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Braves Announce Roster Decisions

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1:02pm: Atlanta will also keep Chris Stewart as a third catcher, per Robert Murray of Fan Rag (via Twitter). The veteran receiver had signed a non-guaranteed MLB deal over the winter.

9:52am: The Braves have announced a series of roster moves that set up the team’s Opening Day, 25-man unit. Third baseman Rio Ruiz has been optioned while non-roster players including righty Anibal Sanchez, outfielders Ezequiel Carrera and Danny Santana, and infielder Sean Kazmar were reassigned out of MLB camp.

These decisions reflect some shifts in thinking over recent days. It had seemed that Ruiz would open up with a shot at third base due to an injury to Johan Camargo. But the organization ended up snagging Ryan Flaherty, who now is set up to get some run at the hot corner in concert with utilityman Charlie Culberson.

Likewise, Santana long seemed a likely candidate to take a utility role from the bench, but the recent signing of Peter Bourjos seems to have bumped Santana from the immediate plans. As MLB.com’s Mark Bowman suggested earlier today on Twitter, Santana (along with Carrera) can be stashed at Triple-A to begin the season. That’s preferable to boosting either player to the 40-man and perhaps then facing an early call when it comes time to add a fifth starter. Instead, Lane Adams will now likely take an Opening Day job, barring an intervening acquisition, though the out-of-options outfielder could now be vulnerable when the roster pressure arises.

Speaking of that fifth starter’s spot, it seems the expectation remains that Sanchez will ultimately ascend to the rotation. For now, though, he’ll be assigned to Triple-A. If and when he does come up, he’ll need to be added to the 40-man roster.

While this slate of moves allows the Braves to avoid any final decisions — since control rights have been maintained over all the team’s options — that doesn’t mean that some moments of reckoning won’t soon arise. As we discussed in our review of the club’s offseason, this roster seems primed to undergo a fair bit of turnover at the start and over the course of the 2018 season.

NL East Notes: Thompson, Ruiz, Gonzalez, Flores, Wheeler, Lugo

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It appears that the Phillies are transitioning right-hander Jake Thompson into a relief role, writes Todd Zolecki of MLB.com. Once part of the six-player return for Cole Hamels, Thompson has only made four relief appearances in his professional career (majors and minors included). Three of those appearances came last year, however, and he’s been used largely out of the bullpen in Grapefruit League play. Thompson says that nobody has directly told him he’ll become a reliever, but believes it to be the case. “They think the slider and split can work in short periods, miss bats and get ground balls,” Thompson said of Philadelphia’s coaching staff. “They’ve built up my pitch count a little bit, so if something happens I can still do both. I’m fine with it. Anything that can get me in the big leagues and stay I’d be willing to do.”

Other news from some of baseball’s Eastern teams…

  • It wasn’t long ago that Braves third baseman Rio Ruiz was struggling with a new swing and seemed destined to start the season in the minors, David O’Brien writes in a piece for the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. That outlook has changed dramatically, as Ruiz’ offensive output has been a lot more impressive over the past couple weeks. The 23-year-old’s uptick in production coincides with an injury to Johan Camargo, who’s set to open the season on the disabled list. Though the organization seems to believe Camargo can return as soon as he’s eligible, manager Brian Snitker left room for interpretation on whether Ruiz can stick at the position even then. ““Rio has worked his ass off the last couple of years. He’s getting better,” said Snitker. “You never know, situations happen, door gets opened and a guy doesn’t give it back. You never know.”
  • Mets manager Mickey Callaway says he doesn’t expect Adrian Gonzalez to play every day, and not even against every right-hander (h/t Anthony DiComo of MLB.com). That likely means more playing time for Wilmer Flores. “Wilmer deserves to play, and not just against lefties,” said Callaway. That’s not the only interesting comment Callaway made today, as he confirmed that Seth Lugo is being considered as a rotation candidate following an excellent Grapefruit League outing in which the right-hander struck out five while allowing no runs across four innings. The presence of Lugo in the rotation would likely make Zack Wheeler, who had another rough showing today, the odd man out. “”We have some big decisions to make,” Callaway said on the subject.

NL Notes: Brewers, Acuna, Braves, Ruiz, Marte

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The Brewers began the season with just about the lowest payroll in baseball, which makes the team’s charge into playoff contention all the more surprising, Tom Haudricourt of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel writes.  Despite spending far less on players than the other contenders, the Brew Crew entered today three games out of both a wild card spot and first place in the NL Central.  Here’s the latest from around the National League.

  • Braves youngster Ronald Acuna blossomed into one of the game’s best prospects this season, and Baseball America’s Kyle Glaser (subscription required) outlines how Atlanta was able to sign the talented and surprisingly unheralded outfielder in 2014 for a mere $100K bonus.  Interestingly, Acuna said that he was expecting to sign with the Royals before the Braves upped their offer to that $100K, and thus Acuna simply went with the highest bidder.
  • Rio Ruiz is hitting well in September and hoping to work himself into the third base picture for the Braves next season, David O’Brien of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution writes.  The rookie still has just a .604 OPS over 119 total plate appearances this year, largely due to a nasty slump that led to his demotion earlier in the season, though Ruiz feels he has improved his work both at the plate and especially in the field.  Third base stands out as a clear area of need for the Braves in 2018, though it remains to be seen if the team will make a veteran acquisition or if they’ll stick to the rebuilding plan and continue giving playing time to Ruiz, Johan Camargo or other internal options.
  • Starling Marte talks to ESPN.com’s Marly Rivera (also, here is the link to the interview in its original Spanish) about his life, career and how he is trying to come back from the 80-game PED suspension that marred both his season and his reputation.  The Pirates outfielder said he still doesn’t know how nandrolone got into his system, though ultimately, “it was my mistake” for not being careful about everything he ingested.

Braves Select Contract Of Tony Sanchez, Retract Announcement Of Micah Johnson DFA

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12:20pm: Although the Braves announced in a morning press release that Johnson had been designated for assignment, the team now tells reporters that Johnson has not been designated and that there was some internal miscommunication (Twitter link via David O’Brien of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution). Atlanta considered designating Johnson but ultimately elected to keep him on the roster due to the fact that they already had an open 40-man spot for Sanchez.

10:11am: The Braves announced that they have designated infielder Micah Johnson for assignment as part of a series of roster moves. Johnson’s 40-man roster spot will go to catcher Tony Sanchez, who was acquired yesterday in the trade that sent Brandon Phillips to the Angels.

The Braves have also activated lefty Ian Krol and righty Luke Jackson from the 10-day DL, while recalling left-handers Max Fried and Rex Brothers and third baseman Rio Ruiz from Triple-A Gwinnett.

Johnson, 26, was once one of the White Sox’ best-regarded prospects, but his stock has fallen in recent years. He was shipped from Chicago to Los Angeles as part of the three-time Todd Frazier trade in the 2015-16 offseason, and the Dodgers flipped him to the Braves for cash this past winter. Injuries limited his playing time this season, but Johnson batted .301/.391/.390 across three levels (mostly Triple-A — 36 games) in a total of 157 plate appearances. He’s a career .282/.341/.392 hitter in Triple-A bu has struggled in his brief exposure to the Majors.

Sanchez, meanwhile, is a known name due to his status as the former No. 4 overall pick in the draft (Pirates, 2009). He hasn’t appeared in the Majors since 2015, though, and has never enjoyed much success at the game’s top level. In parts of three seasons, the now-29-year-old Sanchez has totaled 155 plate appearances and batted .259/.303/.378. He’s hit for a respectable .272 average and gotten on base at a solid .355 clip through 70 Triple-A contests this season, though he’s scarcely hit for power (.374 slugging, .102 ISO, four homers in 284 PAs).

Braves’ Adonis Garcia Out Two Months Following Finger Surgery

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The Braves announced on Wednesday that third baseman Adonis Garcia will miss roughly two months following surgery to repair ligament damage in his left ring finger.

The 32-year-old Garcia missed about two weeks due to an Achilles injury in late May and had only just returned from the DL when he suffered the injury to his finger. A long-term injury to Garcia could very well mean that the Braves will take an extended look at prospect Rio Ruiz at the hot corner.

[Related: Atlanta Braves depth chart]

Garcia emerged as the primary third baseman for the Braves late in 2015 and carried that role for much of the 2016 season, hitting a combined .274/.307/.437 with 24 homers through 761 plate appearances. However, he was batting a greatly diminished .247/.282/.351 with four home runs through his first 163 plate appearances of the 2017 season.

Ruiz, 23, entered the 2017 season ranked in the back-third of the Astros’ top 30 prospects, per outlets such as Baseball America and MLB.com. He got off to a reasonably productive start in Triple-A, hitting .262/.305/.447 through 151 plate appearances before being promoted to the Majors when Garcia was sidelined in mid-May. It’s been a struggle for Ruiz in the Majors thus far, as he’s hit just .209/.312/.343 through 77 plate appearances.

Atlanta acquired Ruiz alongside Mike Foltynewicz and Andrew Thurman in the trade that sent Evan Gattis and James Hoyt to the Astros. The former fourth-round pick signed a significantly over-slot deal out of the 2012 draft but has yet to deliver premium results in either the upper minors or in the Majors. Of course, he also only recently turned 23 (on May 22), so there’s still time for him to take his game to a higher level.

NL East Notes: Pill, Ruiz, Marlins, Glover

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The Mets are promoting Triple-A righty Tyler Pill to join their pitching staff, MLB.com’s Anthony DiComo reports (Twitter link). It’s not clear exactly what role Pill will have with the club, though DiComo does note that Jacob deGrom is healthy and is making his start tonight, so Pill won’t be stepping directly into the rotation. Pill, who turns 27 this weekend, has done a nice job keeping runs off the board in a tough Las Vegas environment this year, tossing 46 innings with a stellar 1.96 ERA. His secondary stats aren’t as encouraging, as he’s averaged just 4.5 K/9 against 2.7 BB/9 with a 43.4 percent ground-ball rate. Pill isn’t on the Mets’ 40-man roster, meaning New York will have to make some type of move in order to formally select his contract from Triple-A.

Elsewhere in the NL East…

  • Rio Ruiz wasn’t called upon when Adonis Garcia hit the disabled list last week, but after being promoted in the wake of Freddie Freeman’s injury, the 23-year-old corner infielder has impressed the Braves enough that he’ll likely remain their primary third baseman upon Garcia’s activation, MLB.com’s Mark Bowman reports. Atlanta still has some questions about Ruiz’s strikeout tendencies and ability to hit lefties, but his .320/.393/.480 start to his career and .262/.305/.447 effort thus far in Triple-A have apparently earned him some trust. (It probably doesn’t hurt Ruiz’s case that Garcia was struggling to a dismal .237/.278/.348 batting line at the time he was placed on the DL.) With Garcia nearing activation from the DL, the roster spots of Emilio Bonifacio and Danny Santana could be at risk, Bowman adds.
  • The potential price tag in a sale of the Marlins could dip further below the reported $1.3 billion mark that both the Derek Jeter/Jeb Bush and Tom Glavine/Tagg Romney groups were said to be willing to exceed, reports FanRag’s Jon Heyman. Heyman spoke to one person with knowledge of the Bush-Jeter group in particular and said that group is still short of the necessary capital to formally make such a bid. He adds that some potential suitors for the Marlins have backed away after looking “under the hood,” so to speak, which gels with previous reports that the team’s lack of revenue and long-term payroll commitments could be negatively impacting the sale process.
  • Though he’d already been operating in such a capacity without the title, Koda Glover has been officially labeled the Nationals’ closer by manager Dusty Baker, writes MASNsports.com’s Mark Zuckerman. “We wanted to break him in slowly because this guy’s … shoot, he’s only a year-and-a-half out of college,” said Baker. “So he had said that’s the job he wanted, and so it’s his now.” Glover took the reins from veteran righty Shawn Kelley after Kelley blew a save recently and has excelled since being activated from a minor DL stint. The 24-year-old hasn’t been scored upon in his past five appearances and has been the Nationals’ most effective reliever in 2017, tossing 14 innings with a 2.57 ERA, 7.1 K/9, 1.3 BB/9 and a 47.6 percent ground-ball rate.

Minor MLB Transactions: 9/17/16

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Here are the latest minor moves from around baseball…

  • The Rangers outrighted left-hander Michael Roth to Triple-A after he accepted the assignment, club executive VP of communications John Blake tweets.  Roth was designated for assignment earlier this week.  The southpaw appeared in just one game for the Rangers this season (allowing six ER over 3 2/3 relief innings) while posting a 2.97 ERA, 2.24 K/BB rate and 5.8 K/9 over 145 1/3 innings at Triple-A, with 23 of his 28 outings coming as a starter.
  • The Braves selected the contracts of utilityman Emilio Bonifacio and third baseman Rio Ruiz from Triple-A Gwinnett, the team announced.  Catcher A.J. Pierzynski and righty Rob Whalen were shifted to the 60-day DL in corresponding moves to create roster space.  Bonifacio was outrighted off Atlanta’s 40-man roster earlier this summer, and the veteran has appeared in just 15 games for the Braves in 2016.  Ruiz, 22, is getting his first taste of the majors after hitting .271/.355/.400 with 10 homers and 24 doubles over 533 Triple-A plate appearances this season.  MLB.com ranked Ruiz as the 15th-best prospect in the Braves’ system.

Astros Acquire Evan Gattis

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The Astros have added more right-handed power to their lineup, acquiring catcher/outfielder Evan Gattis and minor league right-hander James Hoyt from the Braves, the teams announced. In return, Atlanta will acquire a trio of prospects: right-handers Michael Foltynewicz and Andrew Thurman as well as third baseman Rio Ruiz.

MLB: Atlanta Braves at Pittsburgh Pirates

With the DH role likely going to Chris Carter and four catchers on the 40-man roster, the Astros will use Gattis primarily in left field, MLB.com’s Brian McTaggart tweets. He’ll also be used sparingly at catcher and first base, per McTaggart.

By adding Gattis, the Astros are adding another big right-handed bat to a lineup that already features two of them in Carter and George Springer. As I wrote in a profile of Gattis as a trade candidate, the bat-first backstop has limited defensive value (whether behind the dish or in the outfield) but has established himself as a legitimate contributor on offense. After posting a .243/.291/.480 slash with 21 home runs over 382 plate appearances in 2013, Gattis stepped things up with a .263/.317/.493 line and 22 long balls last year in 401 turns at bat.

Of course, Gattis also comes with an attractive contractual situation. He will play at league minimum for the final time this year before qualifying for arbitration in 2016. Though his power numbers should inflate his earnings, Gattis will nevertheless remain an affordable piece for some time.

The 28-year-old Hoyt, meanwhile, is an interesting story. After going undrafted out of Centenary College of Louisiana, he began working on sailboats for a living before an independent league tryout got him back into baseball (via Baseball America’s most recent scouting report on Hoyt [subscription required]). Eventually, he was picked up by Atlanta at age 25. Hoyt rose through Atlanta’s ranks, compiling particularly impressive marks at the Double-A level in 2013 (1.82 ERA, 11.5 K/9, 4.2 BB/9). That earned him the No. 30 ranking on BA’s list of top Braves prospects, with BA praising his 94-96 mph fastball and a slider that could develop into a plus pitch.

Another fact that becomes all the more obvious with this move is that the Braves are not playing for 2015. Atlanta has undergone a significant amount of roster turnover this offseason, with new president of baseball operations John Hart driving the change. The club already dealt away its two star corner outfielders, Justin Upton and Jason Heyward, and replaced their expiring contracts with a four-year deal for free agent Nick Markakis.

Without Gattis to plug in left, current options are few. The club could strike a deal for a younger player, make an upside play for someone like Colby Rasmus, or make a run at Nori Aoki — a solid, high-OBP veteran in the general Markakis mold.

The Rangers also expressed heavy interest in Gattis and were even next in line to acquire him, MLB.com’s Mark Bowman tweets. The deal took awhile to get across the finish line, as there was some significant concern as to how Gattis’ back and right knee would look when examined by doctors, per Evan Drellich of the Houston Chronicle (Twitter link). Those concerns ultimately failed to derail the deal.

As with the Braves’ other moves, young pitching will come in return. Foltynewicz, who briefly reached the bigs last year as a reliever, sat at number three on Baseball America’s list of the best ’Stros prospects and at fourth on the MLB.com version. He will likely be given a chance to continue his development as a starter, and could even have a shot at a MLB rotation spot this year. Thurman, 23, was taken in the second round in 2013 but has struggled to adapt to pro ball. Last season, pitching at the Class A level, he threw 115 1/3 innings of 5.38 ball with 8.3 K/9 and 3.1 BB/9.

Ruiz was set to jockey with trade deadline addition Colin Moran to be Houston’s third baseman of the future, and was ranked by BA right aside Moran at eighth amongst the team’s minor leaguers, with MLB.com placing him ninth. The 20-year-old slashed .293/.387/.436 with 11 home runs in 602 plate appearances at High-A last year. Ruiz fills a gap in the club’s corner infield pipeline created by the recent trade of Kyle Kubitza.

Bob Nightengale of USA Today first reported on Twitter that Gattis was slated for a physical and that there were advanced negotiations with the Astros. Braves blogger Martin Gandy was first to tweet that something might be in the works between the clubs. David O’Brien of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution first tweeted that the deal was in place, pending the physical. Joel Sherman of the New York Post reported the return for Gattis (Twitter links). MLB.com’s Mark Bowman reported the deal’s completion and Hoyte’s inclusion (Twitter links).

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