Atlanta Braves Morning Chop: Braves could look to Miami to replace Adam Duvall

Let’s face it: we’ve been on Roster Watch™ regarding Adam Duvall for a few weeks now.  So here’s one possible option for a replacement.

There aren’t a lot of guarantees during Spring Training, but I think I have one thought that’s farily solid:  Adam Duvall will almost certainly be released by the Atlanta Braves this weekend.

There has been no announcement, no real rumors… just the one obvious thing:  he simply hasn’t been very good in a Braves uniform.  In this instance, his prowess with a glove just won’t be sufficient.

That’s unfortunate, since the Atlanta Braves really do have a noticeable depth problem in the outfield.  However, this is the time of year to fix that issue.

It’s a crazy-busy weekend of the year, this last few days before the regular season begins.  So many things are going on:

• Teams with retention/opt-out-decision players need to make those calls
• Teams with players that have no remaining options need to decide whether to keep these players, attempt to trade them, or release them.
• The (newly renamed) Injured List is now active and players are being added, which can create new roster spots for some
• Teams with holes to fill are scouring waiver wires and making calls about virtually every fringe player in the the sport.

The Braves don’t face a lot of these option issues, but they would like to add to their bench.  Given Duvall’s status, it’s very likely that Alex Anthopoulos is calling around about outfielders today.

While there are myriad options, there’s one that could be of some interest to the team who is currently a non-roster invitee of the Miami Marlins.

Hits a Bit

Word on the street is that the Marlins are torn on what to do with Harold Ramirez.  Here’s what’s going on:

Ramirez is a minor league ‘lifer’ at just 24½ years old, but Craig Mish reports that he also has an opt-out clause in his contract… thus the idea of having the Marlins ‘testing’ him at AAA is probably not an option for them.  But he could be a decent bench option for Atlanta.

Ramirez was a Pirates signee out of Colombia in 2012.  He has slowly made his way up the ranks, but doesn’t have a AAA stop on his resume yet.  Still, he does appear to have a hit tool in his collection:

• .259 in 39 games as a 17-year-old in Rookie ball
• .285, .309, .337 in average at 3 different A-ball levels up to age 20.
• .311, .306, .750 (3 for 4), .266, .320 during his AA stops up through last season.

This Spring?  .333 with a couple of doubles and only 2 K in 33 plate appearances.

Now for the reality check:  Ramirez hasn’t been getting these ABs against major league pitchers.  He’s been getting the innings at the back ends of games.

We also have no idea how he’s done on backfields and minor league games (chiefly against the Marlins’ own pitching… which actually isn’t terrible).  So the knee-jerk reaction of “wow – he hits a lot better than Duvall!” might not be sufficient for your due diligence efforts.

Ramirez is one possibility.  There are probably a dozen others.  Supposing for the purposes of this exercise that he’s the choice, the Braves could go several ways, here:

• Trade for Ramirez
• Wait until the Marlins cut him, then sign him (subject to possible offers from others)
• Go in a different direction all together

It’s also plausible that the Braves would like to pick up someone like Ramirez for the purposes of AAA depth – yes: by stashing him at AAA themselves.  If that is something they would be interested in, then he’s effectively has to sign on to that plan and accept the non-roster (not 40-man) assignment.

[ In general, you’d have to admit that being on the Braves’ AAA roster would be better than the Miami AAA roster, right? ]

Again:  that’s one option.  I use him mainly to illustrate the myriad of questions and details that Front Offices all around are having to deal with today.

But I do expect that the Atlanta Braves will break camp with a replacement outfielder for Adam Duvall.  Sorry kid, it just didn’t work here.