, he comes with the added bonus that he is a pretty good guy.
The Carter idea might sound silly, but it’s honestly no sillier than what’s being considered here. That’s especially the case when true options are out there that wouldn’t involve this crazy experiment (case in point, Trevor Plouffe; who is also a FA as of a couple days ago – that would be a serious attempt to find such a guy, as opposed to what is actually taking place)
Chris Carter is limited to 1st base.
So is Bautista – you missed the point
Perhaps Phillips wasn’t interested in the Braves.
Pence has a “thumb” issue. Oooohhhhh Kay
I’m pretty sure Phillips has said he doesn’t want to play this season.
Pence has a valid thumb injury that happened like 3 weeks ago…. okay not valid but he did hit it 3 weeks ago
Pcl numbers are inflated
Reality is this. He is brought up for power at a low cost, nothing more from the on the field prospective. However, like Matt Adams last year, he will likely have his chance but if he doesn’t produce, they will go back to Camargo and/or Flaherty. They don’t view him as a long term piece. Riley is having an excellent AA season so far. He will likely be in AAA as some point this season. If he continues to produce, he will likely be given that third base job in 2019. He hits for power, so he is a perfect piece for them.
Now that will be interesting because that will pretty much eliminate Machado as an option. So the Braves will likely go for pitching and an outfielder.
Tucker, Inciarte, Acuna will be Braves OF after this year. No need to spend there, TOR (#1/2 guys) and bullpen (Kimbrel) should be focus
Preston Tucker? Don’t be fooled by the tiny sample size. He’s not very good. Career 4:1 k:BB rate and career line of 226/281/418 screams “replacement level.” the 57 ABs this season don’t mean anything against the larger body of work.
Yea, it’ll more likely be Markakis/Inciarte/Acuna, unless an injury or trade occurs, and then The Braves will likely keep either Tucker or Bourjous as the 4th guy.
If the braves have a chance to upgrade Markakis, they will.
If acuna and joey get starting jobs, i do love a bench of flowers or zook, tucker, flaherty, and carmago. I wish lane adams was around instead of bourjos but still that looks rock solid.
maybe Perdomo can go throw his glove and run away in the minor leagues now instead.
The DL is the Giants’ way giving timeouts in the corner, especially when it comes to Pence. I look forward to seeing what Mac can do.
Mac and Austin Slater both deserve to be in SF. Slater as a CF is better than anyone we have right now
Couldn’t agree more. This being overly loyal to the unproductive veterans nonsense is really starting to wear thin with fans who actually care more about winning than they do about players feelings.