Atlanta Braves announce Dian Toscano deal, DFA Jose Constanza

Today, the Atlanta Braves made their previously reported deal for Cuban outfielder Dian Toscano official, and in the process DFA’d minor league journeyman/fourth outfielder Jose Constanza.

Mark Bowman, with MLB.com,  had the news that Constanza was getting the DFA.

There’s not much to add about Toscano here that wasn’t already said in the post linked above. There’s little about the 25-year-old that we actually know at this point because of his visibility on the Cuban baseball scene. For those of us who aren’t insiders or professional scouts, we’ll just have to sit back and wait like everyone else.

According to Bowman, Toscano is likely to start the season out in the minors, but has a chance to crack the big league roster this season. Given the outfield departures we’ve seen this season and the lack of any impact outfielders within the farm system, I’d guess that happens sooner rather than later.

As far as Constanza goes, this one doesn’t really hurt the team much, and will actually be a relief to many saber-inclined Braves fans. Constanza has been with Atlanta since 2011, and has split time between Triple-A Gwinnett and Atlanta in each season–with the vast majority of his playing time coming in the minors.

In 240 plate appearances with the Braves, Constanza is a .273/.316/.323 hitter with above-average speed being his carrying tool. Unfortunately, that speed hasn’t helped him develop into a great defender in center field and with no power and below-average hit tool and discipline at the plate, he never looked like anything more than a AAAA type player.