Mark Hamilton Signs With Braves

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Spring training will be here before we know it, and we now know that they’ll be one more shiny, new face in Florida.  We learned from Chris Cotillo of MLB Daily Dish that the Atlanta Braves have signed Mark Hamilton to a minor league contract.

Hamilton, a first baseman, was a 2nd round pick for the St. Louis Cardinal back in the 2006 MLB Amateur Draft.  Hamilton had a brief stint with the Cardinals in just 47 games between the 2010 and 2011 seasons, but we’ve seen neither hide nor hair of him since, at least in the majors.

At just 29 years of age, Hamilton will add some of that bench depth that Frank Wren talked about and settled for during the recent Winter Meetings.  Like the recent signing of Gamel however, the jury is still certainly out on how much the first baseman can actually help the club.  Also like Gamel, Mark is low risk as well and cheap, and could be high ceiling with a change of scenery and a new-found opportunity to make his presence felt.

Hamilton hit on a line of .265/.365/.458 with 12 homers and 60 RBIs, while playing 89 games this past season for the Gulf Coast League’s Red Sox, and also Boston’s AAA club Pawtucket out of Rhode Island.  Not bad!  Perhaps Hamilton is hungry, and I could potentially see as much gain from him as from Gamel for bench depth.

If nothing else, we all know how much Fredi likes to play Freddie.  Freeman rarely gets any rest, and the signings of both Gamel and Hamilton potentially add great future depth at first base.

As always, let us know your Take on this signing in our comments section below….