Atlanta Braves Morning Chop: Coming Back, But Not McCann

Baseball Notes for All-Around

McCann

So Brian McCann has cleared waivers… and a lot of people still think that the Braves are a fit for him.

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I’m not actually one of them.

Think about these points:

• Mark Teixeira is retiring.  Alex Rodriguez is involuntarily retiring.  Carlos Beltran was traded. That opens both first base and the DH positions for McCann while ushering in the Gary Sanchez era for New York.  The Yankees don’t need to move him if they don’t wish to.
• McCann has a full no-trade clause.
• McCann is selling his Atlanta-area home.
• The Yankees want a pair of high-level prospects for him… and probably a taker for most of his $17 million contract.
• Where else will McCann’s bat play better than in Yankee stadium where deep fly balls become homers?  Denver, perhaps?

The Braves can throw money at any free agent they want this of-season… whether Ramos, Wieters, or somebody else.  They obviously didn’t covet McCann enough to claim him this week, and they shouldn’t pursue him in the off-season, either.

Garcia Cubed

Anyone notice this play-by-play line from the top of the 7th inning in Friday night’s game?

A. Garcia:  Groundout:  P-SS-1B

That hides what really happened.  Cardinal Jaime Garcia, pitching to Brave Adonis Garcia, induced a hard comebacker.  The ball deflected off the pitcher’s glove, but the St. Louis shortstop responded well and was able to back up the play – getting the out at first base.  That shortstop was Greg Garcia.

Of course it was.

Thus it was a pitch from Garcia to Garcia, hit back to Garcia and Garcia… the latter getting Garcia out at first.

Just your routine 1-6-3 putout.

Family Matters

This is a cool thing… straight from Brandon Snyder (with a hat-tip to Jeff Schafer for the heads-up):

When Madison Younginer was promoted this weekend, the equal-and-opposite-transaction-reaction victim was Snyder.  But it probably wasn’t obvious that he is Younginer’s cousin.

Younginer was born in Augusta, GA and went to Mauldin High School in South Carolina.  Snyder hails from La Vegas and attended high schools in Virginia – the son of former major league pitcher Brian Snyder.

Next: The Dealing Continues

It would seem that Brian has a sister out there that led to this cousin relationship… but as it’s difficult to chase that down even in this case, there’s no way to check on the rarity of this occurrence… but give Brandon credit for cheering on his family!