So the Braves have made their first off season acquisition in claiming Joe Mather from the Cardinals. Not an earth shattering move, but possibly a useful one. "Joey Bombs" as he was known in St.Louis can play all four corner spots and is athletic enough to play occasionally in center. He has some power, but has struggled with injury issues the last couple of years.
What the Braves are trying to do with Mather is seeing if they can use him as a righty sub that could potentially be a low cost replacement for Matt Diaz should he be non-tendered. He could be sort of a Nelson Cruz story, a guy with some tools who finally gets it together in his late 20's. Worst case scenario he spends a lot of the year in AAA and gets a few at bats if someone gets injured.
The Braves Coaching Staff is finally all in order, and there are some new faces in the clubhouse for Atlanta to go along with Bobby's holdovers.
So here are the guys you know;
Roger McDowell, Pitching Coach
Terry Pendleton, moved from Hitting Coach to 1B/Fielding Coach
Brian Snitker, 3B Coach
New Faces;
Freddi Gonzalez, Manager. Freddi returns to the Braves as Bobby Cox's replacement. He should be a good guy to have in that spot, and one of the few who will not try to be Bobby Cox and will hopefully help Atlanta get it done this year.
Carlos Tosca, Bench Coach. Former Toronto manager, was Gonzalez's bench coach in Florida. He's a great baseball guy, and a good pickup as bench coach.
Larry Parrish-Former power hitter for the Rangers, and Expos. Also a longtime Tigers organizational guy, including being their manager in parts of 1998/1999. Has never been a big league hitting coach, but must have done something to impress the brass.
That's the staff at a glance, one thing that I think is interesting is that on top of Freddi, both Tosca, and Parrish have been major league managers. For those of you who are keeping score that is three chefs in the kitchen, let's hope they can stir the pot well together.
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