Atlanta Braves sign John Buck to minor league deal
In what seems like the hundredth move the Atlanta Braves have made this offseason, yesterday Mark Bowman reported that the team had signed 34-year-old catcher John Buck to a minor league deal with an invitation to Spring Training:
The #Braves have given C John Buck a Minor League deal and a ST invite. Buck will be targeted to begin the year with Gwinnett.
— Mark Bowman (@mlbbowman) January 26, 2015
As others have already noted, this deal seems purely for organizational depth, and given Buck’s career numbers you can’t really expect anything else from this.
More from Atlanta Braves
- Atlanta Braves: Felix Has Already Shown Enough to Win a Rotation Spot
- Atlanta Braves Implode Late To Phillies, Cole Hamels Remains Sidelined
- Kyle Wright Shines As Folty Struggles In Atlanta Braves Loss To Red Sox
- Atlanta Braves: Grapefruit League Play Check Up
- Sean Newcomb’s Up & Down Day Against The Orioles
Last year, Buck spent major league time with the Los Angeles Angels and the Seattle Mariners, but got the majority of his plate appearances at the minor league level. In 2014 in the MLB, Buck hit .225/.289/.281 with just one home run.
That season showed a dramatic drop off in power, as Buck hit double-digit home runs in every season of his career before that with the exception of 2008 (just nine).
Buck is a career .234/.301/.398 hitter, but don’t expect to see numbers close to that this season with Atlanta. In fact, you also shouldn’t expect to see him too much in Atlanta. He might come up every once in a while to fill in for an injured Christian Bethancourt or A.J. Pierzynski, but that should be about it.