Atlanta Braves make the obvious choice in bringing back Adeiny Hechavarría

After a good end to the 2019 season with the Atlanta Braves, it made a lot of sense for them to bring back free-agent infielder Adeiny Hechavarría.

Once the Atlanta Braves non-tendered Charlie Culberson and said they wanted to have a true shortstop on the bench to back-up Dansby Swanson, the writing was on the wall for them to sign Adeiny Hechavarría.

That became official on Thursday night as Atlanta signed him for $1 million.

The 30-year-old was acquired by the Braves during the 2019 season and he was really great filling in for Swanson when he was hurt at the end of the season.

Hech (as I’ll be calling him from now on in this article) hit .328/.400/.639 in 24 games and 61 at-bats in Atlanta.

Those numbers are not sustainable for Hech as he’s a career .253/.290/.352 hitter.

But, he is a Gold Glove caliber infielder and will be a great back-up for Swanson who is piling up a bit of an injury history.

It really seemed like Hech gelled really well with the rest of the clubhouse and a lot of the young guys, so I think he also gives the team a huge boost that way — especially in light of losing out on Josh Donaldson.

But what a lot of fans are probably most excited about is seeing another epic bat flip from Hech.

It’s also worth noting that Hech has experience at shortstop, third base, and second base.

I’m not saying he’ll be in the mix at third with Austin Riley and Johan Camargo, but it does give Brian Snitker another option to mix things up.

It’s going to make the bench battle even more interesting in Spring Training now.

Tyler Flowers, Austin Riley, Adam Duvall, and now Hech should be locks for four-of-five possible bench spots.

And there are likely more moves coming as Alex Anthopoulos has been much more active since Donaldson signed with the Twins.

Hech was a pretty obvious decision and one that I think is a great decision. Let us know your thoughts in the comments below.