BRAVES NEWS
Ronald Acuna impressing in Australia
The Braves’ loaded farm system can be overwhelming at times when it comes to keeping tabs on individual players, especially during winter leagues, but Ronald Acuna is making it impossible to overlook his play in the Australian League. The 19 year-old hit .375 in his first 20 games for the Melbourne Aces, compiling a 1.001 OPS. There are countless reasons to be excited about Acuna’s potential given his impressive array of tools, and Mark Bowman of MLB.com throws out a lofty comparison in his latest piece on the Venezuelan phenom:
Still just 19 years old and in the midst of the early portion of his development as a center fielder, Acuna has already drawn comparisons to Pittsburgh's Starling Marte and established himself with Kevin Maitan as the two highest-upside position players in the Braves' system.
Both of these prospects have immense potential, and will be two of the most-watched players in the system in 2017.
Dansby Swanson ruins Christmas for anyone who bought his jersey
If you bought or received a Dansby Swanson jersey this Christmas, then you are probably not happy about the news that broke on Wednesday: the Braves’ rookie phenom is changing his number from 2 to 7, which he wore at Vanderbilt. In all fairness, Gordon Beckham occupied the number 7 when Swanson arrived in Atlanta last season, and now that he is gone Dansby has every right to revert back to his old digits. Hopefully Swanson will find as much success in Atlanta with this number as he did in college, when he won a national championship in 2014 and became the first overall selection in the 2015 MLB Draft.
Braves announce changes to medical staff
The Braves made some changes to their medical staff this week, promoting from within to fill multiple positions. Let’s hope these guys won’t be too busy in the future, even though the Braves have seemingly made it a point to collect pitchers who are post-Tommy John Surgery. Best of luck to the newly appointed staff members.
MLB NEWS
Indians trying hard to land Encarnacion
After reaching the 2016 World Series on the strength of their pitching staff, the Cleveland Indians are now in hot pursuit of offensive firepower in the form of 2016 AL All Star Edwin Encarnacion. The market is currently over-saturated with bat-first sluggers, but Encarnacion is one baseball’s most consistent power hitters and would fit nicely in a lineup in need of right-handed power.
The free agent market has taken a considerable hit since the Winter Meetings, with all three of the elite closers (Chapman, Jansen, Melancon) and bats like Justin Turner and Dexter Fowler all signing lucrative deals. However, the remaining class still presents options like the aforementioned Edwin Encarnacion, teammate Jose Bautista, and 2016 AL home run leader Mark Trumbo, among others.