Braves sign Maikel Franco to minor league deal

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PawPawMaxwell

Called Up to the Major Leagues
Like this signing for the future possibilities. Creditable 3rd backup plus experience at 1st. Could be a possible bench bat next year.
 
No future possibilities with Franco - he was signed to be the backup for Camargo and Sanchez in Gwinnett since Arcia was brought up with expanded rosters. Even if they give Freddie or Riley a couple days off, you're better off playing Pederson at 1B and Adrianza at 3B to get them some ABs rather than try to create a 40-Man Roster spot for him.

If he sees the MLB roster, the season's over. Franco signed a minor league deal and has no options left so putting him on the roster would require sending a better player like Arcia or a RP down, and he won't be controlled in 2022 so you'll have to re-sign him if you want to look at him as a bench bat. He signed at least 4 or 5 days ago and still hasn't been added to Gwinnett's roster I'd much rather bring Adrianza back as I'm sure most would.
 
Turn the clock back seven months. There were some who thought he would be a good pick-up during last off-season and some (not many) thought he'd be a better option than Riley.
 
AA did not sign Franco to back up those you may deem valuable (Camargo and Sanchez) IMO. I think he may have spent a pittance to gamble on getting him signed next year as Adrianza, Arcia, or maybe even Camargo replacements since there is little reason to think any of those 3 will be Braves next year and while I think of it Kazmar is aging out as well. But at any rate, congratulations on getting Lucroy for a few days. I know his signing made your little heart go pitter pat,
 
There's no upside or long-term possibility here -- however good a prospect Franco might have been in his younger days, he's 28 years old, he's been in the league for the better part of seven seasons, he's terrible and he just got cut by an Orioles team that isn't even trying to be major league caliber. Whatever limited value he can contribute with the bat he immediately gives back defensively.

Someone has to fill the roster at Gwinnett, so this is perfectly fine, but if he ever contributes to the big league club I'll eat Kevin Mench's hat.
 
He’s a Beta version of Camargo. Neither are very useful at this point.
 
MadduxFanII said:
There's no upside or long-term possibility here -- however good a prospect Franco might have been in his younger days, he's 28 years old, he's been in the league for the better part of seven seasons, he's terrible and he just got cut by an Orioles team that isn't even trying to be major league caliber. Whatever limited value he can contribute with the bat he immediately gives back defensively.

Someone has to fill the roster at Gwinnett, so this is perfectly fine, but if he ever contributes to the big league club I'll eat Kevin Mench's hat.
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I thought you ate that several years ago. Big hat, so there's probably leftovers.
 
Say thus -- his star fell pretty dang fast. He played in every game for KC last year and is still only 28 years old. I'd guess this gives the Braves a chance to closely examine what has gone wrong with him. If they catch lightning in a bottle, bring him to camp next year.
 
Said much better than my effort. Everyone has their own opinions but the reality is that by MLB operations and such Franco was considered to be in the top 750 players last year. AA gambled (?) what....1/6th of a minor league contract to see if he fits in to 2022 plans?
 
PawPawMaxwell said:
Said much better than my effort. Everyone has their own opinions but the reality is that by MLB operations and such Franco was considered to be in the top 750 players last year. AA gambled (?) what....1/6th of a minor league contract to see if he fits in to 2022 plans?
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The "reality" was nothing of the sort. DMGM signed Franco because their only other option at 3B was Hunter Dozier - the guy they kept instead of Franco in 2021 that's hitting .202/.269/.346 with a 66 wRC+ mark and a -0.9 WAR.

Being on a major league roster doesn't make you one of the 750 best players - in Franco's case it means you made the roster of a rebuilding club that had no other options. Kansas City hoped to catch lightning in a bottle and trade him for ANYTHING of value to help their rebuild and it didn't work out. Baltimore tried the same thing, and that didn't work out for them either. Both of them needed a live body to stick at 3B for a little while, and Franco was cheap.

Arcia has no options remaining after this season, meaning he'll be on the 2022 MLB roster if they want to keep him. Shewmake will replace him in Gwinnett. Camargo will have one option left meaning he'll probably be back with Gwinnett as well. C. J. Alexander doesn't look like he can hit any better than Franco, but if they want to keep him around any longer he has to be added to the 40-Man Roster this winter (which probably doesn't happen, but who knows?). Waddell will spend the rest of this month and the start of next season in Mississippi, but if he keeps hitting like he has he may be in line to be promoted to Gwinnett sometime around midseason. Lugbauer will be in Gwinnett as a 1B option next season, and he has to be added to the 40-Man this winter if they don't want to lose him - his season in the hitters' graveyard that is Mississippi probably assures that that will happen.

I'm sure they're more than willing to bring anybody in that they think could potentially help if they happen to catch lightning in a bottle in during camp next spring, but there's no "grand plan" to give Franco a handful of ABs in Gwinnett over the next couple weeks because they think that gives them a leg up over other teams that might offer him a minor league deal this winter.
 
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I find it amusing we signed a guy who the horrible Orioles released this year. Just another in the long line of failed Phillies prospects over the past decade.
 
PawPawMaxwell said:
Said much better than my effort. Everyone has their own opinions but the reality is that by MLB operations and such Franco was considered to be in the top 750 players last year. AA gambled (?) what....1/6th of a minor league contract to see if he fits in to 2022 plans?
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You really need a better handle on the forthcoming roster decisions that have to be made to understand things. You apparently aren't interested in digging deeper, and that's fine - just don't get hacked off when people with a better grasp of the organizational depth chart and the decisions that have to be made try to explain why you're wrong.

To attempt to help clear things up for you...

There will be 14 available 40-Man Roster spots that can be used on guys in the minors and that aren't on the 60-Day IL. Soroka has to be added back to the active roster and can't be put back on the 60-Day before the Rule V Draft during the Winter Meetings. This means you have 13 spots available - and that becomes 12 spots if they decide to keep Dayton to compete with Newcomb for a pen spot. Those 12 spots will be taken up by...

1.) Contreras (assuming he isn't the backup Catcher)
2.) Touki or Muller (whichever loses the battle for the 5th spot in the rotation)
3.) Wright
4.) Davidson
5.) Newcomb (assuming Dayton is in the pen)
6.) Camargo (more than likely)
7.) De La Cruz (who likely transitions to a RP)

That leaves 5 spots - easy, right? Except for the fact that the following players have to be added to the 40-Man Roster this winter if you don't want to expose them to the Rule V Draft...

1.) Waters
2.) Tarnok
3.) Lugbauer
4.) Justin Dean
5.) Trey Harris
6.) Nolan Kingham
7.) Jenista
8.) C. J. Alexander
9.) William Woods
10.) Daysbel Hernandez
11.) Brooks Wilson
12.) Jake Higganbotham

Those five spots are very likely going to Waters, Tarnok, Lugbauer, Justin Dean, and Harris or one of the arms. There is literally nothing Franco can possibly do in the next three weeks to be given a 40-Man Roster spot over the winter considering the fact that he might not even have the upside of the other 7 players listed that the Braves could lose when they aren't protected this winter.
 
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I think Waters and Tarnok are the only guys you've listed who will be protected and I will be very surprised if Camargo is retained.

PS--The Duvall option is mutual and I wonder given his performance this year and the likelihood of better finances, that he may opt out and roll the dice.
 
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Who are the 26 roster spots you are touting? I doubt Arcia nor Adriananza will be back. Camargo will certainly be non tendered. As of today, I would think Minter and Newcomb may be non tender candidates. Dayton is probably gone.
 
PawPawMaxwell said:
Who are the 26 roster spots you are touting? I doubt Arcia nor Adriananza will be back. Camargo will certainly be non tendered. As of today, I would think Minter and Newcomb may be non tender candidates. Dayton is probably gone.
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I'm guessing it's likely Arcia will be retained. I have my doubts on Adrianza. I will be really surprised if both are on the roster.
 
Im not a metrics guy but just by looking at the ML numbers put up by Arcia: BA .192 OPS 577 ops+ 51 and a salary of $2M in 2021 just cant see him coming back. Adrianza just a little bit better with a $1.5M deal.
 
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PawPawMaxwell said:
Im not a metrics guy but just by looking at the ML numbers put up by Arcia: BA .192 OPS 577 ops+ 51 and a salary of $2M in 2021 just cant see him coming back. Adrianza just a little bit better with a $1.5M deal.
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Could be. I just think it will be one or the other. I just think if Swanson were to go down for an extended period, Arcia is probably the better bet as a replacement.
 
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