The Atlanta Braves announced today they outrighted reliever Chase Whitley off the 40-man roster. This isn’t shocking news but the timing is interesting.
If the news that the Atlanta Braves outrighted Chase Whitley makes you ask, “who?” you aren’t alone. Whitely hardly made himself a household name this year.
Whitley Came up as a starter with the Yankees and pitched two seasons in New York before being claimed by the Rays. They used him mostly in relief where he was serviceable if not spectacular.
The led the Braves to claim him off waivers last December along with a flood of other pieces cast off by their respective teams that the Braves hoped might turn into something.
Whitley came to spring training and almost immediately came down with a staph infection that nearly killed him. That set his progress towards game readiness back until a month into the season. He made one appearance for Atlanta in May then vanished off the radar; so seeing him outrighted with just a few weeks left made me wonder “why now?”.
Atlanta Braves 40-man roster
This morning the 40-man roster had 39 active names and one 60-day player who might return; Brandon McCarthy. Last night and earlier today the site featured posts with differing views about players who might be added before September 1.
Both posts agreed Austin Riley would get a look to see if his bat holds up against Major League pitching. Kyle Wright seemed the next player on most people’s list with Alejandro Salazar and Luis Marte getting some love as well.
That’s interesting but the possibility of McCarthy’s return would force a decision at some point to make room to add one of those players – let alone two. It’s possible they could move another player to the 60-day DL or simply outright Rio Ruiz – who seems to be stuck at AAA anyway – to make room.
That can all happen later. Another more interesting idea right now may be that the Braves are positioning themselves to make a waiver wire move.
Who’s on the wire
Two days ago I discussed the Atlanta Braves need for a left-handed bat. Assuming that’s on the list, today’s waiver wire news may peak your interest.
#Nationals put a number of players on revocable trade waivers yesterday, including Harper and Murphy, sources tell The Athletic. Team’s intentions not clear; virtually every player goes on waivers as matter of procedure this time of year. Nats 7 games out in NL East, 5 1/2 in WC.
— Ken Rosenthal (@Ken_Rosenthal) August 18, 2018
Bryce Harper isn’t moving but, purely speculating of course, Daniel Murphy should easily clear waivers and could be dealt. I covered him pretty well in the post linked above. He provides power from the left side off the bench and can back up Freddie Freeman at first without sacrificing a ton of production
Rosenthal doesn’t say when the players hit the wire but the timing would suggest that claims would need to be made and a deal worked out by Monday. If the player isn’t claimed teams have time to negotiate a better deal.
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Mark Bowman thinks a reunion with Matt Adams makes sense (Twitter link) to improve production off the bench. Adams fits as well as Murphy but I question Bowman’s logic that Adams may play left when Ender Inciarte isn’t a good matchup against LHP.
Adams is slashing just .216/.256/.351/.608 against LHP this year. Add that to the mediocre left field defense he provides – at best – and there’s no gain in such a lineup move.
It’s also fair to say that there are pitchers available who cleared waivers and might be considered. James suggested Addison Reed and others in his post but it seems unlikely Alex Anthopoulos would go that way at this point with relievers coming off the DL any day (the aforementioned McCarthy and Peter Moylan).
That’s a wrap
On Twitter, I discussed the possibility that the Atlanta Braves will make their move as late as possible in order to keep Ryan Flaherty on board and Nick Markakis happy. Frankly, that can’t be a consideration and Markakis would consider it an insult to believe he’d hold a team hostage to such a thing.
I can’t explain why they keep Flaherty on board without giving him a chance to play. At least not any more than I can explain giving the ball to Jim Johnson last season so he could get shelled. Neither strategy makes sense to anyone.
On another note, Clark Spencer of the Miami Herald confirms (Twitter link) the Atlanta Braves won’t see the Marlins’ resident headhunter this season. Manager Don Mattingly did what MLB didn’t have the gumption to do, make sure Jose Ureña doesn’t take the mound in the final series against Atlanta.