Braves Off Season Outfield Options
By Fred Owens
Aug 19, 2015; San Diego, CA, USA; Atlanta Braves right fielder Nick Markakis (22) hits an RBI double during the eighth inning against the San Diego Padres at Petco Park. Mandatory Credit: Jake Roth-USA TODAY Sports
The Braves outfield like the rest of the team is a work in progress. With money short and help needed were could they look?
Aging Outfield
As I watch the World Series and see players like Lorenzo Cain and Alex Gordon making pitchers feel all warm and fuzzy the Braves cobbled together outfield haunts me. In right field Nick Markakis is the incumbent The former gold glove outfielder is a shadow of his old self on defense. He’s slow and his arm is no longer right field caliber. Base runners take the extra base on him without a second thought and depending on your metric he was either a –6 DRS, .900 RZR or a –3.7 UZR this year.
I accept that the surgery cost him power at the plate but that wasn’t the reason his defense wasn’t good enough. Moving him to left make all kinds of sense. His bat was still good enough to warrant a start every day and in left his range and arm aren’t as big a deal. Whether the Braves do that or not depends largely on the manager; so no I doubt it.
In left we have a combination of Nick Swisher who has some pop but not much range, Michael Bourn who seems to have lost his bat, lost and lost some of his range but is still good enough defensively and Adonis Garcia who offers pop and strikeouts along with at least average defense.
Center field is currently occupied by Cameron Maybin who continues to flatter to deceive, He started off like the hot prospect he was supposed to be and ended like the fourth outfielder he’s become. Waiting in the wings but unlikely to be seen before the season is 130 days old at the earliest (Super Two stuff), is Mallex Smith. Until Smith arrives, Bourn will spell Maybin when he’s need a day off.
Clearly that’s an uninspiring crew but with free agents expensive and trades difficult, where could they look?
Next: Agents That are Anything BUT Free