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Left field hopeful Evan Gattis and a top pitching prospect J.R. Graham are among the 21 non-roster invitees the Braves will bring to spring training when camp opens in early February – a list the club announced Thursday.

Gattis made quite a splash with his spring training invitation last season, raising eyebrows among Braves teammates and manager Fredi Gonzalez with his home run-hitting prowess. He will look to continue the work he started in winter ball, hitting 16 home runs in Venezuela. He has a chance to make the Braves bench as a potential part-time left fielder and backup catcher.

This will be the first time in big league camp for Graham, the right-hander with a mid-to-upper 90s fastball who was named the Braves organizational pitcher of the year for 2012 in September.

Also among the first-time invitees are last year’s second round pick from the University of Georgia left-hander Alex Wood, standout shortstop from the University of Connecticut Nick Ahmed and third …

Continue reading Gattis, Graham among spring training non-roster invitees »

After GM Frank Wren said during a satellite-radio interview Sunday that the Braves had not closed the door on the possibility of Michael Bourn returning to the team, reaction on Twitter and the blogosphere went about as you’d expect in this age of 2 + 2 = 10.

Bourn (above) is a former Gold Glove winner, but the Braves say B.J. Upton is also one of the best center fielders in the game, despite metric stats that suggest otherwise..

Within an hour, Wren’s rather innocuous and not exactly earth-shattering response to the Bourn question was twisted, re-tweeted and exaggerated enough times to turn it into a juicy rumor in which some characterized the situation as the Braves in talks to bring back Bourn at a discounted rate now that his market had failed to materialize.

Some fans even got indignant about the possibility that the Braves might opt to move Bourn, a former Gold Glove winner, to left field in order to accommodate offseason free-agent signee B.J. Upton in …

Continue reading Bourn back to Braves? Rumor mill gets a spin »

Dale Murphy won back-to-back National League MVP awards in 1982 and 1983, something only Joe Morgan had done before him and only Barry Bonds and Albert Pujols have done since. He won as many MVP awards in two seasons as Braves greats Hank Aaron and Chipper Jones won between them in their entire careers.

“Murph” was a seven-time All-Star and five-time Gold Glove winner, and he finished 12th or higher in the league MVP balloting six times during 1980-1987.

Fifteen of his first 18 seasons were spent with the Braves, a period when the ultimate Mr. Nice Guy played for a lot of bad teams and a few good ones. He played in front of a national audience that tuned in to watch the Braves on the cable SuperStation, most of it during a time when fans outside major league markets had only the choice of Braves or Cubs to view on TV on a daily basis.

And so he was a popular player not just in Braves Country, but across the country.

For a time, Murphy was one of the very best players in …

Continue reading In last year on HOF ballot, case made for ‘Murph’ »

NASHVILLE — While the Braves still need to find a left fielder to round out their lineup, they’ve already made moves this winter to assure their bullpen remains one of baseball’s best. If they had gotten past the wild card game and into the meat of the postseason this past season, I think we would have seen how important that bullpen would’ve been in helping them advance.

In Walden, the Braves have added another to the collection of power arms in their strong bullpen.

Alas, the Braves kicked the ball around in a terrible inning and never recovered in a wild-card loss to the Cardinals. So the bullpen wasn’t a factor in the biggest game of the year.

But that shouldn’t make the ‘pen any less of a priority as they prepare for 2013, and it hasn’t.

The trade of Tommy Hanson for reliever Jordan Walden last week gave the Braves another power arm for back-end depth that should help manager Fredi Gonzalez and pitching coach Roger McDowell avoid overworking closer Craig …

Continue reading While looking for bats, Braves fortify ‘pen »

NASHVILLE – The free-agent field thinned some and Braves general manager Frank Wren didn’t seem any closer to acquiring a left fielder after his first 24 hours at the Winter Meetings in Nashville. But he didn’t sound overly concerned.

Braves front-office officials spent Monday morning poring over (again) lists of all outfielders in every organization who could play left field and preferably bat leadoff, then narrowing it down to players realistically available.

The list was not extensive, and Wren said those remaining free agents who fit the description ranked below trade options for various reasons. That included price in some cases.

For example, the Braves have interest in free agent Shane Victorino, but not as long as the 31-year-old is asking for a contract as big as the four-year, $40 million deal that San Francisco re-signed Angel Pagan to on Monday. Pagan was another free-agent targeted by the Braves.

Wren didn’t name any specific trade possibilities remaining …

Continue reading Teheran, Delgado available if trade ’significant’ »

B.J. Upton finalized a five-year, $75.25 million contract with the Braves makes him the highest-paid player in franchise history, but his dad Manny was most pleased that he signed with Atlanta, a short flight from the family’s home in Chesapeake, Va.

“Put a little word in Frank’s ear so we can get the other one here,” Manny Upton said after a news conference Thursday at Turner Field, where center fielder B.J. donned a Braves jersey and posed for pictures with his new manager, Fredi Gonzalez, and general manager Frank Wren, who gave him the largest free-agent contract in franchise history.

Manny and Yvonne Upton were smiling, proud parents on the day their 28-year-old son put Tampa Bay behind him and started with a clean slate and a team that moved aggressively.

The “other one” that Manny Upton spoke of bringing to Atlanta? That’s Justin Upton, 25, the Diamondbacks slugger who finished fourth in MVP balloting in 2011 and has been mentioned in trade rumors that …

Continue reading Newest Brave Upton excited about fresh start »

The Braves made baseball’s first big offseason move when they agreed to terms with former Tampa Bay center fielder B.J. Upton on a five-year contract worth $75.25 million, the largest free-agent contract in franchise history.

The deal was agreed to Wednesday and became official Thursday after Upton passed a physical exam. He will be introduced at a 2 p.m. Thursday news conference at Turner Field.

Upton had already changed the avatar on his Twitter page to a Braves script “A” by early Wednesday evening, long before the Braves made an announcement.

Upton, 28, has spent his entire career with the Rays and hit .246 with a personal-best 28 homers along with 31 stolen bases in 2012. He will provide the Braves a badly needed right-handed presence in the middle of the lineup and team with right fielder Jason Heyward to give them a pair with the potential to go 30-30 (homers and stolen bases).

In a press release announcing the signing on Thursday, Braves general manager Frank Wren …

Continue reading Braves sign Upton to 5-year, $75 million deal »

While we wait for a decision as soon as this week from the guy with the second-best nickname currently associated with a Brave or potential Brave, free-agent center fielder B.J. “Bossman Junior” Upton, let’s consider the ongoing winter-ball performance in Venezuala by the guy with the even better nickname, Evan Gattis, aka “El Oso Blanco” (The White Bear).

Gattis, aka "El Oso Blanco" (The White Bear), in a recent Venezuelan Winter League game. Notice the lack of batting gloves. (AP photo)

(Coincidentally and apropos of nothing, there are El Oso Blanco supermarkets in Miami and the Tampa area, where Bossman Junior has spent his major league career until now with the Rays.)

While we’re on the subject, just imagine a Bossman Junior and El Oso Blanco (along with a J-Hey) in the same outfield some day. Hey, it might not be so far-fetched, considering the Braves and Phillies are believed to be frontrunners for Upton, and considering Gattis is once again answering the …

Continue reading Bossman Junior, El Oso Blanco & other matters »

INDIAN WELLS, Calif. – To the surprise of no one, Braves free-agent center fielder Michael Bourn will decline the team’s one-year, $13.3 million qualifying offer by Friday’s deadline.

“The market for him is going to be much greater than a one-year contract,” agent Scott Boras said of Bourn, who has or is expected to draw serious interest from multiple teams including NL East opponents Washington and Philadelphia.

While the Braves haven’t entirely given up the possibility of re-signing Bourn, they don’t seem at all inclined to approach the contract levels that Boras will seek for his client, which could be at least five years at more than $15 million annually.

The Braves are exploring other options via free agency – San Francisco’s Angel Pagan probably tops that short list — or through a trade. Minnesota center fielder Denard Span is likely high on the list of potential trade targets. He’s a leadoff hitter like Bourn, which is what the Braves prefer from a …

Continue reading At GM meetings: Bourn to decline qualifying offer »

INDIAN WELLS, Calif. – The Braves again have more major league-ready starting pitchers than can fit into a rotation, and some are no longer viewed as next-to-untouchable by general manager Frank Wren.

The Braves seek a couple of hitters to fill out their lineup – a left fielder and a center fielder/leadoff man — and could use part of their pitching surplus to fill at least one of those needs

“There are clubs that recognize we may have some pitching,” Wren said Wednesday after talking with other GMs on the opening day of the general managers meetings that run through Friday. “Whether we’ve got enough to fill [other needs] or not, I don’t know.

“But we like the depth that we have, and we might be able to use it to get something that we need. And there’s some teams that have pieces that would be helpful to us.”

One of those teams is Minnesota, which needs pitching and is open to trading center fielder Denard Span, who has a .284 career batting average and .357 …

Continue reading Braves might trade pitching for lineup needs »