BRAVES NEWS
Braves outright Adam Walker
Just a few days after bringing him onto the 40-man roster, the Braves have decided to outright him to Gwinnett. For Walker, it’s a continuation of what’s been a wild offseason. He started it with the Twins and has been in the grasp of the Brewers and Orioles before coming to the Braves. He cleared waivers, though, so he’ll be staying in the minor league system, which means that the Braves get to keep him in the fold while also clearing a roster spot.
The Braves passed Walker through waivers. Nothing changes with his projected role to begin '17 as one of Gwinnett's outfielders https://t.co/s3FrmtmOdQ
— Mark Bowman (@mlbbowman) January 31, 2017
Of course, this led to rumors that another move could be imminent, but Mark Bowman shut those rumors down pretty quickly.
This wasn't a move made because there's an imminent need for a 40-man spot. They claimed Walker hoping to pass him through waivers https://t.co/xVueM45Lqd
— Mark Bowman (@mlbbowman) January 31, 2017
Meanwhile, the Braves made another move with organizational depth in mind as they signed Michael Kirkman to a minor-league deal.
#Braves have signed LHP Michael Kirkman, 30, to a minor league deal. @JonHeyman reports it's $600,000 if he makes the majors.
— Grant McAuley (@grantmcauley) February 1, 2017
How much pressure is on Swanson as Braves rebuild?
In his latest Cory McCartney of Fox Sports South brought up a pretty interesting question: Fair or not, how much weight does Dansby Swanson’s fortunes carry with the rest of the Braves rebuilding process? Of course he’s not the only highly-rated prospect in the system (as Dave O’Brien points out here), but it sure seems like if Swanson is successful then the rebuild will be viewed as a success and vice versa.
So there is an insane amount of depth in the organization, and considering among those on Law's list, only international signees Albies and Acuna weren't acquired by Coppolella/Hart since they began this process in November 2015, they could hit on a number of future mainstays.
But it's hard to imagine -- in the short term anyway -- the take on the rebuild not being tied to Swanson.
It's an unfair set of pressures, but considering the few impact bats the Braves have knocking on the door (Albies should arrive in '17, but Maitan is just 16 and Riley has yet to get past Single-A) and Swanson's quick ascension to the bigs, he stands the face of progress.
An interview with Patrick Weigel
Earlier this week, Grant McAuley got to interview Max Fried and we shared that conversation with you here. As it turns out, Grant wasn’t done interviewing farmhands, as he also got to talk with Patrick Weigel as well. They talked about the challenges of Double-A baseball, charting other pitchers, and the excitement that 2017 and beyond holds.
MLB NEWS
Joe Nathan and Matt Albers join the Nationals
The Nationals added two pitchers to their bullpen on minor-league deals yesterday, as they signed both Joe Nathan and Matt “The Cat” Albers. Of course, Nationals fans probably aren’t super-jazzed about a 42-year old and a middle-of-the-road at-best reliever coming in to boos their bullpen, which is going to need further shoring up if they want to be legit World Series contenders. With that being said, I don’t think that we’re too sad about that on this corner of the internet.