Atlanta Braves newest reliever: Anthony Swarzak in depth
By Fred Owens
The Atlanta Braves swapped one struggling reliever for another one today, hoping the change of scenery helps both players turn things around. If it works, they could have a weapon. If it fails, it cost the team nothing.
As Jake told you a couple of hours ago, the Atlanta Braves swapped recently DFA’d lefty Jesse Biddle along with Arodys Vizcaino with and his surgically-repaired-but-nowhere-near-ready shoulder, to Seattle for Anthony Swarzak and $2M. That cash makes the trade payroll neutral and effectively a swap of bad contracts.
Vizcaino’s done for the year – if not longer – and his arm’s been of questionable stability for a while. Biddle was solid to start 2018 but tired late and fell apart this year.
We know those guys, but who is this Swarzak guy?
The Twins selected the 6’-4” right-hander from Fort Lauderdale, Florida, in the second round of the 2004 amateur draft, #61 overall. My Baseball America archive shows Swarzak ranked #72; the Braves selection that round, Eric Campbell, ranked #114 and current Nationals closer Sean Doolittle ranked #115.
The BA draft report (subscription required) projected Swarzak as a “tough sign.” It goes on to report that his low-mid 90s fastball, curve, and changeup along with good command made John Smoltz with a slightly lower-ceiling fair comparison The Twins paid him a $575K signing bonus to skip LSU.
In doing that, Minnesota passed ranked players like, Dustin Pedroia (#53), Kurt Suzuki (#48), and Jason Vargas (33), as well the Atlanta Braves second-round pick, Eric Campbell, who didn’t make it past AA.