We are just a week away from the official return of Major League Baseball and the start of the 2020 regular season. Thank you to everyone who submitted questions for this week’s mailing bag. Let’s go straight to it.
Will Freddie Freeman be ready for opening day?
Except for something unexpected, I think the answer is clearly no. Brian Snitker acknowledged earlier this week that Freeman was feeling better, but that he will need two negative tests at least 24 hours apart before he is released. There is no way to determine when that can happen. While Freeman may be training alone, he has missed the entire camp and it would be a huge exaggeration to think he could clear up and then be physically ready in time for Opening Day on July 24.
To update: It looks like Freddie is back and might even be ready for opening day.
Dana Brown had said that the Braves were aggressively chasing more than 30 undrafted free agents and trusted most of them. Why have only six of them signed?
I went back and listened to what Dana Brown said on Day 2 of the draft, and while she spoke of a roster of about 30 players, she never gave any indication that the Braves would be signing near that number. From that hypothetical list of players, some undoubtedly chose to return to school, while others probably signed with other teams. Remember that bonuses for non-recruited players were limited to $ 20,000, so it’s not like they have a chance to be really aggressive and pass them on.
It’s also worth mentioning that Jared Shuster is the only Draft 2020 squad to be included in Atlanta’s 60-player pool. That means the other selected players and players like Trey Harris and Greyson Jenista are trying to push their development away from a team this summer.
Is it fair to say that Brian McCann’s legacy is tarnished due to the Astros scandal?
I have seen this thought from time to time, but no, it certainly has not clouded my vision of McCann’s legacy. McCann is one of the best receivers in franchise history and was as valuable to the Braves off the field as he was. I don’t think the full story of what happened in Houston came out, but I also don’t think the Astros are the only team that developed and took advantage. As far as I’m concerned, McCann is a Braves Hall of Fame padlock.
(It’s also worth noting that more than 75 percent of McCann’s career output occurred prior to his departure from the Braves in 2013, and was offensively below average thereafter, so things that may have happened in his presence for two years (one of them was wounded by a large part of him) cannot affect his legacy too much (Ivan)
Let’s say Ian Anderson or Cristian Pache are called during the year. Is there a scenario where Braves can call them without using a full year of service time? Or is it as soon as they are called that it is a full year? If it is automatically a full year, is it worth calling them?
I understand that service time would be prorated for guys like Cristian Pache and Ian Anderson. So I don’t see service time as a reason to stop Pache or Anderson if the team thinks they’re ready. Yasiel Puig’s signature pushes Pache down the list slightly as well as the ankle injury he suffered earlier this week, but he would probably be online if they needed a center fielder at some point. He’s already on the 40-man list, so he’s got that going for him.
Anderson is in the group working at Gwinnett. It would have to be added to the 40-man roster before it could debut. There are still some arms that appear to be in front of him, but if the Braves find themselves in need of a starter, Anderson could get the call.
If the Braves’ minor league players choose to join independent leagues this year, will the TC MiLB coverage team spend time pursuing their development there?
That was an interesting report when it became known that some minor league players can join independent leagues this year. I’m not 100 percent sure how that would work and who would be responsible if one of the players were injured. I haven’t heard of any Braves minor league players planning to go that route, but if they do, yes, we will do our best to stay up to date.
