Big Roster Moves in Atlanta Braves Spring Training Camp

Braves Make Roster Moves With Top Prospects

The Atlanta Braves have made a few big (but not surprising) roster moves earlier Friday morning as they sent outfielder and future fan favorite Mallex Smith to AAA Gwinnett, while right-handed pitchers Lucas Sims and Aaron Blair, and infielders Dansby Swanson and Ozzie Albies were reassigned to minor league camp.

Now, this is certainly standard procedure for prospects during big league Spring Training camp. But, it might come as a slight surprise to some, just because of the calibre of playing some of these guys have contributed this spring. Mallex Smith and Ozzie Albies especially.

As it sits right now, Mallex Smith is easily the future center fielder for Atlanta Braves. I wrote about it way back in November. Mallex Smith, in my opinionated opinion, is ready for Atlanta right now. But, there’s obviously an outfield log jam keeping him from debuting. Look for John Coppolella to figure out some trades to make room for Mallex in the near future.

Mallex’s Spring Training line was .346/.393/.808. That’s good. And did we mention that he’s an 80 on the 20-80 scouting speed scale? To put this into perspective – Ozzie Albies is a 60. And, Ozzie Albies is really really fast.

Ozzie Albies is still so young (19) that even though he could probably hold his own at the big league level already, seasoning him a little more in the minors is not a bad thing. He’s going to be great. When I interviewed the Colorado Rockies 3rd round draft pick of 2014, Sam Howard, who pitched for the Asheville Tourists, he told me that Rome Braves’ Ozzie Albies was his most difficult out in 2015.

Dansby Swanson was probably destined for AA Mississippi from the beginning of spring. If he can produce well there, look for him to jump to AAA quick. And, if the Bravos deal Erick Aybar, we’ll see him in Atlanta sooner rather than later.

The elephant in the room is this – Ozzie and Dansby are both highly touted shortstops, so who’s going to move over to second base? Well, they’re both slated to play shortstop this season with their respective minor league clubs, or at least that’s what we’re told. Based on watching Ozzie last season here in Rome, I think they’ll move him to second base eventually.

As far as Lucas Sims and Aaron Blair go – I’m more excited about Aaron Blair that Lucas Sims. But, I’m more excited about John Gant than any of them.

Here’s what the updated roster looks like now.

40-Man Roster

NON-Roster Invitees