Braves News

Braves sign Jonny Gomes to 1-year deal

The Atlanta Braves appear to be headed for a platoon in left field after inking outfielder Jonny Gomes to a one-year deal on Thursday. As things stand now, it appears that Gomes will serve as the right handed part of a platoon with Zoilo Almonte. Gomes has struggled against right handed pitching of late but has put up better numbers against left handers.

While Gomes has rather modest overall career hitting statistics, he has been, and continues to be, far more effective against lefties, with a .277 career average, .376 OBP and .485 slugging percentage. Even as his power against lefties declined last season along with his general offensive production, his overall stats against lefties remained consistent: .276/.373/.371 with four homers in 170 at-bats in 2014, after posting a .277/.387/.494 line with 22 homers in 415 at-bats during 2011-2013.

Gomes will make $4 million in 2015 and has a $3 million vesting option for 2016. Gomes has the reputation for being a good clubhouse guy and John Hart talked about the intangibles that Gomes will bring to Atlanta.

"Jonny Gomes is a player we targeted early," Hart said. "We look at not only what he can do on the field, which we like, but also the intangibles he provides. He's been on winners. He's got a good makeup. He loves the game of baseball and he plays with a passion. He wears it right on his heart. So we feel like we got a guy who will provide on the field and set a good example of how to play the game."

The first Justin Upton trade, two years later

Scott Coleman turns back the clock to see how the original Justin Upton trade has turned out for Atlanta. Even with Upton now departed, the deal still looks pretty good for Atlanta as several of the prospects that were sent to the Diamondbacks have since struggled to reach their potential.

Minor pleased with pain-free offseason workouts

Mike Minor appears to be on track after offseason workouts that were pain-free. He is slated to begin throwing from a mound as soon as Friday according to MLB.com's Mark Bowman.

Minor hopes to clear his next hurdle -- throwing off a mound for the first time this year -- as early as Friday. But as he has completed his normal conditioning, lifting and throwing exercises over the past couple of weeks, he has not been given any reason to be concerned.

That is good news for the Braves who need Minor to bounce back to form after a struggling with his shoulder for much of the 2014 season.

Pedro, Biggio, Smoltz select Hall of Fame Caps

There was never much doubt that John Smoltz would be enshrined into Cooperstown wearing a Braves cap but he made it official on Thursday in a joint announcement with Craig Biggio and Pedro Martinez. Biggio will don an Astros cap while Martinez chose to go in with a Red Sox hat.

Billy Wagner's compelling Hall of Fame Case

Speaking of the Hall of Fame, Beyond the Box Score's Bryan Grosnick makes a strong case for former Braves closer Billy Wagner.

Other pitchers may have thrown more innings, or have had more of a defining characteristic ... a game-changing pitch in the case of Sutter or a game-changing face-caterpillar in the case of Fingers, but they didn't have Wagner's effectiveness. And that's why, perhaps, he deserves his own spot in Cooperstown.

MLB News

Brewers in serious talks with Phillies about Jonathan Papelbon

Yahoo! Sports' Jeff Passan reports that the Milwaukee Brewers are in serious discussions with the Phillies about closer Jonathan Papelbon.

Papelbon, 34, is due to earn $13 million next season, and his deal includes a $13 million vesting option for 2016 if he finishes 48 games next year. His high salary may mean that the Brewers will have to pay a low price in terms of prospects, with the Phillies gaining salary relief in a way similar to their trades of Marlon Byrd (Reds) and Jimmy Rollins (Dodgers) earlier this winter.

GM Dave Stewart says Diamondbacks are out on James Shields

Diamondbacks General Manager Dave Stewart told reporters on Thursday that his team was out of the running for free agent James Shields. The price for Shields has reportedly gone up after Max Scherzer signed a seven-year, $210 million deal with the Washington Nationals earlier this week.

Pete Rose will be at the All-Star Game in Cincinnati this year

Reds owner Bob Castellini confirmed to reporters on Thursday that Reds legend Pete Rose would be on hand for the 2015 All-Star Game despite his life-time ban from baseball.

While it's now confirmed that Rose will be at the All-Star Game, it's unclear what his role will be. Still, he's going to be a hot topic no matter what, so there's no need to pretend like he doesn't exist. Of course, this won't be the first time Rose has been back in an MLB stadium since his ban. He was allowed to participate in baseball's All-Century Team ceremony during the 1999 World Series and has been on the field at Great American Ball Park for a couple of ceremonies in recent years.