BRAVES NEWS
Three free agent moves could add some wins for Braves
Although the Braves should be better than they were last year, I don’t think that anybody is assuming that the Braves are going to take a quantum leap to the postseason in 2017. However, there’s still a chance that the Braves could be a very respectable team and Cliff Corcoran of Sports on Earth had a few moves in mind that he feels could help boost the Braves this season.
Problem: Matt Kemp's brutal defense
Solution: Sign Angel PaganPagan would be a good fit here as a switch-hitter who, while overextended in centerfield, graded out better in the field after shifting to left last year with the Giants. He has also managed to stay relatively healthy over the past two years. At age 35, Pagan is likely to have to settle for a fourth-outfielder's job, and what the Braves have to offer maybe one of the most robust fourth-outfielder jobs in the game.
Freeman and Inciarte make ESPN Top 10 lists
Two areas that the Braves presumably won’t have to worry about for a while are first base and center field. That’s because they have the likes of Freddie Freeman and Ender Inciarte manning those spots. Buster Olney of ESPN recently completed top 10 lists for each position in baseball, and both Freeman and Inciarte made appearances at their respective positions.
Braves release more information on transportation to SunTrust Park
In their never-ending effort to convince us that traffic around SunTrust Park won’t be as bad as the locals figure it could be, the Braves have made some more announcements in order to help quell those concerns. The Braves have partnered with Uber and Waze to make things a bit easier, and they also gave more info about parking spaces and let us know about the existence of a Transportation Management Plan. As 11Alive notes in this article, the Braves are trying to “shape habits and expectations” when it comes to the traffic.
MLB NEWS
Reds trade Dan Straily to Marlins for prospects
The Cincinnati Reds pulled off one of those “pick up a veteran for little-to-no-cost and then flip him for prospects” deals that GMs of rebuilding teams dream of, as they sent Dan Straily to Miami in exchange for a few pitching prospects. The crew at Red Reporter is loving life right now.
Straily was a shrewd pickup for the Reds last winter, claimed off waivers from the Padres just before Opening Day. He ended up being the steadiest arm in the rotation, throwing 191.1 innings with a 3.76 ERA.
Castillo is the big get here, and hooo boy what a get. He was the Marlins Minor League Pitcher of the Year after twirling up a 2.26 ERA between A+ and AA. He has a big high-90s fastball and is close to big-league ready. I’mma guess he’ll start in AAA this year and we’ll have to rerun our prospect rankings a bit.
Our friends at Fish Stripes? Not so much.
You can pick your reason for why this trade doesn’t really make sense, because there are plenty to choose from. On the surface, the deal doesn’t align with Miami’s offseason goal. If the objective was to put together the best bullpen possible, what value is there in adding a middle-tier starting pitcher?
Dig a bit deeper and you will realize the Marlins don’t really have a rotation spot for Straily. They can easily create one by sending Jeff Locke to the bullpen, also adding a valuable lefty arm to that unit. Though there isn’t such a thing as too much starting depth, the Marlins have quite a few arms to consider.
Angels no longer have “worst farm ever,” according to Keith Law
Meanwhile, Angels fans are rejoicing because — in the eyes of Keith Law — the Angels no longer have a completely and utterly barren farm system! Granted, Law still ranked them at #27 in all of baseball, but it’s a far cry from the extremely low marks that he gave them at this point last year. Hooray for progress!