Yesterday, the Atlanta Braves held yet another successful Braves Fest with lot of activities for Braves fans and a ton of interaction with current and former Braves players. Aside from the criminal overpricing/restrictions when it comes to autographs, it is largely a great time for all of those involved.
We did get a bit of news that came out of Braves Fest as Braves manager Brian Snitker was asked if he had given any thought to trying Vaughn Grissom out in left field in spring training. In no uncertain terms, Snit quashed any thought that that was going to happen in spring training or the early part of the season as the team wants Vaughn to focus on competing for the team’s shortstop spot.
More Braves News
Elsewhere on the site, we took a look at the most recent Steamer projections for Braves players. In particular, we took at three player projections for the 2023 season that were the most interesting to us. Steamer definitely does not seem to be particularly bullish on these three particular Braves stars.
Our look at the top 10 managers in Braves franchise history with #5 Fred Haney. Haney helmed the Braves in the 1950’s including when they won the World Series in 1957. However, his decision-making during his final season in Milwaukee in 1959 is pretty widely considered to be among the worst seasons from a process prospective that you are likely to see.
MLB News
We did have a pretty big trade that happened going into the weekend that is worth mentioning as the Twins and Marlins matched up on a deal that sent Luis Arraez to Miami and Pablo Lopez to Minnesota. Definitely a weird trade to digest as Miami also sent some high end minor league talent to Minnesota in the deal to compensate for the amount of team control he came with.
In sad news, Sal Bando, Oakland’s third baseman and captain during their trio of World Series wins between 1972-74, passed away on Friday. Bando was often overshadowed by guys like Reggie Jackson, Vida Blue, and Rollie Fingers on those A’s teams, but he was a hell of a player in his own right. Our thoughts go out to his friends, family, and Oakland fans right now.