The Atlanta Braves sign Ryan LaMarre to minor-league deal
By John Le
Hitting .279 last year for both the Twins and White Sox, he serves as a small depth move in the outfield department for the Atlanta Braves
On Monday, the Atlanta Braves made a move, probably one that NO ONE in Braves Country expected. The club signed Ryan LaMarre to a minor league deal, who actually turns 30 today.
Though the move was probably a depth move, it could be preparing for what the team will do in the near future. Depending on what they do, it could determine the meaning of this move. If they sign a big free agent that’ll play everyday, LaMarre might sit down in AAA until an injury occurs or be a late-season bench piece. If it’s not a significant FA signing, he could be up sooner to platoon.
Even though he isn’t a hot name, don’t ignore the fact that he was a decent bat last year, the kind that the Braves need on their bench come spring. In 109 plate appearances for the Minnesota Twins and 71 with the Chicago White Sox, LaMarre slashed .279/.322/.382 with 2 home runs and 18 RBIs.
That was his best season out of the 4 years he has in the majors, though, having a career .238 BA. However, if he can keep it up, he could really help the Braves bench compared to some of the other names on the roster now.
For 2018, he had a better BA than any of the other Braves bench players not named Charlie Culberson, that included the Braves’ catching duo of Tyler Flowers and Kurt Suzuki. This included Lane Adams, Preston Tucker, Adam Duvall, Rio Ruiz, Ryan Flaherty, Lucas Duda, and Rene Rivera.
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Just about all of the Braves bench are gone, as most are now also free agents and only Suzuki has nabbed a deal (with the Washington Nationals). The only ones that remain are Duvall, Ruiz and Culberson is entering his first year of arbitration but many believe the Braves will bring him back.
Defensively, LaMarre has a career -0.1 WAR. For 2018, he appeared in 36 games in CF, 29 in LF and 5 in RF.
LaMarre was drafted in 2010 by the Cincinnati Reds during the second round. He hasn’t had much playing time in the majors, appearing no more than 43 games for a team which came with the Twins last year.
He became a free agent after selecting free agency from the White Sox on November 3.
If you were expecting the Atlanta Braves to make a big move since other teams recently have, remember it’s still early into the off-season and most of the big fishes are still out there.