House That Hank Built
Fansided

Atlanta Braves’ roster turnover for all the right reasons

By Alan Carpenter

WASHINGTON, DC - SEPTEMBER 13: Starting pitcher Luiz Gohara #64 of the Atlanta Braves walks in from the bullpen before the start of the Braves game against the Washington Nationals at Nationals Park on September 13, 2017 in Washington, DC. (Photo by Rob Carr/Getty Images)
WASHINGTON, DC - SEPTEMBER 13: Starting pitcher Luiz Gohara #64 of the Atlanta Braves walks in from the bullpen before the start of the Braves game against the Washington Nationals at Nationals Park on September 13, 2017 in Washington, DC. (Photo by Rob Carr/Getty Images) /
facebooktwitterreddit

Welcome to Ronald Acuna Day here in Braves’ Country.  While we’ve been waiting for his arrival, this is certainly not the only change we’re going to see this week.

The Atlanta Braves are bringing uber-prospect Ronald Acuna to the big leagues.  That’s the news of most interest today.  But it would not surprise me if he didn’t bring another Gwinnett teammate or two along with him.

Roster moves at this time of year are often done for reasons that are not terribly fun – and we’ve seen that:  poor performances (especially in the bullpen), perhaps injuries… these are the usual reasons for roster reckonings.

The Braves have already made multiple changes to the 40-man list here in April, and more are about to happen – mostly for better reasons:

  • Ronald Acuna, Jr. – still not on the 40-man roster for a few more hours:  all reports confirm that he will be added today and join the club for the 3rd game of the Cincy series.
  • Jose Bautista – he might as well be promoted now:  I am still not convinced that he’s worth this flier (even at ‘only’ $1 million), but if you want to give him places to hit, both Cincinnati and Philadelphia on this current road trip are the best options.
  • Luiz Gohara – he’s perhaps another week away, having made just 1 appearance for Gwinnett thus far (April 22nd).  The problem here:  who will he replace?
  • Tyler Flowers – looks to be healthy, but his timing isn’t back yet (0-7 in 2 games).

So that’s a change of 4 players on the 25-man roster that are coming – most probably within the next week – and this doesn’t even count the other changes we’ve seen within just the past week:

* note:  some reports indicated that he had been DFA’d from the roster; however, the official transactions page and the roster list are in agreement that Socolovich was merely optioned back to Gwinnett.

Who’s Out?

Well, let’s start with what we know… here’s the current state of the 40-man roster:

PITCHERS

  • Biddle
  • Aaron Blair
  • Rex Brothers
  • Shane Carle
  • Grant Dayton (60 Day DL – doesn’t ‘count’)
  • Folty
  • Sam Freeman
  • Fried
  • Gohara (DL)
  • Jason Hursh
  • Jacob Lindgren (60 Day DL)
  • McCarthy
  • Adam McCreery
  • AJ Minter
  • Peter Moylan
  • Sean Newcomb
  • Jose Ramirez (DL)
  • Anibal Sanchez (DL)
  • Ricardo Sanchez
  • Sims
  • Socolovich
  • Teheran
  • Vizcaino
  • Chase Whitley
  • Dan Winkler
  • Wisler
  • 24 pitchers who count against the 40-man; 26 total

INFIELDERS

  • Albies
  • Camargo
  • Culberson
  • Flaherty
  • Freddie Freeman
  • Rio Ruiz
  • Swanson
  • 7 infielders

OUTFIELDERS

  • Peter Bourjos
  • Inciarte
  • Markakis
  • Tucker
  • 4 outfielders

CATCHERS

  • Flowers (DL)
  • Carlos Perez
  • Suzuki
  • 3 catchers

TOTALS:    38 on the 40-man list.

SLOTS AVAILABLE:   1 each for Acuna and Bautista; no others anticipated at this time

NEXT SLOTS IF NEEDED:

  • Aaron Blair would likely be transferred to the 60-day DL if something else comes up
  • One of the 10-day DL pitchers could be moved to the 60-day list
  • Carlos Perez will likely be released once Tyler Flowers is promoted.  That might not be a great idea, though, as some have noted:
  • Other possible DFA/outright candidates include Jason Hursh (getting hit fairly hard at AAA) and Adam McCreery (10.1 IP at AA Mississippi, 10 walks, though 13K); perhaps one of the relievers used in majors earlier.  None of these would be a first choice, though.

What about the Active Roster?

The 25-man list?  How do the Braves make room there?

The easiest answer is ‘Peter Bourjos’, but that might not happen… yet.  There are 2 other candidates:  Charlie Culberson or Max Fried.

More from Tomahawk Take

Fried could simply be optioned back to Gwinnett.  Culberson would have to pass through waivers (and he would), but if that were done, the Braves would likely just release him instead; he would have to accept a move to the minors, but he gets paid either way.

That would also be true for Bourjos, should the team go in that direction.

Acuna could play center field if Inciarte is hurt – with a Tucker/Acuna/Markakis outfield.

If Bourjos is retained, then Acuna could remain in left field while Bourjos plays center under those circumstances.

With Bautista coming in shortly, that would give the Braves 8 infielders on the 40-man list with 7 of those also on the active roster… thus the belief that Culberson and his .115 batting average could be on the way out as soon as today.

UPDATE: They went with the outfielder…

The more difficult problem to solve involves Gohara and Anibal Sanchez.  Sanchez would probably get time in the bullpen; Gohara would replace Matt Wisler.

Next: It's Finally Happening!

So the roster question marks right now are about Culberson, Bourjos, and Perez.  We’ll start seeing later today how these things shake out as the Acuna Era begins.

Home/Braves News