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Latest On Angel Pagan

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We’ve heard mostly crickets on the market for veteran outfielder Angel Pagan, who turned in a strong bounceback year in 2016 (.277/.331/.418 with 12 home runs and 15 stolen bases) but remains unsigned with camp well underway. MLBTR’s Steve Adams recently looked at the possible landing spots for the 35-year-old Pagan, who has been linked at least loosely to teams such as the Nationals, Blue Jays, and (quite a ways back) Orioles.

Here’s the latest on his situation:

  • On hand to face his old Giants club as a member of team Puerto Rico, Pagan spoke with reporters including MLB.com’s Chris Haft (links to Twitter). He says that he has only been offered minor-league deals, which obviously haven’t held appeal. “I just don’t feel I need to be fighting for a job,” he said. “If a team wants me to help a team win, they know I can help them win.” Pagan added that he’s healthy and certainly suggested he’s still hoping to find a place to play in 2017. “They’ll see it in the [World] Baseball Classic,” he said.

Earlier Updates

  • The Braves have made Pagan an offer, per Henry Schulman of the San Francisco Chronicle (via Twitter), but it was of the minor-league variety. Understandably, Pagan is looking for a MLB roster spot, according to the report. While that’s not surprising, given his solid work last year and long history as a semi-regular player, it remains to be seen whether such an opportunity will arise.
  • For the time being, at least, Pagan seems willing to wait and see whether he does find a 40-man spot. His agent Greg Genske tells Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports (Twitter links) that Pagan is currently focused on preparing to play in the World Baseball Classic with Puerto Rico. It’ll certainly be interesting to see how he performs, and whether or not that may have some impact on the interest level around the league.
  • That said, Genske notes that Pagan “has received several offers from clubs during the off-season and since start of spring training.” To date, the agent adds, he “has not yet found the right fit.” Whether that’s his way of saying that MLB offers haven’t been forthcoming, or whether Pagan is heavily weighing other factors (money, role, location, etc.), isn’t immediately clear. All told, though, it seems reasonable to expect that some organization will find enough of a need — whether due to injury or reevaluation of internal options — to offer Pagan at least a reserve/platoon job with some amount of guaranteed money.

Reds Claim Christian Walker, Designate Jumbo Diaz For Assignment

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The Reds have claimed first baseman Christian Walker off waivers from the Braves and designated right-hander Jumbo Diaz for assignment in order to clear a spot on the 40-man roster, tweets Zach Buchanan of the Cincinnati Enquirer. Atlanta had just picked up Walker off waivers a couple of weeks ago, but they clearly weren’t able to succeed in passing him through waivers themselves.

Walker, 26 later this month, was long viewed as a potential first base/DH option in the Orioles organization, but both of those spots are blocked in the long-term by Chris Davis and Mark Trumbo. Beyond that, Walker had seen himself leapfrogged by fellow first base/DH prospect Trey Mancini within the Orioles’ ranks.

[Related: Updated Cincinnati Reds Depth Chart]

Walker saw brief cups of coffee with Baltimore in both 2014 and 2015, hitting just .148/.258/.296 in a minuscule sample of 31 plate appearances. And while the former fourth-round pick (2012) has turned in solid overall numbers across parts of three Triple-A campaigns, he’s never exactly exhibited any sort of mastery over upper-level minor league pitching. In 1332 plate appearances with Baltimore’s Triple-A affiliate in Norfolk, Walker has a .260/.324/.429 batting line to go along with 42 homers and 72 doubles.

While he’s been primarily a first baseman in his pro career, Walker did spend some time in left field last year (90 games), so he could be an option as a bench bat with Cincinnati. The Reds do have a left-handed-hitting right fielder in Scott Schebler, so Cincinnati could potentially utilize some sort of platoon if the team is comfortable with Walker’s relative lack of corner outfield experience. In that sense, he could be competing with non-roster invitee Ryan Raburn for a roster spot. Additionally, he has a minor league option remaining, so the Reds could simply send him to Louisville to open the season, where he’d serve as a depth option.

As for Diaz, the 33-year-old posted what looked on the surface to be a solid 3.14 ERA in 43 innings with the Reds last year, but his peripheral numbers painted a less optimistic picture. Diaz posted career-worst marks in K/9 (7.7), BB/9 (4.0), swinging-strike rate (10.4 percent) and average fastball velocity (95.9 mph). He also benefited greatly from a .239 average on balls in play and an 80.4 percent strand rate — both of which seem likely to regress in 2017 and beyond.

Of course, those velocity and swinging-strike rate marks are still better than the league average, so perhaps there’s hope yet that Diaz could rebound and again work as a serviceable middle-relief option. In 138 frames at the Major League level, Diaz sports a 3.65 ERA with a 144-to-51 K/BB ratio and a 43.7 percent ground-ball rate. Given his age and the current juncture of Spring Training, Diaz could certainly clear waivers and remain with the Reds in a non-roster capacity.

Jesse Biddle Returns To The Mound

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  • Former Phillies first-rounder Jesse Biddle is looking to revive his career with the Braves, though he tells Matt Gelb of the Philadelphia Inquirer that he has no hard feelings towards his old club for trading him to the Pirates in February 2016.  Once a fixture of top-100 prospect lists, Biddle ran into some struggles as he reached the upper minors, and his career was halted entirely when he underwent Tommy John surgery in October 2015.  Atlanta claimed Biddle off waivers from Pittsburgh last March and the southpaw was finally back on the mound on Saturday, facing (ironically) the Phils in Spring Training action.

Braves Sign David Hale To Minors Deal

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  • The Braves signed right-hander David Hale to a minor league deal earlier this winter, and the righty made his spring debut for Atlanta yesterday (hat tip to reader Paul Tate for his e-mail about the under-the-radar move).  Hale was originally drafted his hometown Braves in 2009 and he posted a solid 3.30 ERA in 87 1/3 IP during his 2014 rookie season, pitching mostly out of the bullpen.  He struggled after a January 2015 trade to the Rockies, however, and Hale pitched in just two big league games in 2016 before being claimed off waivers by the Orioles and eventually outrighted off their 40-man roster in August.  Hale discussed his recent history and his return to the Braves earlier this week in a radio interview on Macon 93.1 FM’s Bill Shanks Show (audio link).

Armando Rivero Cleared To Resume Throwing

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  • Braves Rule 5 pick Armando Rivero has been dealing with shoulder soreness, though manager Brian Snitker said Saturday that there’s no sign of structural damage, tweets Mark Bowman of MLB.com. Braves doctors cleared the righty, previously with the Cubs, to continue throwing and vying for a job with Atlanta. Rivero, 29, pitched to a 2.13 ERA and recorded a sky-high 13.97 K/9 against a bloated 4.66 BB/9 in 67 2/3 innings with the Cubs’ Triple-A affiliate in 2016.

Braves Notes: Ozzie Albies, Dustin Peterson

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  • Braves prospect Ozzie Albies is set to be examined on Monday, with hopes he’ll be cleared for full baseball activities, as David O’Brien of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution reports. Albies, who is working back from an olecranon fracture in his right elbow, may be ready for game action as soon as the middle of next week. That still doesn’t leave much time or opportunity for him to earn an Opening Day job, though that possibility likely evaporated when the injury took place. The 20-year-old will likely end up spending a bit more time refining his game in the upper minors, though it seems reasonable to anticipate he’ll get the call up to the majors at some point in the season to come.
  • Meanwhile, fellow Braves prospect Dustin Peterson will be delayed to start the season after undergoing hamate surgery, per a club announcement. Removal of the hook of the hamate bone is a fairly common procedure, and doesn’t appear to pose a significant problem in the long run, but it tends to sap power for some time upon a player’s return. The 22-year-old outfielder is seen as an increasingly important part of Atlanta’s future. Last year, he slashed .282/.343/.431 and hit a dozen home runs in 578 plate appearances at Double-A, representing a big step forward from his prior output. Peterson came to the Braves from the Padres as part of the pre-2015 Justin Upton trade.

Braves Leaning Toward 8-Man Bullpen

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Rule 5 Pick Rivero Nursing Sore Shoulder

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  • MLB.com’s Mark Bowman tweets that Braves Rule 5 pick Armando Rivero is currently dealing with shoulder soreness that stems from his stint in the Venezuelan Winter League this offseason. Selected out of the Cubs organization, the 29-year-old Rivero pitched to an exceptional 2.13 earned run average in 67 2/3 innings with Chicago’s Triple-A affiliate last season. Along the way, the Cuban-born righty averaged a whopping 14 strikeouts per nine innings pitched, though he also averaged 4.7 walks per nine in that time.

Latest On Braves' Finances

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Because they are owned by a public company, the Braves are required to disclose financial information that other organizations can keep in house. Those interested in reading up on the financial health of the Atlanta organization can check out this article from Tim Tucker of the Atlanta Journal-Constution, which rounds up some info from a recent conference call involving Liberty Media CEO Greg Maffei. The team lost money last year, though he says that was due in large part to its major international expenditures. Maffei also commented on reports that the Marlins might sell for $1.6B, saying that he was “not surprised” to see those numbers, while adding that he sees the Braves as a “far more valuable” franchise.

Kurt Suzuki Competing For R.A. Dickey Catching Duties

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  • Braves catcher Kurt Suzuki is drawing praise for his handling of knuckleballer R.A. Dickey, as MLB.com’s Mark Bowman writes. Dickey himself and manager Brian Snitker both said that the veteran Suzuki did well receiving the tricky righty in his first attempt in game action. That may bode well for his bid to carve out playing time, as the organization intends to utilize either Suzuki or Tyler Flowers as the primary knuckleball catcher. It’s not yet clear how the playing time will be allocated between the two backstops out of the gate, though that seems likely to change throughout the season depending upon performance. Anthony Recker is also on hand as an option behind the dish, but he doesn’t appear to have a clear path to a roster spot.
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