Atlanta Braves news and notes from Wednesday
Well the Braves finally made some splashes in free agency, but it is of the international amateur variety, rather than the major league variety for now. They announced a number of international free agent signings, with a few more reported and more expected to be confirmed by the club soon. The two big splashes are Diego Tornes, a huge power-hitting potential five-tool outfielder, and Raudy Reyes, a 6’3 210 lb 16 year old who can hit 102 with his fastball. They did appear to sign a few other prospects of note above the minimum bonus beyond those two. I wrote about international free agency strategy two years ago and I think that article is as relevant today as it was then. Essentially the conclusion was that the best ROI comes from quantity over high bonus “quality” prospects. To the Braves’ credit from this perspective, the bonuses to their two top prospects are pretty tame for where they are ranked publicly among their peers. Reyes is likely receiving the second largest IFA bonus of a pitcher behind presumably Roki Sasaki and is quite a unique profile to be someone that young who is that large and throws that hard. The Braves also thought enough of him to back out of a deal with a mid-level prospect who ended up signing with the Twins to open up space to sign him. He will be an interesting one to watch, while Tornes is a top 5 prospect in the class overall by many outlets.
Braves News
Check out the Braves’ confirmed IFA signings here, with many more expected to come, as the Braves seem to be releasing the names once the cohort from each country is fully signed.
In further prospect news, MLB Pipeline listed Drake Baldwin as the 7th best catching prospect in baseball.
The Braves announced their Spring Training schedule for this year, with many of the games set to be televised, which is a fairly new development.
In further scheduling news, the Braves are set to play in the season’s first Sunday Night Baseball broadcast on ESPN, as their season finale in San Diego.
MLB News
The Mets and Pete Alonso are reportedly making progress on a 3 year deal that would include a opt-out.
The Giants have had discussions with Randal Grichuk to bring in the outfielder to bolster their offense.
Check out Baseball America’s top 100 international free agent bonus list, as well as their signing tracker here.