Did The Atlanta Braves Make The Best Decision With Adding A.J. Pierzynski

The Atlanta Braves signed A.J. Pierzynski to a one-year, $2 million contract last Wednesday, plus chances for performance and award bonuses.  The 6-foot-3 catcher who bats on the left side of the plate will supplement the catcher spot with youngster Christan Bethancourt.  The veteran catcher has s career slash line of .281/.320/.424 but had a down year in 2014 – career low batting average of .251 with the Boston Red Sox and St. Louis Cardinals….(was released by the Red Sox on July 16 and added by the Cardinals on July 26)

The guys on MLB Network, Jon Heyman and Cliff Floyd talked about the Braves signing of Pierzynski on Monday night’s show.

“I like it, certainly he can spice things up,” Heyman described.  “It’s a good veteran presence for Bethancourt to learn from.  Bethancourt is terrific defensively but just getting his feet wet at the major league level.  Here you get a nice safety net with A.J. Pierzynski and he’s one who’s done this for a long, long time at the major league level.”

When he left Boston, there was a little conflict going on.  There were reports he was being a little distant from the team and a little selfish.

“He’s a pro…what I mean by that is he just knows how to go about his business and get the job done,” Floyd said.  “He comes to the Braves from last year where he goes from the Boston Red Sox to the St. Louis Cardinals.  When you look at what the Cardinals do, they don’t bring in junk…they bring in guys that will fit their system.  When he left Boston, there was a little conflict going on.  There were reports he was being a little distant from the team and a little selfish.  Well, he went to a great organization in the Cardinals and I don’t think they would of taken that extra step if they didn’t think he could be a good fit.”

This was an interesting comment from Cliff Floyd…if you remember back in July numerous reports were coming out about the players and Red Sox front office being unhappy about Pierzynski.  Some of the complaints were he spent a significant amount of time looking at his phone while at his locker during games, he would say what he wanted when he wanted without much regard, from the dugout he would yell across the field at the opposition, as well as ridicule umpires during replay challenges.

From an article I found dated back to July 10 from Rob Bradford of WEEI 93.7FM, he described the relationship between Pierzynski and the Red Sox to be “by the end, it was worse than anybody could have expected.”

"“Pierzynski had become such a negative influence on the team that players approached both the Sox coaches and front office to address the problem,” Bradford went on to say in his post.  “The common theme expressed was the catcher’s seeming indifference toward his teammates and the common goals of the same organization that had relied on an all-for-one approach.”"

Pierzynksi has been known for being a quick-talking, quick-witted ball player and was disliked by many outside and inside the surrounding areas of Chicago.  He was known as the “Bad Boy” of the Chicago White Sox.  The New York Times said in an article in 2006 that “He does subtle things, tiny but annoying things, to unnerve opponents, trumpet himself or his team and, in turn, agitate fans.”

Some fans are discouraged by a player doing anything to gain an edge on his opponent, while others think it’s a competitive trait that is for the good of the team.  Pierzynski tries to get hitters off balance by talking with them at the plate or talking with the umpires to try to get an advantage with calls.

Then there was the Chicago Cubs and Chicago White Sox bench clearing brawl that involved Pierzynski.  He ran over

after a sac fly at the plate and while he started walking back to the dugout he lowered his shoulder right into Barrett.  This unset Barrett and led to a solid punch to Pierzynski’s face and the benches cleared.

So did the Braves make the best decision with adding A.J. Pierzynski to their roster?  Time will only tell but it all depends on which player we get.

This will be an extremely different situation for the veteran catcher as he will be in a backup situation and be backing up a very young catcher.  Also, he’s joining an overall extremely young team and pitching staff.  Prior to 2014, he had over 100 games started at the catcher position since 2001.  Even in 2014, he was pretty much an everyday starter for the Red Sox and the Cardinals with 80 games started between both teams.

I’m curious to what the Braves are promising Pierzynski with playing time and really hope this doesn’t blow up in their faces.

Less than 100 days away from opening day and just over a month until pitchers and catchers report to Spring Training.  We’ll soon find out how the Braves offseason plays out.