The Atlanta Braves had an off day on Friday, but it was still a somewhat eventful day. First and foremost, there are few former players that Braves fans are infatuated with as much as Charlie Culberson and those fans got some good news yesterday. While the signing happened earlier in the week, it was only discovered yesterday that Atlanta brought back Charlie on a minor league deal. Culberson will have to work a bit for playing time in the Gwinnett infield at first glance, but it is still nice to see him back with the organization.
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The Braves were not done there, though, as they added to their minor league pitching depth. With yet another minor league signing, Atlanta added pitcher Scott Blewett who previously played in the Royals and White Sox organizations. Yes, we agree that Blewett is not a good name for a pitcher to have, but relief depth is relief depth.
Finally, Fangraphs updated their top 100 prospects rankings and we have an appearance from a Braves prospect as Dylan Dodd was put at #89. The crew over at FG noted Dodd's increase in fastball velocity without compromising his command and underrated stuff overall.
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The San Diego Padres keep making moves over on the west coast and this time, it is another long-term extension for a young player. Jake Cronenworth has put together two straight 4+ fWAR seasons thanks to some strong defensive numbers in the infield and despite a somewhat mediocre offensive seaosn last year. The Padres clearly like what they see as it sounds like they are going to be signing him to a seven year contract extension.
Also over on the west coast, the Giants signed Gary Sanchez to a minor league deal. Sanchez seemingly improved defensively once he was traded to the Twins from the Yankees, but his bat regressed despite his pretty insane raw power. That said, getting a lottery ticket like Sanchez on a minor league deal is hard to be upset about.