The Braves have agreed to a minor league deal with veteran utilityman Ehire Adrianza, reports Justin Toscano of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. He’ll be invited to Major League Spring Training. Atlanta also signed infielder Mitchell Tolman to a minor league pact, per Toscano, though he won’t be in big league camp this spring. Adrianza would earn a $1MM salary if selected to the Major League roster, Daniel Alvarez-Montes of El Extra Base reports.
Adrianza, 33, has spent time with the Braves in each of the past two seasons, including a solid 2021 showing that saw him post a .247/.327/.401 batting line (95 wRC+) while logging time at five different positions. That 2021 campaign, however, has been bookended by a pair of dreary seasons at the plate, the most recent of which saw the switch-hitting Adrianza slash just .175/.264/.206 in 110 trips to the plate between the Nationals and Braves.
While Adrianza graded out as an above-average defender at shortstop earlier in his career, he’s drawn negative reviews in recent seasons and, accordingly, spent more time at third base, second base and in the outfield corners. Adrianza has at least fleeting experience at every position on the diamond other than catcher, but he’s posted just a .215/.301/.318 batting line dating back to 2020.
The 28-year-old Tolman is a defensively versatile player himself, having logged substantial time at second base, third base and shortstop in a seven-year minor league career. The bulk of that time (4406 innings) has come at second base, but Tolman also has 950 innings at the hot corner and 508 innings at shortstop under his belt. He’s a career .257/.348/.450 hitter in Triple-A and spent the 2022 season with the Guardians’ Triple-A club, where he slashed .251/.350/.425 slash in 423 trips to the plate.
Seeing his name got The Oak Ridge Boys “Elvira” stuck in my head.
My heart’s on fire…
Win any chili cook-offs lately?
I got a real good eye for prime meat.
Hahaha I was hoping that was what you came back with. Classic!
P.S. Just try and watch those hard shell peppercorns..
Lol, classic.
Need a new middle infielder, go to Ehire.com
He is now Ehire the Rehire!
Get ‘‘em up uh oom pop uh oom pop uh mau mau.
I like it
If Swanson isnt back the Braves are going to need a glove first-type guy as a late inning replacement for Grissom. Not a ton of those guys available via free agency. I consider these two minor league signings as a contingency plan if one or more starters go down during spring training. AA still shopping around for utility guys….unless AA is happy with Shewmake.
I wonder if he asked himself if this was better than going over to the Nippon Ham Fighters…
Wouldn’t feel like the Braves without an occasional Adrianza transaction.
Kelly Johnson lives on!
Kelly Johnson was a good player tho. He had little stretches (especially on ARZ) where he was the hottest hitter on the planet for 1-3 weeks or so. I owned him in fantasy on Diamondbacks at one point when he was hitting a home run every other day. Adrianza is just some guy to plug in in the second game of a double header.lol
Not really any comparison with the player, but just how ATL IDs certain utility knife players and utilizes them. ATL got him in the twilight of his career and had decent defense/steady hitting all over the place (for ex: 2015 ATL played him: 1B, 2B, 3B, LF, RF, DH — all except P, C, CF, SS).
Yea. I understand. I just wanted to give Kelly Johnson a tip of the cap really
He will totally make the team. It is a given unless the Braves add to the bench.
It would be a sad day if he made the roster. I get not everyone can get paid…but this is reaching low.
In all fairness he has been ok in the past at times in his career and it’s hard to get going at the plate when you are playing so sporadically. But yea, he’s been pretty bad
I think the best case scenario for Adrianza would be Swanson signs elsewhere, Arcia gets SS job, and Grissom goes to AAA for everyday ABs.
I don’t think a lot of people are considering the possibility of Arcia playing SS everyday but it is quite possible. When he first came up he was a very good fielder at SS and it is his original position. The guy hits ok. I’m certainly not terrified of the possibility but that’s not a strong endorsement either.
Adrianza must mow Alex Anthopoulos’ lawn or something. They always want this dude back
He is a versatile bench piece if everything works out for him. He’s depth at AAA if not. He’s a known commodity to the organization so he’s probably a good teammate and clubhouse guy or wouldn’t have been offered a contract to be back if he wasn’t. No risk signing.
He’s a versatile bench piece if everything works out for him. He’s AAA depth if not. He’s a known commodity to the organization so he’s probably a good teammate and clubhouse guy. If he hasn’t he probably wouldn’t have been offered a contract to come back. It’s a no risk signing.
Sorry for the double comment, it was not intended. Haven’t trouble posting without getting an error.
glove first players are a dime a dozen in mlb.
If thats they route the braves go, maybe to get swanson to lower his asking price, swanson can say he can hit in mlb.
might as well have a andrelton simmons. reunion.
I’m been thinking that a Simmons reunion could be the plan B for the Braves.
I’ve been thinking Simmons could be the plan B if Swanson doesn’t resign.
Still holding out hope for a Dansby resigning. Hard to believe Minnesota as a destination. Cubs still have rebuilding to do. Red Sox front office is a mess. Hoping Braves and Swanson can split the difference and get something done. If not, Elvis Andrus has been suggested as an option.
I wonder what Yunel Escobar & Eric Aybar is up to?
He’s a nice bench/ depth piece. Hard to complain here. Can play pretty much the entire infield and even outfield (if needed)