Trade with Dodgers headlines flurry of Atlanta Braves early-June moves
The Atlanta Braves have made multiple additions to the organization so far this month.
So far during the month of June, the Atlanta Braves have been active in terms of making moves, in particular at the minor league level.
In all, the Braves have signed five different free agents during June so far, four of which came at the minor league level. The lone player that was a major league free agent signing was third baseman Brian Anderson, who made his Braves debut with an at-bat Wednesday in Boston.
Alongside those five free agent signings, the Braves also made a trade earlier this month, as they acquired a minor leaguer from the Los Angeles Dodgers for cash.
Let's take a look at each of those minor league signings, as well as where each now join the Braves organization.
Atlanta Braves acquire five different minor league players in early-June
Elio Campos, Utility Player
The aforementioned trade with Los Angeles came June 1 when Atlanta acquired Campos, a 20-year-old utility player, for cash.
A native of Venezuela, Campos has not yet seen time within the Dodgers organization so far this season, with his last in-game action coming during the 2023-24 Venezuelan Winter League across five games with Tigres de Aragua. Prior to that, the 20-year-old's lone professional action has come from 2021-23 with the DSL Dodgers where he has slashed a combined .308/.408/.342 with 51 RBI and 34 SB.
Campos was recently assigned to the DSL Braves back on June 1, and has yet to appear in a game at the time of writing.
Nixson Cueche, Infielder
Atlanta's second move from June 1 came via a minor league free agent signing in Cueche, who is an 18-year-old infielder.
Also a native of Venezuela, Cueche spent the lone season of his professional career so far in 2023 as a member of the Boston Red Sox organization. In 38 games with the DSL Red Sox, Cueche slashed .277/.333/.353 with 15 RBI and two SB while also seeing time defensively at every infield position.
Cueche was also assigned to the DSL Braves on June 1, and has not yet appeared in a game.
Diego Gutierrez, Infielder
The Braves final move from June 1 came from signing Gutierrez to a minor league deal.
Gutierrez, a 17-year-old infielder who has not seen any action so far during his professional career, was assigned to the DSL Braves on June 3, and has not seen playing time since.
Tim Borden II, Infielder
Likely the Braves most experienced minor league free agent signing so far this month came June 3 when the club signed Borden.
Borden, a 24-year-old infielder, was a former 16th round pick by the Houston Astros out of Georgia Tech in 2022, and appeared in 128 career games from 2022-23 at the lower levels of that system. This included 100 games in High-A last season in which Borden slashed .245/.328/.387 with 11 HR, 49 RBI, and seven SB prior to being released by the organization back in March.
The infielder was recently assigned to High-A Rome, and has so far appeared in only one game at the time of writing.
Willmer De La Cruz, Infielder
Finally, the Braves most recent minor league free agent signing came June 4 with De La Cruz, who is a 21-year-old infielder.
De La Cruz had spent the first three seasons of his professional career in the lower levels of the Tampa Bay Rays organization, slashing .250/.386/.338 over 116 games with three HR, 40 RBI, and 36 SB. The infielder also reached Low-A for the first time a year ago, but saw limited action by appearing in only six games.
Assigned to the FCL Braves, De La Cruz has yet to appear in a game since joining the organization.
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