The Atlanta Braves blew 29 saves out of 67 chances last year. 29! So going into the offseason, General Manager John Schuerholz made the bullpen his top priority. The first move they made was to sign Tanyon Sturtze. On December 7th they added right-handed reliever Rafael Soriano from the Seattle Mariners. All it cost them was Horacio Ramirez, who has been streaky at best for the Braves. Fast forward to January 17th, and Schuerholz was at it again, this time picking up Mike Gonzalez from the Pirates. The bounty this time was a little bit more, however, as the Braves had to depart with fan favorite Adam LaRoche.More after the jump…
There will be plenty of competition to fill the now vacant first base position, as the Braves have Scott Thorman and recently acquired Craig Wilson to vie for playing time. The wild card in that race will no doubt be Jarrod Saltalamacchia (Salty). Nothing has been said to lead me to believe that he either will or will not be moving to first base, but with Brian McCann being so young, and so good, the Braves are in a good place behing the plate for years to come.
The Braves have also said goodbye to Marcus Giles, selecting their option not to tender him a new contract. Giles has now joined his brother Brian with the Padres. The battle for his old spot, second base, will be hotly contested as well. The current candidate for the job are Martin Prado, Pete Orr, and Willy Aybar. The wild card here would be Richmond Braves (AAA) rising star Jonathan Schuerholz, the son of the General Manager.
Loading ...
0 Responses to “Braves’ Bullpen Makeover”
Leave a Reply