AAA Depth

nsacpi

nsacpi

Expects Yuge Games
AAA is the second bench for a major league team. For the Braves, our depth in AAA is likely to be tested more than in a typical season for two reasons. One is that I suspect the Santana signing pretty much wipes out any flexibility on Wren's part to make a significant mid-season move. Holes that develop at the major league level will have to be filled by what is available in the minors or the waiver wire. The second reason that our AAA depth will be subjected to a sterner test than usual is that three of the guys slated to be in the AAA rotation (Hale, Schlosser and Thomas) look likely to be on the major league roster due to the injuries to Beachy, Medlen, Minor and Gearrin.

Position-by-position here is what our AAA depth looks like:

Catcher: Bethancourt and Lerud. We are fine there

1st: Mejia, Hamilton. Also a pretty good situation. Terdoslavich can also play first.

2nd: La Stella. Fine also.

SS: Greene. I'm not a fan. But we have Simmons, Pena and Pastornicky on the major league roster.

3B: Leonard. A bit thin there. I'm guessing Salcedo repeats in AA.

OF: Terdoslavich, Cunningham, Constanza. A solid trio.

Starting pitching: As I noted, three fifths of the rotation will be on the major league roster to start the season. This leaves Maya and Martin. Northcraft had a finger injury during spring training. Not sure of his availability. Daniel Rodriguez might be given a look given the openings. He did pitch better this spring. When Minor and Floyd are ready, one or two of the guys in the majors will get sent back down. But I think the front office will be keeping an eye on the waiver wire for some starting pitching to stash in AAA. Kameron Loe anyone?

Left handed relief: At the moment it looks like Buchter and Severino will be the lefties in AAA. That's fine.

Right handed relief: Vasquez, Jaime, Obispo, Lamm, Harper. Good depth there.

I think the main areas where we might be looking to sign someone for AAA are at third and the starting rotation. I wouldn't be opposed to an upgrade at short if the opportunity presents itself.
 
nsacpi said:
AAA is the second bench for a major league team. For the Braves, our depth in AAA is likely to be tested more than in a typical season for two reasons. One is that I suspect the Santana signing pretty much wipes out any flexibility on Wren's part to make a significant mid-season move. Holes that develop at the major league level will have to be filled by what is available in the minors or the waiver wire. The second reason that our AAA depth will be subjected to a sterner test than usual is that three of the guys slated to be in the AAA rotation (Hale, Schlosser and Thomas) look likely to be on the major league roster due to the injuries to Beachy, Medlen, Minor and Gearrin.

Position-by-position here is what our AAA depth looks like:

Catcher: Bethancourt and Lerud. We are fine there

1st: Mejia, Hamilton. Also a pretty good situation. Terdoslavich can also play first.

2nd: La Stella. Fine also.

SS: Greene. I'm not a fan. But we have Simmons, Pena and Pastornicky on the major league roster.

3B: Leonard. A bit thin there. I'm guessing Salcedo repeats in AA.

OF: Terdoslavich, Cunningham, Constanza. A solid trio.

Starting pitching: As I noted, three fifths of the rotation will be on the major league roster to start the season. This leaves Maya and Martin. Northcraft had a finger injury during spring training. Not sure of his availability. Daniel Rodriguez might be given a look given the openings. He did pitch better this spring. When Minor and Floyd are ready, one or two of the guys in the majors will get sent back down. But I think the front office will be keeping an eye on the waiver wire for some starting pitching to stash in AAA. Kameron Loe anyone?

Left handed relief: At the moment it looks like Buchter and Severino will be the lefties in AAA. That's fine.

Right handed relief: Vasquez, Jaime, Obispo, Lamm, Harper. Good depth there.

I think the main areas where we might be looking to sign someone for AAA are at third and the starting rotation. I wouldn't be opposed to an upgrade at short if the opportunity presents itself.
Click to expand...

You're forgetting Zach Stewart who was acquired from the White Sox, he will probably be in Gwinnett's rotation to start the year and probably beyond.
 
I wonder if Elmer Reyes shows he can hit whether or not they will move him up to Gwinnett. I think it's a pretty big if on the hitting part.
 
We're super thin at 3B. I was hoping we would have taken a flyer on someone to go to AAA but we didn't. If Johnson goes down we're shafted. Every other position we can bandaid at least a little. Some we have great depth like catcher or 2B. But we have nothing at 3B. Pena doesn't hit enough, Pastor doesn't hit even (if he even has the arm to play over there) Leonard has never hitter in the minors, and Salcedo is looking like he never will live up to his original projection.
 
zitothebrave said:
We're super thin at 3B. I was hoping we would have taken a flyer on someone to go to AAA but we didn't. If Johnson goes down we're shafted. Every other position we can bandaid at least a little. Some we have great depth like catcher or 2B. But we have nothing at 3B. Pena doesn't hit enough, Pastor doesn't hit even (if he even has the arm to play over there) Leonard has never hitter in the minors, and Salcedo is looking like he never will live up to his original projection.
Click to expand...

Agreed. I think the Gamel signing was motivated in part by that realization. Too bad he blew his knee out again. Juan Francisco is available, but that ship has sailed. Besides he is likely to latch on to a major league team.

I see the Giants re-signed Tony Abreu to a minor league deal after releasing him. We need to be on the lookout for someone like that to stash in AAA. Old friend Brandon Hicks might be worth a look if they release him. At this point those are the types of players available.
 
Brandon Hicks does nothing for me.

If Juan Francisco is available for super cheap he is exactly who we should bring back. Stick him on the bench to be the left handed bat.

Doumit, Francisco, Laird, Pena, Schafer

Basically 2 bats 2 gloves 1 backup C.

Hard to argue with that. Limits our depth a bit for small injuries. But I'd rather have someone like Juan than someone like Pastornicky who can only really play 2B. Honestly I also would like Cunningham over Schafer because Cunningham is more versatile but I'd send him to AAA where he can work on that versatility a bit.

But if we could swap Schafer for Juan and cash or something like that, I'd be all for that.
 
I think Gamel was signed to play "bat." He was never a very good 3B and he hadn't played there extensively in a couple of years.

Brandon Hicks? Do some love affairs never die?

We are super thin at 3B and if Caratini goes behind the plate at Rome, we're even thinner in the long term. If Johnson goes down, my guess is we'll have to make a trade because I don't think there is a plug-and-play guy in the system right now. He's not that great, but I thought that as long as the Braves were thinking about Doumit, they should have inquired about Trevor Plouffe as well.
 
nsacpi said:
Reid Brignac anyone?
Click to expand...

I did the research. I'm not much on Reid Brignac although his career as been better than Junior Brignac's. I'd have been down with Jayson Nix though. Wonder how much the Phils paid the Rays for him.

Braves must be satisfied with Pastornicky and I think he can be a pretty good utility guy. Not much pop, but he's still developing as an offensive player so he could be a valuable cog. Nice to see him getting time in the OF.
 
I'm thinking more along the lines of someone who can play on the left side of the infield in Gwinnett than someone who is going to displace Pastornicky on the major league roster. That lowers the bar somewhat in terms of the quality of player I think we should be looking to sign.
 
I think Caratini will take a solid step forward this year and that could help the depth at third (if need be).
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top