The Braves have signed outfielder Willy Taveras to a minor league deal, according to the International League transactions page. Taveras has been assigned to Triple-A Gwinnett.
Taveras was released by the Phillies on Tuesday, roughly a month after being brought aboard. That marked the third time the speedy outfielder has been released this year as the Nationals and A's have also cut him loose. Oakland is on the hook for most of his $4MM salary.
The 28-year-old has a track record of being a solid defender and base stealer, though he has struggled offensively in recent years. His most recent stint in Triple-A Lehigh Valley yielded a .208/.255/.271 slash line in 104 plate appearances.
HUH?!?!?
Power problems solved. He is good for at least 40 bombs.
Team #5
I love how this guy continues to be signed basically because he’s fast.
sounds to me like a replacement for someone else who is about to be traded.
Ummmmm…ok, sure why not? He’s gotta come dirt cheap and is kindof good for outfield depth I guess. For a split second I thought that this was our outfield solution but yeah not really.
I guess it wouldn’t hurt with a minor league deal.I looked at his Wiki and it shows he only bats right handed,I thought he was a switch hitter?
No problem with this signing. Atlanta’s outfield depth is really being pushed at all levels with the injuries to Heyward and McLouth. If he does well in AAA he could be called up for an emergency replacement. At the best he comes up and gives the Braves a Gregor Blanco type lift for a few weeks in September, at the worst an AAA starter….
I don’t know how you can rate a low risk/high reward deal “bad.” I never find these type deals bad. He’s never gonna start for the big league club. Maybe we can trade Melky and Blanco fan perform until McLouth gets his head straight, he can be a 4th OF MAYBE.
wouldn’t say he’s high reward. his highest season OPS to date was .748 in 2007. his career has been going down the drain since then, with below replacement level performances in the last 3 seasons (impressive since he’s a good defensive center fielder). this is, essentially, a low risk low reward signing. as you just said, his ceiling is 4th outfielder / defensive replacement / pinch runner.
As soon as they realize like everyone else has that Willy is uncoachable & refuses to learn anything close to plate discipline he will be booted off to his next minor league deal
I can run just as fast, am willing to learn, and will play for free.
Sign me!
AWESOME PITCH RUNNER FOR THE WIN.
Also, with Mclouth on the dl, the braves must just be testing the waters.
He will always get on somebody’s roster in September when teams can have 40 people active, so might as well choose Atlanta who is looking like will go places in the NL at least this year.
That makes sense. Not much else does. The Braves could have acquired him any number of times in recent years when their OF situation was even more unsettled. Wisely, they didn’t.
I questioned this move at first, but with all the injuries to Braves outfielders, I’d say it’s not a bad organizational depth move. Plus he comes cheap so there’s little risk involved if he bombs in Atlanta like he has everywhere else.
I seriously doubt he’ll even get to sniff the major leagues this year. Probably just a minor league depth signing.