The Braves have signed relievers R.J. Alaniz and Brandon Brennan to minor league contracts, according to Chris Hilburn-Trenkle of Baseball America. Both right-handers picked up brief MLB action last season.
Alaniz made three appearances with the Reds during the final couple weeks of the year. That marked his first action at the highest level since 2019, when he combined for 12 appearances between Seattle and Cincinnati. Alaniz has allowed 18 runs in 18 1/3 career innings, but he’s coming off a nice season in Triple-A.
The 30-year-old made 33 appearances with the Reds’ top affiliate in Louisville. He tossed 39 innings of 3.46 ERA ball, punching out an impressive 26.9% of opposing hitters. He issued walks at a slightly elevated 10.2% clip, but he missed enough bats in the minors to get a late-season cameo in Cincinnati. The Reds outrighted him off their roster at the end of the year, at which point he elected minor league free agency.
Brennan, 30, was briefly a teammate of Alaniz with the Mariners in 2019. Seattle selected him out of the White Sox’s farm system in the Rule 5 draft the year prior, and he stuck on the active roster all year for a rebuilding M’s club. Brennan made 44 appearances, pitching to a 4.56 ERA with a decent 24% strikeout percentage but a 12.2% walk rate. Carrying him on the roster all season entitled the Mariners to his long-term contractual rights, but an oblique strain limited him to five appearances in 2020.
Seattle designated Brennan for assignment last April, and he landed with the Red Sox via waivers. He only made one appearance in Boston, tossing three scoreless innings but getting DFA the next day as the Sox needed fresh arms for the bullpen. He cleared outright waivers but was released in September after posting just a 5.97 ERA in 37 2/3 frames with Triple-A Worcester.
The Braves have quite a bit of their season-opening bullpen already locked in. They’ve added Kenley Jansen, Collin McHugh and Tyler Thornburg to a unit that already included Will Smith, Luke Jackson, Tyler Matzek and A.J. Minter, with Sean Newcomb and Dylan Lee perhaps factoring into the mix. There’s unlikely to be room for either Alaniz or Brennan in the early going, but they both figure to serve as experienced depth options with Triple-A Gwinnett.
These are good signings as you can never have enough depth in your ball club.
The NL East is a gauntlet. Seems to me Bravos want to shorten the game, then lock it down with the BP. To play that way they need arms. Another AA move.
We think the NL East is a gauntlet every year though… it’s hard to disagree, but I’ll have to believe it when I see it.
Fangraphs projects that the Mets, Phillies and Marlins will improve by a combined 34 wins over last year, with all of them having a winning record. The Mets and Phillies have spent a ton, and the Marlins have spent more than usual for them. I agree that we’ll need to see the proof in the pudding, but on paper they’ve all improved a lot.
Little late on this news mlbtr. Looks like Brennan was signed March 10th. In fact, his baseball reference page already has him in a Braves uniform. To be fair, y’all kill it on more important moves though.
Anyhow, just the Braves filling out their pretty rough minor league ranks. Literally need to have serviceable players in the minors… it is a business at the end of the day. Those of y’all who keep up with it, the Augusta green jackets were some kind of awful last year. They basically had 2 guys worth watching on the team. Otherwise, most of the team was very hard to watch. With guys expecting promotions, traded, or released/retired, the Braves farm is in rough shape. I said this in another post, but after a handful of “top prospects” there is a quick and significant drop off in talent
Those international FA sanctions are finally rearing their head, especially after reduced drafts (esp. 2020 5 rds) that ATL does well in increasing depth with late round finds.
Cannot forget they’ve also added a fully healthy Darren O’Day, and they will also be welcoming Kirby Yates aboard come July’ish…
Plus, whenever Spencer Strider nears his innings limit, they will likely bring him up from AAA with his wicked 100+fastball and nasty curve…
There are other options they’ll have at AAA that can serve as openers or multi-inning options as well like Tucker Davidson, Touki Toussaint, and/or Bryce Elder…
There is no reason whatsoever the Braves shouldn’t have FAR AND AWAY the best bullpen in baseball, and thats especially the case when rosters expand and the MiL season ends!!
I’m not 100% sold on O’Day being anything useful. Never liked him (as a pitcher) and wouldn’t mind if he was traded for someone else.
I’d be shocked if either of O’Day or Yates are fully healthy this season.
Reports like this remind me how complicated it is running a baseball operation. Scouts are constantly on the lookout for players who can improve the organization, if only incrementally. There’s a continuous evaluation going on of the players already in the org and the players who become available, determining who to keep and who to let go, and who to sign.