Morning Chop: Atlanta Braves’ News 12/21
Aug 13, 2013; Atlanta, GA, USA; Atlanta Braves catcher
Evan Gattis(24) in the dugout against the Philadelphia Phillies at Turner Field. Mandatory Credit: Kevin Liles-USA TODAY Sports
Morning Chop: A Summary of Braves’ News
2014 Minor League Coaching Changes
A quick run down on who will be coaching where in 2014
Gwinnett Braves
- Manager: Brian Snitker
- Hitting Coach: Garey Ingram
- Pitching Coach: Marty Reed
A familiar face will be coaching the Gwinnett Braves in 2014, former third base coach Brian Snitker. He has managed 17 seasons in the Braves system before his seven year stint as third base coach. Garey Ingram will join Gwinnett after serving four seasons as the Mississippi Braves hitting coach. Maybe this move will bode well for Christian Bethancourt, to have a consistent voice who seemed to get him on track during this past season. Marty Reed will continue to manage the Triple-A staff, his fourth season at this level….
The Braves are going to ask for tax credits for their new ballpark
The idea behind tax credits and other tax incentives is to convince businesses to invest in the jurisdiction over which the taxing authority holds sway. When the business is already committed to investing in the area and there is no danger of losing said investment to another jurisdiction, there is little reason to grant that business tax credits and incentives. To do so is pretty gratuitous, actually.
But hey, sports:
"Jim Walls at Atlanta Magazine has secured some documentsshowing “negotiators for Cobb County and the Braves considered funding packages that included up to $60 million in state tax credits on top of the $300 million in county funding.” . . . another incentive, created especially for new tourism destinations, that can be granted only by the governor. If the team were approved for the program, it could earn the Braves a 10-year rebate on all sales taxes it collected at the new stadium – perhaps $20 million."
We/He never said goodbye
Never been much for hoopla, the extended farewells, the gift wrapped, choreographed road shows to say goodbye. The Softtail bedecked with ribbon, the base studded and personalized, the macho bow itching to bag its first turkey. A very few are earned – Mariano yes, Chipper maybe.
Brian McCann was not at that level, nor was he retiring, but he was certainly special, he was leaving us and he’s gone now and you might hardly know it.
Huddy saw that could happen from where he stood and had the rehab time to plan it through. His posted exit and thank yous were classy, entirely appropriate and, more importantly, made formal record of his departure from our world. Way to do it.
Our home town hero though, it somehow never happened. The way his disappointing final season played out he/we never knew when an at bat would be the last – (Huddy had that decided for him, without any pre-warning. You saw him on the stretcher, you knew he was done, it was over for him and us.) With Mac it was somehow blurred in a miserable final loss on the road in the post season. He ended on a pretty awful note, his own output minimal.
5 Players Who Could Emerge from Winter Leagues as the Next Evan Gattis in MLB
At this time last year, Evan Gattis was an obscure 26-year-old minor leaguer with some power and no real future in Major League Baseball.
Fast forward to today: Gattis will have a chance to be starting catcher for the Atlanta Braves after slugging .480 and hitting 21 homers as a rookie.
It’s a testament to the job Gattis has done after quitting baseball from 2006-10, as well as the work of the Atlanta development staff, that he has been able to carve out any kind of MLB career.
There aren’t many players with Gattis’ exact story floating around the minors, but that doesn’t mean no one can duplicate what he has done. With winter leagues happening all around the world right now, we thought it would be fun to see if there are any diamonds in the rough.
Players we have listed are not necessarily going to repeat Gattis’ career path or scouting reports, nor are they likely to earn a starting job in the big leagues. But their profiles suggest that they could warrant a look.