Atlanta Braves’ spring training notes – Day 3

Position players are trickling into camp… including one who really, really wants to show that he’s ready for the show.

It’s a bit interesting, this idea of the MLB ‘service clock’.  Until this season (maybe), it’s been the only ‘clock’ of real consequence in the game.  When Dansby Swanson was added to the major league roster, the Atlanta Braves were openly stating that it was team policy to bring up players when they were ready.  Now?  They may have changed for one particular prospect.

Ronald Acuna is doing all the right things to start out his stint in the major league camp:  he has arrived very early – not quite the first, but pretty close.  He was in the cages hitting today, too, in advance of the first full-squad workouts destined for next week.

As you can see from the tweet, he also met with the media, and announced his intention to perform like he belongs here this Spring.  He clearly wants to ‘belong’ to the major league team at the end of March.

But to hear Mark Bowman and others tell the story today, this die has already been cast.

We’ve already heard phrases this Winter like “he’s only had 54 games in AAA, so a bit more seasoning is probably a good idea”.  Such phrases, you can figure, are usually accompanied by winks and nudges.

Is Acuna ready for the big leagues?  By all accounts from teammates’ comments throughout the minors in 2017, yes.  By Brian Snitker‘s reckoning, he apparently thinks so, too:

"It seems whenever Braves manager Brian Snitker has been asked about Ronald Acuna, he has hearkened back to around this time last year, when he was telling the team’s player development staff that it better not have the teenage outfielder serve as a roster addition for Grapefruit League games if it didn’t truly want him to play."

That was a year ago.

So now Snitker is going to get him… and you can probably bet that Acuna will be on every road trip roster, plus at least half of the Disney rosters throughout the Spring.  He’ll get that chance to prove himself.

Except it probably won’t matter.

When the Braves send Acuna – who still isn’t even on the 40-man roster, by the way – to Gwinnett, he’ll need to stay there until roughly the end of April to secure an extra year of control of his services.

By doing so, 2018 effectively won’t count toward his service time.  He won’t lose days of service, but he would lose the year, allowing Atlanta to keep him from 2018 through the end of the 2024 season.

The cost for this will eventually be Super 2 status for the youngster, assuming his development continues on the launch angle he’s currently aligned with.  But if he indeed turns into the superstar that many expect, the Braves will be good with that.

Jason Heyward made his ML debut on an Opening Day in 2010.  Atlanta didn’t get that extra year for him, which would have been 2016.  Instead, he rejected the overture of a contract extension and Atlanta opted to cash in, sending he and Jordan Walden to the Cardinals for 2015.

While Heyward recovered to a slow start offensively for a 6.1 WAR season in St. Louis, that’s still looking like the right move for the Braves.

But that’s a future and a discussion as yet unwritten for Ronald Acuna… and one that won’t come into play – mostly likely – until 2024 or so.

3B Settled?

It’s done.  Eduardo Nunez is off the market (pending the physical, which is probably not trivial in his case).  That may leave Mike Moustakas hung out to dry, but for the Atlanta Braves, it means that third base is probably a settled question:

It will be Johan Camargo and Rio Ruiz in some mix/combination of playing time.

Moustakas isn’t going to be an option – okay, unless he shocks everyone and accepts a 1 year deal for something around $10 million – but then others will probably be in on him at that price, too.  So barring that event, we’re going with the kids… for 3/4ths of the infield.

Lincecum Update

As you may have noticed from early this week, the Braves were one of those clubs.  I know the Mets weren’t, but it’s hard to guess which others would not have bothered since it didn’t cost much to take a look… just about everyone should have checked in.

More from Tomahawk Take

• The Weakest Braves Homers Since 2015
• Atlanta Braves Sign Joshua Fuentes to Minor League Deal
• Braves News: New Year’s Eve comes with several questions about the 2023 Braves
• Braves News: How the Braves got their name, mailbag, more
• Atlanta Braves Mailbag: New Year’s Edition

So who will sign him?  Here’s my guesses on the leading candidates, in no particular order:

• Orioles
• Dodgers
• Mariners
• Brewers
• Twins
• Angels

The Giants are on the list, too, but they really don’t have a lot to spend, and everybody else listed above can – and should – outbid them.

The Braves?  I just don’t see it.  Especially if Scott Kazmir is healthy (he was throwing today – seemed a bit uneven, but he’s had a long layoff, too), Atlanta will have enough depth available so that they simply wouldn’t have a place to put him.

Next: Catching Stew

That’s all for today:  position players are set to report no later than Sunday (18th); first full squad workouts start on Monday.