The 11-year veteran adds additional organizational depth.
Yesterday, a report indicated that former San Francisco Giants catcher Curt Casali as agree to a minor league contract with the Atlanta Braves.
Casali is an 11-year MLB veteran backstop who has served mainly as a reserve since debuting in 2014. The 36-year-old began his career with the Tampa Bat Rays and also spent time with the Seattle Mariners between to two separate stints each with the Cincinnati Reds and Giants.
Last season, he appeared in 41 games with the Giants. Throughout his career, he has provided near-league average offensive output for a catcher. He has been will-regarded for his defensive acumen, although both his offensive and efensive results have been in steady decline in recent seasons.
For the Braves, he adds additional catching depth behind Sean Murphy, who is expected to see the lion-share of the action with Atlanta. Chadwick Tromp is penciled in as his likely backup, although the team does have former big league catcher Sandy Leon returning after spending last season with Gwinnett. The team also added catcher Dylan Shockley via the minor league Rule 5 draft from the Pirates organization for additional depth at Gwinnett.
Drake Baldwin – one of the Braves top prospects – is also expected to start the season with the Stripers and could make his big league debut this upcoming season.
If Casali does join the Braves organization, he could provide the organization with another quality back-up that could help develop Baldwin at Triple-A and serve as a short-term option if needed with Atlanta.