Another big free agent bat is off the board as George Springer signs with the Toronto Blue Jays. We look at who is left for the Atlanta Braves in free agency.
The hot stove is picking up around baseball; although, that hasn’t exactly been true for the Atlanta Braves lately who have been beyond quiet after signing Charlie Morton back around Thanksgiving.
It’s not like many people actually thought the Braves would be contenders to sign George Springer, but he certainly made a lot of sense considering their need for an outfielder and right-handed power bat.
But now he’s off the board as the Toronto Blue Jays signed him for six years and $150 million on Tuesday night.
That leaves the top two remaining free agent bats as J.T. Realmuto and Marcell Ozuna.
Even though there have been Twitter rumors among Braves fans on Wednesday morning about them possibly signing Realmuto and putting him in left field … um, what?
I could certainly get on board with the Braves signing Realmuto, but why would you put him in left field when he’s the best defensive catcher in the game?
At that point, they’d likely look to trade Travis d’Arnaud for an outfielder. But either way, signing Realmuto doesn’t seem likely.
I’ve never been on board with signing Ozuna to a long-term deal — DH or no DH. But at this point, it almost feels like it’s Ozuna or bust if Atlanta is going to get that big bat to protect Freddie Freeman.
Three other free agents who could give the offense a boost are Michael Brantley, Justin Turner, and Marcus Semien.
I’ve been a huge advocate for getting Brantley, but it sounds like Springer is trying to recruit him to the Blue Jays. And Springer doesn’t provide the right-handed power you’d want behind Freeman.
Semien does have experience at third base, but it’s been a while. And he would be reunited with Ron Washington who turned him from one of the worst defensive shortstops in the league to one of the best.
I don’t think either of those hitters strikes fear into opposing pitchers the way Ozuna and Josh Donaldson did the past two years, but either would certainly be an upgrade and cost much less.
Of course, I’m only focussing on the free agent market here because that seems to be where Alex Anthopoulos likes to do his shopping. But the aisles are starting to look like the toilet paper aisles when the pandemic began … empty.