Atlanta Braves open up a spot on the 40-man roster, Adonis Garcia to Korea
By Jeff Schafer
Braves Garcia will play 2018 in Korea
On Christmas Eve, Fred gave us the scoop that Atlanta Braves third baseman Adonis Garcia was possibly headed to Korea to play ball in 2018. That news is now official. Garcia signed a contract with the LG Twins in the Korean Baseball Championship (KBO) league.
The Twins are based out of Seoul, South Korea and are one of the most popular teams in the KBO.
The 32-year-old joined the Braves on April 7, 2015 as a free agent. He was originally signed by the New York Yankees as a free agent on April 28, 2012 for $400,000. Garcia played in the Cuban National Series from 2004 through 2011 before his MLB days.
When Garcia arrived in Atlanta in 2015, our boy Chris Johnson was coming off back-to-back decent seasons at third base with the Braves. Johnson was traded to the Cleveland Indians in August for Nick Swisher and Michael Bourn. That left the door open in 2016 for Garcia at third.
The 5-9″ 205 pounder played in 134 games in 2016, batting .273 with 14 homers, 29 doubles, 65 RBIs and 65 runs scored. It seemed like no one worked harder than Adonis as he ran out every ground ball and tried to make every play in the field.
Garcia was the Braves 2017 opening day starter at third base, but injuries during the season, struggling at the plate and the emergence of Johan Camargo led to less playing time.
News broke today that the Braves have sold the third baseman’s contract to the LG Twins for most likely around $1-2 million.
Sources: Atlanta Braves 3B Adonis García signed a contract with LG Twins in KBO.
— Marcos Grunfeld / Suscríbete a mi canal de YouTube (@TheBeatwriterMG) December 27, 2017
#Braves most likely agreed to his release to allow him to pursue this opportunity in Korea.
— Grant McAuley (@grantmcauley) December 27, 2017
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With this move, it opens up a spot on the Braves 40-man roster. I don’t think this moves shakes things up at all as I was anticipating the Braves DNF or released Garcia at some point this offseason.
As we sit on December 27, 2017 Camargo has the third base slot locked up. I’d be okay with this…I’m still a big fan of Camargo’s. Wish he had a bit more power, but I’m good with him at the hot corner.
Obviously, the Braves could choose to go elsewhere for the third base job. The possibilities are endless with trades, but top free agents would be Mike Moustakas and Todd Frazier…which I’m not anticipating the Braves to go after either.
Through 20 games for the Aguilas in Dominican Winter League, Camargo is batting .324 (24-for-74) with two homer runs, 12 RBI, 11 BB, 15 K, with a .425 OBP. Let’s go TeamCamargo!
With the Braves most likely going to an eight-man bullpen and a four-man bench — Kurt Suzuki, will take on of those spots. Most likely Charlie Culberson and either Preston Tucker or Lane Adams will take the other two spots. Rio Ruiz is a possibility as well.
BUT, more importantly, the opening of the 40-man roster spot could allow the Braves to add top prospect Ronald Acuna. We’ll just leave that right there for you to speculate on.