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Atlanta Braves Call Up Swanson… Wrong Move?

By Alan Carpenter

Jul 7, 2016; San Martin, CA, USA; View of the Cordevalle clubhouse clock during the first round of the women's 2016 U.S. Open golf tournament at CordeValle Golf Club. Mandatory Credit: Shanna Lockwood-USA TODAY Sports
Jul 7, 2016; San Martin, CA, USA; View of the Cordevalle clubhouse clock during the first round of the women's 2016 U.S. Open golf tournament at CordeValle Golf Club. Mandatory Credit: Shanna Lockwood-USA TODAY Sports /
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Dec 8, 2014; San Deigo, CA, USA; A general view of the podium at the MLB Winter Meetings at Manchester Grand Hyatt. Mandatory Credit: Jake Roth-USA TODAY Sports
Dec 8, 2014; San Deigo, CA, USA; A general view of the podium at the MLB Winter Meetings at Manchester Grand Hyatt. Mandatory Credit: Jake Roth-USA TODAY Sports /

Then there’s Rule 5 draft protection

In short, if you’re a long-term minor league player, your team has to eventually either declare their intention to keep you by adding you to the 40-man roster, or allow you to be exposed to the Rule 5 Draft in December’s Winter Meetings, which permits other clubs to snatch players away.

The idea is to give some better kids a chance at the majors without being forever buried in somebody’s minor league system.  In practical terms, some players take longer to get through the system, or had injuries that slowed them… either way, the rule still stands:  you don’t get a “medical red shirt” to rehab your Tommy John surgery, for instance.

On that note, I yield to the research of another about the Braves’ situation for this Fall:

There’s 9 more names – which is conveniently why the number above totals to 31. I believe I can add Matt Lipka to that list, just off the top of my head.

So there’s 40 names that we’ve quickly come up with to fill the Fall 40-man roster.  And we haven’t even talked about things like:  (a) finding a free agent catcher; or (b) adding bench players back in (you’ll note that names like Francoeur and Beckham are not among those mentioned above, for they are free agents).

In short, there are players in the organization today that will be lost via Rule 5 or other means this Fall.  The addition of Swanson (and presumably Albies later on) to the 40-man roster before the end of this season only exacerbates that problem by adding two more names that did not require Rule 5 protection yet.

The Braves will have to make some tough decisions:  who is gonna stay and who will be left at risk to be snatched away by other clubs?

The Rationale for This

There are reasons that Coppolella has done this… none of this news is going to take him by surprise.

  • After long looks at the organization, it is likely that the Braves have established a list of players that they simply will not have long-term plans for, and have decided that they are willing to absorb the losses
  • Trade discussions could mitigate against some losses as well: teams with 40-man space available might get a useful player in exchange for prospects (or 2-for-1 40-man deals… 2 of ours for 1 of yours).

Next: One Final Point

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