Atlanta Braves claim speedy outfielder Billy Hamilton from Kansas City

The Atlanta Braves claimed the former Royals and Reds center-fielder on Tuesday after being designated for assignment on August 16th.

The Atlanta Braves haven’t been a stranger to finding replacements for injured players. This past month has seen the Braves lose some very important pieces.

However, they’ve been able to plug the holes with the right players at the right time. That was once again the case on Tuesday after losing Ender Inciarte to an injury rounding third base last Friday.

After an MRI revealed that Ender Inciarte suffered a Grade 2 hamstring strain,  Atlanta learned they would lose their gold glove center-fielder for 4-6 weeks… putting him in danger of missing the rest of the season.

It would seem as if fate was on the side of Billy Hamilton that evening. He had been designated for assignment on the same night that Inciarte’s injury occurred.

While Hamilton had the right to accept or reject what would have been a minor league assignment, the Royals had to pass him through waivers in order to even give him that choice.

Today, the Braves were awarded the waiver claim – and the player (along with his contract).  Some notable implications:

• All American League teams passed on the opportunity to claim Hamilton.
• All National League teams also passed on him except Atlanta – the team with the 2nd best NL record (technically, we don’t know if the Dodgers claimed him, but they had no need of his services at all).
• The Braves pick up his contract:  just short of 25% of the remainder of his $4.25 million deal.
• The contract also includes a mutual option for 2020 valued at $7.5 million, but it’s almost certain that the Braves will opt to write him a buyout check for $1 million after the World Series, so their exposure is on the order of $2 million overall – still less than the money saved when the Reds picked up Kevin Gausman’s contract earlier this month.

What the Braves Bought

Billy Hamilton hasn’t had the best season for the Royals and he hasn’t really been an offensive powerhouse in his career.

Hamilton carries a career slash line of .242/.296/.326 across 7 seasons in Major League Baseball. I think we all know why the Atlanta Braves decided to claim him off of waivers… his glove.

Billy Hamilton is well known for his speed and defensive capabilities. Hamilton has stolen 295 bases in his career and that is the 5th most among active players. His speed also benefits him in the field and he will definitely add some nice depth to the Braves bench.

It will be nice to have a defensive replacement like Hamilton late in games especially with the Braves having to use Matt Joyce, Charlie Culberson, and Rafael Ortega in right field at the moment.

This acquisition will allow the Atlanta Braves to slide Acuna over to right field and place Hamilton in center field. When you add on Adam Duvall in left field, that’s an extremely tough outfield to hit against. It will definitely save the bullpen from late-inning hits.

I have to give a lot of credit to Alex Anthopoulos for making the moves he has made in response to injury. He’s been able to get players to fill major holes and those players have some upside to them as well.

There were a couple of corresponding moves made on Tuesday make room for Hamilton on the Major League roster:

• Right-handed pitcher Bryse Wilson was optioned back to the Gwinnett Stripers.
• Fellow right-hander Jacob Webb was recalled and immediately placed on the 60-day injured list with a right elbow impingement. It seems that his season is done and that’s a shame because he looked great this year.

A lot of movement has occurred in the past month for the Braves organization and they’ve done a nice job picking the right guys at the right time.

Let’s hope Inciarte is able to focus on healing up to 100% before the playoffs get here and that Hamilton will have a great time playing in Atlanta.