The Braves announced Monday that they’ve signed veteran catcher Manny Pina to a two-year contract worth $8MM. (Atlanta is one of the few organizations that publicly discloses financial terms.) Pina will earn $3.5MM in 2022 and $4.5MM in 2023. The contract also has a $4MM club option for the 2024 season, which does not come with a buyout. Pina is a client of Rep 1 Baseball.
It’s at least a moderate surprise to see Atlanta ink another catcher. The Braves already extended veteran Travis d’Arnaud on a two-year, $16MM contract late in the season, giving them a veteran option to provide a bridge to up-and-coming prospects William Contreras and Shea Langeliers. With Pina now on board, both Contreras and Langeliers have veteran roadblocks in their way on the big league roster.
Langeliers, who has just five games of Triple-A ball under his belt, likely wouldn’t have been an option until late in the 2022 season at the very earliest anyhow, but Contreras has already gotten his feet wet in the Major Leagues and seemed to be a candidate to break camp with the team behind d’Arnaud next year. The addition of Pina, on a two-year deal no less, makes that alignment unlikely anytime in the near future — unless the Braves opt to carry three catchers on the roster (which seems possible with the likely addition of a designated hitter in the National League). The added organizational depth, however, protects the Braves in the event of another injury to d’Arnaud and also frees the front office to at least be more open to trade scenarios involving their young backstops this winter.
In Pina, Atlanta is adding a well-regarded defensive catcher who has some pop in his bat but struggled to hit for average this past season, albeit due to a fluky low .162 average on balls in play. The 34-year-old Pina (35 next June) hit .189/.293/.439 with a career-high 13 home runs in 208 plate appearances this past season. Since establishing himself as the backup catcher with the Brewers back in 2016, he’s given Milwaukee 1209 plate appearances of .245/.314/.415 offense.
With the glove, Pina has been credited with a whopping 38 Defensive Runs Saved through just 2407 innings over the six-year run with the Brew Crew. He consistently draws plus framing marks and boasts a massive 35% caught-stealing rate, which is well north of the league average of 28% over the course of his MLB career.
Pina’s $3.5MM salary next season brings the Braves to $80.5MM in guaranteed contracts to seven players, plus a projected slate of $49.9MM in arbitration salaries, per MLBTR contributor Matt Swartz. Of course, that number doesn’t include franchise icon Freddie Freeman, who has been extended an $18.4MM qualifying offer he’s sure to reject. Freeman is a free agent for the first time in his illustrious career, but the Braves figure to make a strong push to retain him even after he fields interest from other clubs around the league.
This past season’s $131.4MM Opening Day payroll was a franchise record, but president of baseball operations Alex Anthopoulos has already indicated that ownership will increase that figure for the 2022 season.
Photo courtesy of Imagn/USA Today Sports.
Smart move, good backup C
Good signing. Calls a solid game, good guy. Glad he got some money. We will miss him here in MIL but glad he’s on a good club.
What’s his caught SBs like? Need someone to counter to d’Arnaud’s allowed thievery.
35% I read
“I dont feel so good” – William Contreras
Braves can trade William Contreras to Cubs. His brother can work with him until mid-season when the Cubs trade Wilson.
if anything, it’s good news for Contreras if he gets traded to a team that will give him an opportunity to play everyday in the ML
Well that sucks. I thought he’d only sign elsewhere for a starting gig (with starting catcher money)
Opening the door for a Bryan Reynolds trade involving Waters, Contreras & Muller
@SBN: I was thinking roughly the same thing.
I wish MLB would come to a damn decision about Ozuna.
Right? They’ve only had like 6 or 7 months to figure it out.
That package will not get Reynolds.
throw in pache. Give them all the used toys!
It’s a fine starting point. Two up-the-middle defenders and a rotation arm are a nice haul for a rebuilding team. I realize the three players are prospects, but if the Pirates are inclined to move Reynolds, that package should get their attention.
It’s really hard to say that without knowing the pirates’ internal valuations. I personally don’t think it’s that far off especially when you consider how attenuated Pitt is from fielding a winning team, relative cost of the players (Reynolds will make real money when he hits arb), and those three are all in the Braves’ top 4 prospects
I think that’s a huge overpay for Reynolds personally. He had had two decent big league seasons, but that was sandwiched around a complete disaster year. His adjusted OPS+ was 10th in the league this year, so I get he had a really good year, but that track record just isn’t there. He has no speed and his defensive metrics put him as a slightly below league average center fielder defensively. They actually put him as a corner OF, and almost certainly LF due to lack of arm strength.
You are not talking about a guy who is hitting 27 and has been an above average player for four to five seasons. You are talking about a guy with about the same value as Nate McLouth. Maybe a smidge better offensively, but with worse defense and baserunning. And this is not the same age as the McLouth age, as prospects are valued more now due to the COVID financial impact to clubs.
With Stallings in place and #1 pick Davis on the way, I am not sure Contreras has nearly as much draw for the Pirates as he would have 1 year ago. It does open him up as a trade candidate but I don’t see a match with the Pirates.
Heard David could be moved to 3rd
But I also read somewhere the Pirates/Braves were real close to a deal for Reynolds but their reluctance to include Contreras nixed the deal and they winded up with the Rodriguez/Wilson trade
AA was reluctant to move Contreras because they would have no depth at catcher but the Pirates really wanted him
Waters, Pache, Wright and Muller would do it.
Pache has historically been untouchable. Folks underestimate the value of a CFer-especially a controllable one with elite defense. Of the bats .235 he still adds value. Veteran CFers are generally just not available via FA.
They’re not gonna do that. That’s 4 essentially ML ready prospects. That’s like teixiera territory
Pache, Contreras, Wright and Muller for Reynolds? The Braves need to clear some 40-man slots anyway.
Too much to pay for one guy.
The Pirates would be dumb not to take that deal.
The Pirates have better prospects coming up.
They’re not going to lose them in the Rule 5 draft for those guys.
@ Sammy
Ridiculous comment. The Pirates have a good system but there is so much junk on that 40 man roster that they can clear out. All 4 of those guys make the 40 man without blinking.
Bhambrave, that is WAAAAY TOOO MUCH for Reynolds, regardless how solid of a player Reynolds is, he isn’t worth all that prospect/player capital…
I’d go Waters, Touki, Contreras, and maybe Tucker Davidson.
That’s two ML ready/AAA top 100 prospects, one very talented young and controllable SP that could use a change of scenery, and one cost controlled young and talented ML ready LHSP in Davidson with a high floor as a #4/#5, but could also be a steady #3 that’ll eat up innings..
Reynolds was one of the best players in baseball last year. That deal wouldn’t do it for the Pirates.
Then they should keep him, Maybe the Yankees or the Dodgers will pay that much.
The Pirates don’t make that trade
The Braves wouldn’t let that trade happen, Too much
Pick someone else, I really want to keep Muller…lol
I’m with you 88. I love Reynolds but both of the Braves best 2 position player prospects + the best pitching prospect is too much for one player. I think Muller can be a TOR caliber ace one day and Waters and Pache could be all stars. If Pache were in the majors today Nolan Arenado would never win another platinum glove. The worst case scenario for Pache is he becomes the Andrelton Simmons of center field. Let them keep Reynolds at that price.
This isn’t the 90’s anymore. Owners watched too many of their prospects get traded and become long term superstars just so they could have some guy with a bigger name at the time for a few years.
Don’t play the guessing game. If you keep them all you will keep your stars. Only trade the prospects when you truly believe they will never turn out as well as the guy you are getting in exchange.
Remember Wainwright for 1 season of JD Drew? Remember all the Braves gave up for 2 meaningless half seasons of Mark Texiera? Pointless. Now remember when the Tigers were dumb enough to say “he’s just a prospect” and trade the Braves John Smoltz?
Guys like Kyle Wright and Williams Contreras are okay to let go even if you throw in Touki Tuossaint, Braden Shewmake and Sean Newcomb. Once you start asking for Waters, Pache and Muller or Davidson you better just be picking 1 and the guy has to be a star in return. Those guys all look like they will be solid. 1 player isn’t worth all that.
@The Mets “Missed WAR” I agree fully
I completely agree with you 110% Mets “Missed WAR.”
The Braves don’t operate like the Yankees or Dodgers, etc. they cannot afford to miss on big trades, especially not with that absurd plethora of a package mentioned earlier..
Yes, to get talent you have to give up talent, and I like both Waters and especially Pache, but they also have Michael Harris coming up, that looks like a future All-Star…
I think they could trade Waters, Contreras, and/or Davidson for the right player(s), but it has to be the right deal, the right player, and he has to be controllable at a decent rate for a few years as well.
If that deal doesn’t present itself, then they work through free agency on short-term deals, continue coaching up their rookies/prospects, and continue building predominantly with their farm system while filling in the edges and gaps with free agents or lower profile trades..
People get so enamored with prospects, following them each and every year, they think if a prospect doesn’t make the majors in 3 years and become instantly successful, that the player is likely a bust and the team missed their chance of trading him as part of some big fantasy trade they could have pulled off..
The facts are it takes TIME to develop prospects, and especially pitchers. You trade them away after two AAA seasons or after struggling at the big league level for a couple seasons, and you’re likely giving up WAAY too soon. For example, Kyle Wright. If the Braves would have just traded him off as part of one of the previous deadline deals (like most fans wanted to) the Braves likely NEVER win the World Series without his performance…
Baseball America’s new top 10 rankings for the Braves have Michael Harris and Shea Langeliers as the Braves #1 and #2 prospects. Pache slots in a #3 w/Waters at #6. For some reason they also see Muller as the Braves top pitching prospect—they rank him as #4 on their list. Imo, the Braves would be smart to trade him this winter while he’s got that kind of prospect value. Totally disagree w/your assessment of him as a future “TOR caliber ace.” He’s a one and a half pitch pitcher that struggles mightily w/maintaining his mechanics. Has to take too much off his fb just to get it over the plate. Likely ends up as a reliever. Trade him for something good before the prospect luster wears off……please.
The number of pitches a prospect can throw when they are young is the most overstated thing at that stage of the game. Learning new pitches is part of development and people act like if a guy only throws one or two now it will be that way forever. All that means is Muller got this far on only 2 pitches. Imagine how good he’s going to be once he learns more. Look at some of these guys in Japan. They take so much pride in the fact they have a “nine pitch arsenal.” Then they come over here and get shelled because they never figured out how to throw a single pitch well. Don’t worry how many pitches Muller has right now. That number will certainly change. He will eventually be able to throw at least 3 with a 4th pitch mixed in. That’s what MLB pitching coaches get paid a ton of money for. It’s very rare that a pitcher has mastered all his pitches before he even earns rookie status. That is true for Muller as well.
Because every prospect ends up w/3 or 4 ML quality pitches, huh? Hope you’re right about Muller. I’d love to see him turn into Randy Johnson. Just think that he ‘s at that stage of his development where he may have more trade value than on field value for a team that can’t afford too many iffy ML innings for all the solid pitching prospects they currently have. If Muller could be the headliner in a deal (along w/Pache/Waters plus) to bring back a solid ML of’er like Bryan Reynolds, the Braves shouldn’t hesitate to deal him—imo.
@ NashvilleJeff;
Here’s what I started doing years ago on the Internet to look up prospects:
Go back 1-5 years if possible and see who was ranked highly. If you can’t find it on the Internet, many large municipal libraries have hardcopy back issues of publications such as Baseball America. You also might find used copies of those at sports paraphernalia stores.
The Braves should not look at there prospects as a value, Treat them as future stars. When prospects prove that they wont produce (like Folty), That is when you trade them off.
Only mentioned the BA’s prospect rankings because Missed War referred to the Braves “best 2 position player prospects plus the best pitching prospect” in his reply to braves fan88’s trade comments. My point was that Missed was saying that Pache and Waters are the Braves “best 2 position players prospects.” They may be, but not according to BA’s newest prospect ranking. His assessment of Muller as the “best pitching prospect” does align perfectly w/BA’s ranking on Muller. BA has Muller as the Braves 4th best prospect—–the top pitcher in their ranking. Wasn’t clear on that in my reply to him.
James—The Braves should trust their own internal player evaluations and plan for prospect futures accordingly. Sometimes dealing a prospect off before he loses value by performing poorly in early ML appearances is a better plan than hanging on to every kid fans fall in love with. Players have 2 values to an organization. What they bring on the field (and in the clubhouse) and what they can bring back in a trade. It’s a business. It’s a certainty that the best organizations operate in this manner. See the Rays and Dodgers. Sentimentality doesn’t win ML games. Value does.
One more thing James. You don’t really believe that waiting to deal prospects until they “prove that they won’t produce” brings back the kind of value that trading a player before they fail would—–do you? Perceived future value is more valuable than proof positive past failure. Would you pay more for a shiny new toy or an old broken one?
JEFF- I would think that the Braves have done their own internal player evaluations and plan for prospect futures, That is why all of the players in these comments are still Braves, And IMO these players have moved on past the point where it is wise to trade them. Its just my opinion.
……and I respect your opinion James. Imo, the fact that these players are “still Braves” doesn’t mean they aren’t still prospective trade pieces. I’d like to see some of my prospect favorites be important part of Braves future rosters too. As fans, we all have our own “evaluations” of the teams prospects. Even though I’d be sorry to see some of their prospects dealt, if it meant that the Braves could get a solid ML player in return, I’m for it. I like the Hot Stove season. Lot of fun watching deals go down in the off season—especially when your favorite team pulls one off that makes them better.
And Jeff I think your right to a point. Seems like most of these guys just want to sell off the whole farm system just for a couple of players, Then you will end up like the stro’s or the nats with no farm. I don’t think that’s good for the team.
Yep, agree, definitely don’t want to deal off the best of the farm system in over pay deals. Guess I’m unrealistic in that I want a highly competitive ML team backed up by a strong, productive farm capable of filling the holes that inevitably pop up during the season.
Exactly
@ JAMES JACOBSEN and NashvilleJeff;
Nice discussion.
Broken record from me…….
To be a sustainable contender for years, a team must have a steady stream of young cheap quality players coming up from their farm system.
Always has been. Always will be. More so with long-term contracts where a team has veterans on their roster that are getting less productive but eating up a larger percentage of the yearly payroll budget.
Braves have a very good organization and POBO.
Absolutely Samuel. Balance is everything. Braves future looks good. Recent past does too………
Don’t worry about shiiite control and only having 2 pitches?
That’s ridiculous. The number of guys that learn how to consistently throw strikes and develop a legitimate 3rd pitch in the major leagues after coming up is small.
You’re talking like this is a done deal and shouldn’t be worried about. There’s so many more guys who never reign in their control or develop that 3rd pitch and wind up in the bullpen. That’s a very real outcome.
How much did they get back for Folty?
Was thinking the exact same thing
I guess this means the Braves aren’t signing Freddie.
Use Shea in a package to get Olson?
It was a joke, and I don’t think Shea is going anywhere.
I too was kidding.
God I hope you’re wrong.
@bham. I’m thinking the opposite. This is probably the cost of retaining Freddie. Trading prospects for some affordable young stars. I was hoping this probably wouldn’t be the scenario. But this isn’t a club that will spend $200 million in salary for 2022. People that think the Braves will have Freeman/Rosario/Soler in 2022 will probably be disappointed. It will probably be Freddie and a combination of guys like Pina (meh) and some young cheaper stars the Braves will trade for.
Very puzzled about this move. Contreras looks to be ready for some playing time and Shea certainly appears to be close enough that 2023 would have been a 3 way situation. Maybe Braves are certain there will be a Dh this year and will carry 3 catchers?
They had Kevan Smith/Jeff Mathis while Contreras was at AAA. The ship has sailed on Contreras and this signing is the breaking of the wine bottle during the castoff.
Pretty much.
Dude, he’s 23, Run. If the ship has sailed on anyone who hasn’t fully developed by 23 the farm system just got wiped practically.
Pina’s a strong depth piece. Insurance for injury and buys Contreras and Langeliers another year of much needed AAA development. The Braves could deal Pina after 2022. The 4.5 mill he’s owed for 2023 will be easy to trade (might eat a mill or so if they have to) if one of the kids pushes for MLB playing time. All the comments on here about the sad state of the Braves back up catching this past season are spot on. After little d’s injury, Contreras proved he wasn’t ready and the parade of awful fill ins the Braves had to use shortened the lineup to an unacceptable degree. The strong defense and good pitch handling of Pina will be ok in a lineup w/ a (hopefully) soon to be coming DH in it. Catching is weak across the board in MLB. This is a good preemptive move by the Braves.
BiG tRaDe CoMiNg! Don’t re-sign that lease, William.
Good signing. Contreras needs another year in AAA working on all his skills. A year that is in interrupted. He doesn’t need to sit in Majors watching. He will be good but he’s still young.
Contreras will be traded.
Contreras could also be a part of a package for Olsen, One can hope
Eh, Oakland has Sean Murphy and Austin Adams so they’re fine at C
Sean Murphy won the Gold Glove, Oakland doesn’t need Contreras
You can hope if you want. I want the Braves to give Freeman all the money.
Pina coladas all around!
This is a waste of $8 mil dollars. Is he worth that? Sure. Do we have better or just as good of options that cost way less? Heck yes! Its pathetic that baseball has come to this…. A catcher this bad costing this much? How silly has that position become. Those of you who say, “oh, it’s not much, depth piece”…. Well you wait, when they don’t sign a freeman, solar, Eddie or someone due to a bit of financial limits, is wasteful deals like this that build up overtime and could have saved us money to make these other No brainer deals an easy decision
He is a very good defensive catcher.
Not saying it just because he is named Manny!
1.3 WAR in 75 games is pretty good.
A catcher this good for so little. There. I fixed it for you.
He’s not good. Period..
Do you actually think this will preclude a Freeman signing? And defense first catchers are more valuable than you might realize. Look at the Stros starting Maldonado over Castro in the WS. This signing is fine-maybe a hair over face value at worst.
First off, made respect for the old school Braves name. Mad respect. 2nd, it’s not that I think this will prevent a Freddie deal. It’s more there will be a deal much more impactful we can/should make, and these wasteful deals add up year over year, ultimately preventing the Braves from signing someone to a decent contract. Minus Ozuna, which lord, that definitely is gonna cost us also
Decent chance Pina’s only around for a year. That’s only 3.5 mill for 2022. Will you feel better if they deal him before they have to pay him the 4.5 mill in 2023? Solid chance that happens. Braves made a ton of extra cash in the playoffs. Spending chump change on Pina’s a smart play.
I’m a Braves fan and I absolutely love this signing (as much as one can for such a minor deal). Depth is so underrated and was a major problem for us last year, particularly at the catcher position. This guy can hit a bit and appears to be an excellent defender. Not only does that make him a significantly better fill-in for darnaud when he inevitably misses time than the outcasts we had to use for much of this season, but I have to imagine there’s a great deal of value in being able to provide darnaud more regular rest/use him at DH from time to time. Plus we may even get to see a runner thrown out this season.
I don’t think it makes trading Contreras inevitable, but it does at least open up the possibility of using him to acquire cost controlled value without compromising major league roster depth. This is important bc, as people mentioned above (without knowing exact payroll limitations), the Braves are already up to 130 million, counting arb projections (last year’s record setting opening day payroll was 130). So, if the Braves do sign Freddie, they are gonna likely be seriously up against it to bring back any or all of last year’s deadline pickups. Trading prospects for cost controlled talent might be the only way to patch up the OF holes within the budget.
Also and just a side note in response to someone above: I certainly agree that the ideal objective is to maintain a vibrant farm system to replenish the major league roster. But it’s also important to acknowledge the probabilistic nature of prospects. The team will hit on some, but they will miss on others (likely a majority); and guys who have premier trade value right now will depreciate as a result. At some point, you need to have faith that your front office is able to somewhat accurately assess these players and exploit deviations between their assessments and other teams’ projections. Otherwise you end up just sitting on guys who end up not contributing when the alternative is to use them to address holes in a budget conscious way. We’ve kinda done this with newcomb, toukki, and others—I’d like to see them explore this other route. I bet a package built around Contreras, waters, muller makes Pittsburgh at least think about letting Reynolds go.
@bravesfan What a stupid thing to say!!
thought he would be BAL backup 🙁
That’s great but how about signing freeman?
That sucks but predictable. He was the longest tendered Brewer. Great behind the plate and tough to run on. Clutch hitting too.
@ Louholtz22;
Yes!
He’s an excellent backup Catcher. Handles Pitchers well, calls the game well, and plays fine D.
Under the Stearns administration the Brewers have done a great job working with, and maximizing Catchers. I assume they already have someone younger and cheaper to bring in and coach up.
Brewers top catching prospect Mario Feliciano (22 years old). Triple A with a cup of coffee last season.
Contreras is huge potential. I think the plan is to let him and shea Duke it out. Pina is a good backup since Travis tends to get hurt.
Can Manny play first in a pinch ?
I’m not sure if Pina ever played at first. The two reasons Pina didn’t get most of the starts was Grandal (one year) and Naverez. Both are plus hitters for catchers
Freeman ain’t leaving Atlanta. All you Braves fans just chill out. He’ll get his money but he won’t make them break the bank
Freeman will get his money, but the Braves won’t break the bank to sign him. There. I fixed that for you.
They will break the bank. But the Braves bank isn’t as big as some other teams
Bank’s a little bigger this off season than it usually is. Reported they made approximately 160 million in playoff revenue. If so, that number matches up nicely w/what FF’s likely to get for re-signing.
I sure hope so but the longer it drags out, the more uneasy I get. Freeman provides so much to the team. I get that some don’t want to overpay and get burned on the deal in the end years, but for me you give freddie whatever it takes to keep him a brave for life.
I mostly agree—freeman is such an anchor to the lineup, seems to possess strong intangibles and I suspect has a skill set that will be somewhat resistant to age related decline. Even if you were to tell me we acquired Olsen to replace him-there’s such a difference in terms of volatility. I feel like for the next 2-3 seasons you can pretty much write .290 30 homers in pen for Freddie. Olsen can surpass that but he also has a kind of concerning skill set, including a history of streakiness and some swing and miss with that long swing. I wouldn’t be shocked if he hit 45 bombs but I also wouldn’t be shocked if he went half a season under the Mendoza line if he slumped.
They could use TRavis at DH
Relax folks. You don’t sign a veteran backup C as a precursor to trading your prospect C. The youngsters would never be promoted as a regular backup anyway – they need reps whether that’s AAA or a significant number of MLB starts. Pina does not impede that.
Thank you for interjecting some reason here, Ted.
Y’all, they made this signing because Contreras isn’t developing starting 40 games at the ML level and TDA ain’t sitting on the pine.
Yep. Imo, Ted and Outlaw are spot on.
Just get on with it and sign freeman.
First Barnhart now Pina. Yanks are running out of free agent catchers to sign. Need to double our efforts to sign Yan Gomes, otherwise we’ll have to go the trade route. Was hoping to save players and resources to trade for Matt Olsen. As Yogi would say it’s getting late early in the free agent catching market.
Golly Mickey777;
They’ve got Gary friggen Sanchez!
And if they sign Freddie Freeman they can move Luke Voit or maybe sign Anthony Rizzo to back Gary up. Maybe BOTH! Money’s no object.
They do have to get rid of that Kyle Higashioka though – that kid can’t hit for beans.
Lefty Rizzo putting on the tools of ignorance to back up Sanchez??? Lol!
Yankees aren’t in the Catching market. Like it or not Sanchez is still the primary and Higashioka will still Catch Gerrit Cole
Well, they should be. A cinder block would stop more balls in the dirt than Sanchez.
If this saves us from having to see another Kevan Smith during the season, I’m all aboard.
After last season’s revolving door behind the plate while d’Arnaud was injured i would be surprised if the Braves didn’t sign another Catcher or two before spring training
Good signing by the Braves to sign the Met killer Manny Pina.
I remember the Mother’s Day Game vs the Brewers where he embarrassed the Mets with a walk off HR. LOL
Good signing. Don’t have to deal with him in the NL Central
Let Pache go. He can’t hit a lick. If the Braves had kept Duval in the OF instead of opening the season with Pache, they would have wrapped up the division by the All-star break.
Pache is just about the only one I wouldn’t consider trading. He’s basically a gold glove caliber CF right now. That provides a ton of value-they don’t grow on trees. If he doesn’t hit at all he’s still a valuable player and if his hit tool develops he’s an all star
Reassuring to see another catcher signing. Contreras seems to be the “Pache of catchers”, the hype is good, but living up to it, not so much. Having seen Langliers I tend to like him better, but that’s from a small sample size, and there’s the lack of ML experience. Given D’Arnaud’s injury history, a solid move.
It is too soon on either player to make an informed conclusion. Particularly Contreras-the amount of skills a catcher needs to work on/develop is extraordinary. I can’t help but think catcher development is likely slower than other positions and he is only 23
If there is going to be a salary floor then Pirates might as well keep Reynolds. Otherwise, I would want at least Waters, Pache, and Wright. William Contreras is interesting but not a guy you trade a star for. If I am the Braves, they have Acuna and Duval, maybe they just sign one free agent like Avisail or Joc. Jorge and Eddie are great but better suited as DHs and Ozuna will be DH after a suspension of maybe 80 more games plus games already missed.
I think the Braves will be pretty reticent to deal pache or Wright. Pache has immense value based on defense, and I highly doubt the Braves are going to draw too many conclusions from a bad three week stint at age 22. I also think they know that they’ve invested a lot of resources in signing and developing wright, who had an excellent season in AAA this year. I bet they are hoping wright to contribute as a starter this year, they’re probably also pretty reticent on dealing langeliers-I feel like they’ve identified him as their catcher of the future post darnaud. Btw I’m not saying they are correct in these determinations or that Pitt shouldn’t ask for them-I just think this is likely the Braves’ thought process.
I imagine they’d be much more willing to consider offering guys like waters (who is still a top 60 prospect but seems to have major question marks in his approach at the plate), Contreras, muller, Davidson, shuster, shewmake, etc. I don’t know if that would be enough to move the needle, especially with pitt taking a catcher first overall last year.
Wright enters next season as the presumed #4 starter, having finally realized the massive potential we’ve been waiting for. He’s not getting moved at all, and on the extremely off chance that it’s considered, it won’t be as the 3rd piece in a deal.
Why is Ozuna serving an 80 game suspension? Assuming it’s was a failed drug test. Didn’t even know about that.
Contreras would not be the first position player moved off from catcher. It’s common. I foresee him running into a flagpole in the outfield. Wait, that was Craig Biggio…….
The dude was a beast pitch framing during the NLDS. He was moving his glove a good 6-8 inches and the umpires were falling for it over and over. Maybe AA just got tired of seeing that and decided to eliminate any chance of it happening in 2022.
Those were some of the most blatant bad strike calls I have seen since the infamous ‘Eric Gregg’ game against the Marlins.
I see this as a decent signing by the way. I believe Pina actually still has options left. If so, that gives the Braves all sorts of flexibility with the catching rotation. Contreras is not ready and neither is Langeliers. The Braves know that, though for some reason many people here think Contreras was an automatic for next year.
They can now let Contreras get AB’s and more polish in the minors, but call him up for injury or rest breaks (10-day shoulder tightness go play golf for a week IL stint). Teams do it and the players don’t report it to MLBPA (outside of a couple of Dodger pitchers claiming they were not hurt and could pitch) because the season is long and they need a break every now and then. Every team does it to some extent, so MLB and the MLBPA are not stressing over it, but I wish they would just make it an official thing. With Pina and Contreras both with options, the Braves can stay fresh and the position, still get Contreras AB’s, and be fresh for late season. I also think the Braves value D’Arnaud’s bat as a potential DH guy a couple of times per week (his defense is below league average, but he would be a good low cost DH if Ozuna gets ruled out).
I absolutely do not think this is a logjam or a sign they are going to pull a trade. Does it give them some options, absolutely, but it doesn’t mean anything must be done. What it really means is the Braves finally have some options at catcher after a decade of no depth.
Pina Colada