Braves Beat: Recapping 5 recent additions to the Atlanta roster

The Atlanta Braves have made a few roster moves over the past few days. No, it doesn't have anything to do with Shohei Ohtani, Tyler Glasnow, or Dylan Cease, but we thought you might be interested in what the club has been up to!

Atlanta Braves sign CF Leury Garcia to minor league deal

12/05/2023: Leury Garcia has signed a minor league deal with an invitation to spring training. Garcia signed a three-year, $16.5 million contract with the White Sox before the 2022 season. Yes, that means the White Sox are still on the hook for the final year of that deal in 2024. Garcia will make the league minimum with the Braves and will earn $5.5 million from the White Sox.

He is a very versatile defender who has played every position but first and catcher. He has a career .253 average but doesn't walk and Ronald Acuna Jr.'s 2023 on-base percentage was 66 points higher than Garcia's career slugging percentage.

Garcia is 32 years old and will serve as veteran utility depth for the Braves. He has 10 years of major-league experience and has just one season with an OPS+ over 100. That came in 2020, granted he played in just 16 games that year. His career OPS+ is 76. He has stolen double-digit bases three times in his career. He logged more than 100 games just twice.

Garcia was released by the White Sox before last season, the second year of his three-year deal. By the time his contract is up, the White Sox will have paid him $11 million over two years to NOT PLAY FOR THEM!

God bless Leury Garcia. Welcome to the "A"... or the "G" for now.

Atlanta Braves sign RHP Jorge Juan to minor league deal

Jorge Juan is listed at 6-8, 200 lbs. on Baseball-Reference, and in his BR photo, he looks as confused about that as you are. Juan had 14.1 great innings in High-A Lansing before getting the call to Double-A Midland. He didn't adapt as well to the increased competition in Double-A, posting a 5.66 ERA over 35.0 innings. The big righty is about to turn 25 and has a 4.53 ERA across all minor league levels (up to Double-A).

Juan missed all of 2022 with a secret injury (unspecified). He has been assigned to Double-A with the Braves. He has some interesting numbers beyond his ERA. He has used his high octane fastball, which can reportedly reach as high as 99 mph, to strike out an impressive 11.3 per nine in his minor league career. He has also held opposing hitters to just 0.6 homers per nine. However, he has a bit of a Ricky Vaughn problem with 6.4 walks per nine, including an unfortunate 8.7 walks per nine in Double-A last season.

Braves sign free agent LHP Angel Perdomo to a split contract

12/07/2023: The Braves signed LHP Angel Perdomo to a one-year deal on a split contract. The Braves have played hard to get with Perdomo since November when they claimed him off waivers from Pittsburgh and then non-tendered him later in the month. Their on-again, off-again relationship continues as Perdomo has been added to the 40-man roster. Perdomo is set to miss the entire 2024 season as he rehabs from Tommy John surgery.

Perdomo is 29 years old and has spent parts of three seasons at the big-league level. He has just 48.2 innings of work under his belt with the bulk of them coming last year for the Pirates. He logged 29.0 innings in 2023 with a 3.72 ERA. Perdomo has serious strikeout stuff with a career 14.2 K/9. Like Jorge Juan, he has trouble with walks. Perdomo has handed out 34 free passes in just 48.2 innings of work.

Braves outright 1B Evan White to Triple-A Gwinnett

12/07/2023: Evan White is one of the contracts the Braves agreed to absorb in exchange for Jarred Kelenic's services. White signed a six-year, $24 million deal with Seattle while he was still in Double-A. He has made just 306 career big-league plate appearances since then with a .165 average. On the bright side, he has hit 10 homers and driven in 35 RBI. Somehow, he won a Gold Glove in 2020 while appearing in just 54 games.

The Braves outrighted White to Triple-A Gwinnett. White's career numbers coupled with the $15 million he's still owed over the next two seasons caused him to pass through waivers like he was covered in lubrication. Outrighting White to Triple-A removes him from the 40-man roster.

The guy had to have talent to get that big of a contract. Maybe the Braves can unlock some of it in Gwinnett this season.

Braves sign Zach Logue to a minor league deal

12/08/2023: The Braves signed Zach Logue to a minor league deal. Below, I've embedded the fantastic Tweet from his representation announcing the deal.

Zach Logue has a career Triple-A ERA of 5.92 over 261.2 innings pitched. Two years ago in AAA-Las Vegas, he posted an 8.12 ERA over 17 starts and 78.2 innings. In the tweet, his representation boasted his .222 batting average against in the big leagues last year. It's worth noting that he only faced 18 left-handed hitters. Had he given up just one more hit, his BAA would have been .278. I love the effort in the tweet, though!

Thanks for reading. If you want all of the Braves offseason transactions tracked in one convenient location, check out my Braves Offseason Transaction Tracker.

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