BRAVES NEWS
Swanson: 2017 struggles ‘by the wayside’
Dansby Swanson tells MLB.com’s Mark Bowman that he has put last year’s struggles behind him and he is focused on proving that he can live up to the expectations that he is the Braves’ shortstop of the future.
Huddy impressed with Braves’ young arms
Tim Hudson has served as a special instructor for spring training during the early days of camp and has come away impressed with many of Atlanta’s young pitchers and in particular Mike Soroka, Kolby Allard and Kyle Wright.
“It’s hard to pick one that is better than the other when you’re watching them throw,” Hudson said. “They’re all really young, but they are polished beyond their years. The stuff they are throwing in there is pretty good. I don’t even know if I’d get drafted these days.”
Minter hoping to prove big league durability
The Braves have handled A.J. Minter cautiously during his first two seasons as a professional. After a full healthy offseason, the team is ready to allow him to pitch on back-to-back days according to manager Brian Snitker.
“He feels good and he had a normal offseason,” Braves manager Brian Snitker said. “He’s done a lot of work on his physical being. Last year, there were restrictions. This year, he’s ready to be a big league reliever.”
Daniel Winkler, A.J. Minter take overlapping, injury-marred paths to Braves bullpen frontrunners
Minter and fellow reliever Daniel Winkler have had to overcome a lot of injury obstacles on their way to the big leagues. Fox Sports’ Zach Dillard takes a closer look at their journey and how the two friends leaned on each other.
MLB NEWS
Eric Hosmer agrees to 8-year, $144 million deal with Padres
Free agent first baseman Eric Hosmer has a new home agreeing to a reported 8-year, $144 million deal with the San Diego Padres.
Rays trade Jake Odorizzi to Twins
Tampa Bay continues to retool its roster trading starter Jake Odorizzi to the Minnesota Twins in exchange for infielder Jermaine Palacios. Odorizzi won his arbitration case against the Rays earlier this month and will make $6.3 million this season. He will help fortify a Twins starting rotation that will be without Ervin Santana to start the season.
Rays acquire CJ Cron, designate Corey Dickerson
In a separate deal, the Rays also acquired first baseman CJ Cron from the Angels for a player to be named later. To make room for him on the roster Tampa designated outfielder Corey Dickerson for assignment. That move is a curious one as Dickerson hit 27 home runs last year and was worth 2.7 bWAR. He did struggle somewhat in the second half but that is shaky reasoning for simply dropping him. The Rays still have time to trade him so stay tuned.