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Braves Claim Grant Dayton

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The Braves have claimed lefty Grant Dayton from the Dodgers, Bill Shaikin of the Los Angeles Times was among those to tweet. He underwent Tommy John surgery this August.

Atlanta is also adding two lefties to its 40-man roster to protect them from the Rule 5 draft. Adam McCreery and Ricardo Sanchez both had their contracts selected, MLB.com’s Mark Bowman tweets.

The addition of Dayton becomes the first acquisition for newly hired Braves GM Alex Anthopoulos, who is certainly quite familiar with the southpaw from his time in the Dodgers front office. Atlanta, evidently, can afford the greater patience — as well as the inconvenience of tying up a 40-man spot for part of the offseason — that comes with Dayton as he rehabs.

Certainly, Dayton carries an intriguing background to his new organization. He seemingly came from nowhere to dominate down the stretch and become one of the Dodgers’ top relievers in 2016. But Dayton showed signs of trouble throughout the 2017 season and ultimately struggled to a 4.94 ERA with 7.6 K/9 and 4.6 BB/9 in 23 2/3 innings before going down with a UCL injury.

Given the timing of the surgery, it’s fairly likely that Dayton won’t pitch in the majors in 2018. The Braves can, of course, add him to the 60-day DL to open the year, but will have to clog a 40-man spot in the meantime to maintain control rights.

Braves Front Office Unimpressed By Kevin Maitan?

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  • The Braves “expect to lose” prized prospect Kevin Maitan as part of MLB’s investigation into the team’s alleged violations of international and domestic amateur signing rules, Gammons hear from a source within the Atlanta organization.  Interestingly, the feeling within the new Braves front office (now led by new GM Alex Anthopoulos) is that “Maitan was [not] worth the money or the hype,” so losing him wouldn’t be a major setback for the farm system.  Maitan signed for a $4.25MM bonus at the opening of the 2016-17 July 2 international signing period, and he hit .241/.290/.340 in his first pro season, receiving 176 PA in rookie ball.  Despite those unimpressive numbers, Maitan came into the season as a consensus top-100 prospect in baseball and is still just 17 years old — even if the new Braves decision-makers weren’t keen on Maitan, they’d still be losing a significant trade chip if the league did indeed void his contract with the team.

    [SOURCE LINK]

John Hart Leaves Braves Organization

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The Braves announced on Friday that former president of baseball operations John Hart has stepped down and is leaving the organization “to pursue other opportunities.” Hart’s departure comes less than two months after GM John Coppolella resigned from his post due to infractions on the international free agent market and in the domestic amateur draft.

While it has been reported that the league would not sanction Hart based on its investigation into the matter, Hart was moved to a diminished role (senior advisor) earlier this week when Alex Anthopoulos was hired as the team’s new general manager and given full authority over the baseball operations department.

Through a team press release, Hart issued the following statement:

“This was a difficult decision, but it’s one that I made with the best interests of the Atlanta Braves in mind. With the hiring of Alex Anthopoulos as general manager, this organization is in great hands. I believe that the talent of the Major League players, combined with the young talent soon to arrive, makes the Braves poised for a great run of success. This is a good time to step aside and let Alex and his group put their stamp on this great franchise.

I still have a tremendous passion for this great game, and I plan to stay active and contribute to the game.  I want to thank Braves fans – the best fans in baseball – for your patience during this rebuilding time.  You will soon see the winning team that you deserve.  I also want to thank my beautiful and supportive family. I am very excited to see how the next chapter of our life unfolds. Finally, I want to thank my longtime friend, John Schuerholz, for convincing me to come to Atlanta to oversee the rebuild. And especially to our leader, Terry McGuirk, who has shown such passion for returning to a winning place.  Thank you all, and Go Braves!”

The extent to which Hart was or was not involved in the club’s front-office scandal may never be fully known. There’s a prevailing argument, though, that it’s equally as damning for the president of an organization to be completely in the dark while his two of his primary lieutenants (at least) commit what has been reported to be an “unprecedented” level of violations on the amateur talent acquisition front. Suffice it to say, his resignation — whether forced or voluntary — comes with little surprise.

Hart may well land with another organization in an advisory capacity down the road, depending on the findings of the league’s investigation. If it is deemed that his sole transgression was merely a lack of oversight of his charges, a club could look past that in order to hire an advisor with nearly two decades of experience as a president or general manager and is considered one of the more influential executives in MLB history. Hart has also served as a television analyst on MLB Network in the past and could look into other media opportunities as well.

Heyman’s Latest: Moore, Cain, Rangers, Vargas/O’s, Rodney/D-Backs

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In his latest Inside Baseball column, Jon Heyman of Fan Rag looks into the Royals front office. Owner David Glass is “considering a possible two-year extension” for GM Dayton Moore, writes Heyman, even though Moore has “no leverage” given that he’s already under contract for three more seasons. This all arises after Glass declined to allow the Braves to speak with Moore about changing squads. While Moore has expressed gratitude to ownership, his recent comments were interesting, if difficult to interpret with any precision. All told, it seems there could still be some unresolved matters in the Kansas City front office.

Let’s look at a few more items from Heyman of particular relevance to the still-developing hot stove season:

  • Top free agent center fielder Lorenzo Cain has drawn some early interest from the Mets and Giants, according to Heyman. As regards the New York organization, this information seems to conflict with recent statements from Mets GM Sandy Alderson — though as ever it’s worth taking things with a grain of salt and acknowledging fluidity this time of year. As for the Giants, we at MLBTR pegged San Francisco as the likeliest landing spot for Cain, though some doubt whether the organization will go over the luxury tax line and sacrifice draft choices to land him. At a minimum, though, the organization would seem to be wise to do some diligence on the possibility.
  • The Rangers have “looked into” free agent righties Lance Lynn and Tyler Chatwood, says Heyman. While it’s not clear just how serious the interest is, the link isn’t surprising. Texas clearly needs arms; indeed, MLBTR guessed they’d land Lynn. While Chatwood doesn’t have nearly the track record of results that Lynn does, he is an intriguing option in his own right and shares some of the characteristics of Andrew Cashner — the former Ranger free agent signee who is himself back on the open market.
  • Another team with a desire to add several starters (and with reputed interest in Chatwood) is the Orioles. The Baltimore front office met with agents for lefty Jason Vargas during the GM Meetings, Heyman reports. The 34-year-old veteran seems to be a good match for the O’s, as we predicted, since the team needs to find so many rotation innings and can’t afford to make major long-term commitments to multiple starters.
  • The Diamondbacks are “open” to bringing back Fernando Rodney, GM Mike Hazen tells Heyman. Arizona is facing a difficult payroll situation but obviously will be looking to maintain and improve upon a Wild Card-winning roster. Though Rodney didn’t dominate last year, he’s still throwing mid-nineties heat and generating quite a few swings and misses — and obviously met with the approval of the D-Backs’ brass in the closer’s role. Beyond improving the pen, the Arizona priority is to improve in the outfield, per the report. That could mean pursuing under-the-radar additions; though Hazen says he’s not ruling out a return for J.D. Martinez, that’d almost certainly require the kind of payroll increase that does not appear to be under consideration.

Anthopoulos Unlikely To Make Sweeping Changes

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  • Newly minted Braves general manager Alex Anthopoulos told reporters today that he doesn’t feel pressure to come in and “accelerate things” or rush the process with his new club (link via David O’Brien of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution). Anthopoulos said he’s spoken with John Hart and AGMs Adam Fisher and Perry Minisian at length to help garner as much knowledge as possible about his new organization in a short time. The former Blue Jays GM (who worked with Minisian in Toronto) expressed excitement over the club’s farm system, calling out Ronald Acuna, Austin Riley and Max Fried, among others, as players he’s excited to see develop. Anthopoulos noted that there have been internal discussions about the bullpen and about third base, where Riley is rising through the ranks, though he unsurprisingly didn’t exactly tip his hand as to which way they’d proceed this winter. Anthopoulos stressed the desire to build a sustainable contender in Atlanta and didn’t sound like a GM who anticipated coming in to make wholesale changes to an organization with a farm system that’s on the rise. Braves fans will absolutely want to check out the full column, as it’s packed with insightful quotes from the team’s new top baseball decision-maker.

Braves, Orioles Have Interest In Peter Moylan

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  • The Orioles and Braves are interested in righty Peter Moylan, per MLB.com’s Mark Bowman (via Twitter). Moylan, a 38-year-old Aussie, has befuddled hitters for three years running, compiling a 3.46 ERA with 6.9 K/9 and 3.2 BB/9 over his past 114 1/3 innings since beginning an unlikely comeback. Moylan had signed with the Braves as a minor-league player/coach in 2015; he has excelled all the more since going to the Royals for the ensuing season and led the American League in appearances in 2017. While clubhouse presence is a factor that’s difficult to assess from the outside, Moylan also promises to make a tangible off-field contribution to whatever team lands him.

Braves Name Alex Anthopoulos General Manager

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NOV. 13: The Braves have issued a press release confirming the hire of Anthopoulos as their new executive vice president and general manager. Anthopoulos signed a four-year contract and will report directly to Braves CEO Terry McGuirk, per the release.

“The past few months have been the toughest in our storied history,” said McGuirk in a statement. “We are excited to have Alex lead our baseball operations team and begin a bright, new chapter for our organization. We chose Alex because he is of the highest character and has a wealth of MLB leadership experience.  He is one of the elite baseball executives in our industry and is the perfect person to lead us to a World Series.”

Notably, too, the McGuirk’s statement offers some clarity on Hart’s role. The veteran executive “will relinquish his active involvement in baseball operations and will move into the role of senior advisor to the Atlanta Braves, effective immediately,” per the announcement.

NOV. 12: The Braves will hire Alex Anthopoulos as their new general manager, Joel Sherman of the New York Post reports (Twitter links).  The official announcement could come this week during the GM Meetings.  Anthopoulos will be the team’s final decision-maker in baseball-related matters, with John Hart remaining as the team’s president of baseball operations for now but in more of a “counsel/figurehead” type of capacity.

Alex Anthopoulos | Nick Turchiaro-USA TODAY Sports

It was less than six weeks ago that Atlanta’s front office was thrown into disarray with the shocking resignations of former GM John Coppolella and international scouting director Gordon Blakely due to accusations that the team had violated international signing rules.  Major League Baseball is still conducting an investigation into the matter, which has now expanded to exploring possible misdeeds involving the signings of domestic amateurs in the draft.  It isn’t yet known how or when the league will issue its punishments towards the Braves, though the ruling is expected to be severe, given the reported scope of the charges.  Hart apparently won’t face any punishment from the league, though he has seemingly lost his previous role atop Atlanta’s baseball operations department.  Hart’s contract expired after the season and it remains to be seen if he’ll continue in this apparently reduced role or if he could depart for another job elsewhere.

Royals GM Dayton Moore (who spent more than 11 years working in the Braves front office) was considered to be the team’s first choice for the job, though Royals owner David Glass denied the Braves permission to speak to his general manager, and it wasn’t clear how interested Moore actually was in a return to Atlanta.  The Braves were clearly focused on adding an experienced GM to help lead the team through the uncertainty of the MLB investigation, as Nationals assistant GM Doug Harris was the only reported candidate who hadn’t previously run a Major League front office.  Beyond Anthopoulos and Moore, other names under consideration included Jim Hendry, Ben Cherington, Dan O’Dowd, Josh Byrnes, and Dan Jennings.

Still just 40 years old, Anthopoulos brings a wealth of front office experience to Atlanta.  The Montreal native spent almost a decade in scouting roles with the Expos and Blue Jays and then served as the Jays’ assistant GM before being named Toronto’s general manager in October 2009.  Thought to be taking over a rebuilding team (his first major move was trading Roy Halladay to the Phillies), Anthopoulos shifted direction once Jose Bautista unexpectedly emerged as a top slugger in 2010, and his tenure was marked by bold and often surprising transactions.

Anthopoulos’ successes included the team-friendly extensions for Bautista and Edwin Encarnacion, trading Vernon Wells’ seemingly immovable contract to the Angels, the acquisition of Josh Donaldson from the Athletics, and the twin blockbuster deals at the 2015 July non-waiver trade deadline that brought David Price and Troy Tulowitzki to Toronto.  The 2015 team ended up as Anthopoulos’ crowning achievement, as the Jays ended a 22-year postseason drought by winning the AL East and then advancing to the ALCS.

It was just after that season, however, that Anthopoulos left the Jays’ GM job, finishing out his contract after rejecting a pair of extension offers.  Mark Shapiro had been hired as the Blue Jays’ new team president and CEO midway through the 2015 season, and Anthopoulos had no interest continuing in what essentially would have been a lesser role in the team’s baseball ops department, with Shapiro now calling the shots.  Anthopoulos has spent the last two seasons working as the Dodgers’ VP of baseball operations.

Anthopoulos will now again take the reins of a rebuilding team, though the Braves may also be somewhat close to respectability given the amount of proven (Freddie Freeman, Ender Inciarte, Julio Teheran, Arodys Vizcaino) and on-the-cusp of a breakout (Ozzie Albies, Dansby Swanson) talent on the big league roster.  The Braves also boast arguably the best farm system in baseball, including ready-to-debut outfielder Ronald Acuna and top prospect Kevin Maitan (though Maitan’s own signing as an international amateur has been scrutinized by MLB’s investigation).

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

Braves Release Armando Rivero

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  • The Braves released right-hander Armando Rivero.  Atlanta chose Rivero in last year’s Rule 5 Draft but Rivero missed the entire season due to shoulder problems.  The Braves outrighted Rivero off their 40-man roster last month, so the Cubs officially declined the opportunity to take the righty back.  Rivero has a 2.70 ERA, 12.4 K/9 and 2.83 K/BB rate over 220 career innings in the minors, all as a reliever in Chicago’s system.

    [SOURCE LINK]

Latest On The Braves’ Front Office Search

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10:14pm: The Braves are moving on from Moore, MLB.com’s Mark Bowman reports, as “hope evaporated this weekend” that Moore would be made available by the Royals.  In regards to Hart’s future, Bowman notes that since both Anthopoulos and Hendry are experienced general managers, either could take over the Braves’ baseball ops department should Hart no longer continue with the organization.  “The Braves likely will make a decision as soon as possible” about their new GM, and Anthopoulos looks like the favorite.

7:39pm: Dayton Moore is still the Braves’ top choice to become the club’s new general manager, though if Atlanta isn’t able to get Moore away from the Royals, Joel Sherman of the New York Post reports that former Blue Jays GM Alex Anthopoulos is “the preferred Plan B” option.  Three sources paint Anthopoulos as the front-runner for the job, given that there still seems to be little traction to the idea of Moore leaving Kansas City for Atlanta.

The situation is far from being finalized, however, due to the Braves holding out hope that Moore could still become available, Major League Baseball’s ongoing investigation into signing violations under former Braves GM John Coppolella, and the status of Braves president of baseball operations John Hart.  Sherman reports that Hart prefers Anthopoulos for the GM job, while club vice chairman John Schuerholz is thought to prefer former Cubs GM Jim Hendry.  Hart’s own contract with the Braves expired after the 2017 season, and it isn’t yet clear if he will remain atop Atlanta’s baseball ops pyramid or if the team could desire a clean slate with a new name in charge of the front office.  (In regards to Moore, he would reportedly want full control over the Braves’ operations if he were to join the organization.)

Anthopoulos, 40, worked as Toronto’s GM for six seasons, building the nucleus that led the Jays to consecutive runs to the ALCS in 2015-16.  He somewhat surprisingly left the job after his contract was up after the 2015 season, however, the presence of new Jays president Mark Shapiro meant that Anthopoulos would’ve essentially been demoted to second-in-command on the team’s depth chart of baseball decision-makers.

Anthopoulos has worked as the Dodgers’ VP of baseball operations since January 2016, and turned down offers from the Twins and Diamondbacks last year when the two clubs were in the midst of their own GM searches.  Family concerns were reportedly behind Anthopoulos’ decision to bow out of those searches, as he didn’t want to uproot his young children from the west coast so quickly.  As Sherman notes, however, the Braves’ job “is viewed as attractive” around baseball due to the team’s deep well of prospects, even despite the likelihood that MLB will level some type of punishment against the franchise.

Brian McCann Hopes To End Career With Braves

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  • Astros catcher Brian McCann told Gabriel Burns of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution on Friday that he’d like to end his career as a member of the Braves, with whom he thrived from 2005-13. “One hundred percent,” said the 33-year-old McCann. “One hundred percent. This is my home. I played close to 10 years here. This organization is really, really, really close to my heart. I love this organization.” McCann, a Georgia native who still lives there, will be a free agent next offseason if the Astros decline his $15MM option. Braves backstops Tyler Flowers and Kurt Suzuki are also slated to hit the open market, which could pave the way for a McCann-Atlanta reunion in 2019 if the club’s interested in making it happen.
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