Atlanta Braves Should Rebuild Under The Radar In 2016
Signing/Trading For DFA Players
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To be 100% transparent, this entire post was inspired by the San Diego Padres designating outfielder Rymer Liriano for assignment on Friday. While I’m certainly not the only person who thinks that Liriano would be a good fit for my particular team, I do think that he represents a strategy that the Braves should be employing this offseason.
I was disappointed earlier this offseason when Garin Cecchini was DFA’d, and the Milwaukee Brewers ended up purchasing him from the Boston Red Sox to acquire him. With the current uncertainty really anywhere there’s not a guy named Freddie Freeman in the everyday lineup, a guy with high pedigree that’s near major league ready but doesn’t fit in his parent club’s plans should be the ideal target for the Braves. A guy like Cecchini made sense because he’d be the perfect Garcia compliment at 3B – he hits left-handed, plays very good defense, and he’s a contact-oriented hitter that would give the team a guy who could get a slap single off the bench rather than a big power shot like Adonis provides when he’s not in the lineup.
Liriano offers similar things for the Braves in that he is a right handed hitter that could spell Hector Olivera in left field. While Liriano may never be a guy who hits 30 home runs, he has solid contact ability and a good power/speed blend that could translate to double-digit home runs and stolen bases if he were given a full-time job. The Braves also would be very high on the claim list if Liriano went through waivers, so they should be making a move for Liriano if at all possible at this time.
Next: Veterans Waiting For Deals
While the offense probably has more currently available holes that a DFA’d player could fill, the pitching staff could be a place to consider as well. Currently, relievers Carlos Torres and Yoervis Medina have been recently designated and can still be claimed. Either would bring some very high-end “stuff” to the bullpen on a low-risk, high-reward sort of move. The best part is that acquiring a guy like Torres or Medina is that if that guy comes out and in early July is pitching with a 1.80 ERA and 1.00 WHIP with 10.0 K/9 in the bullpen, you could turn that cheap signing into a pretty solid prospect at the trade deadline as pitching, especially relief pitching, is always in demand at the deadline.