Atlanta Braves Erick Aybar Getting Ready For The 2016 Season
By Jeff Schafer
On November 12, 2015 the Atlanta Braves acquired shortstop Erick Aybar from the Los Angeles Angels along with Chris Ellis and Sean Newcomb for Andrelton Simmons. This offseason, all the talk has been about the Braves young prospects and when they’ll be ready….what they aren’t talking about is Aybar.
The 32-year-old from the Dominican Republic is a 10 year veteran and has played every single game within the Angels organization since he signed with them as a free agent in 2002. Los Angeles is all Aybar previously knew and now he makes a new home on the opposite side of the country.
Heading into the 2016 season, Aybar is the Braves starting shortstop – granted an injury occurs. Dansby Swanson and Ozhaino Albies will be knocking on the door shortly, but 2016 will be Aybar’s. He knows this is an extremely pivotal year for him as he’ll be a free agent after the season. Aybar posted a few videos on Instagram today that shows he’s preparing himself for the upcoming season.
Aybar has made one All-Star game (in 2014) and a Gold Glove award (in 2011). He’s a consistent .270 batting average guy and has always been known for being an above average defender. Obviously he’s not Simmons, but he’ll be a fine fit for this season…plus his offense production should be more steady than Simmons. The past two seasons he played 156 games and for the past seven years he’s played over 137 games in each year. Steady, durable, consistent…I’ll take it!