Atlanta Braves: Five All-Star Position Player Wish List

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20. player. 76. . Catcher. Lousiana-Lafayette. Jonathan Lucroy

I’m going to break the ice here. The Atlanta Braves organization shot itself in the foot at catcher in the long term. Atlanta did not try hard enough to bring back All-Star backstop Brian McCann after the 2013 season, signing with the New York Yankees. The Braves then traded C Evan Gattis to Houston for SP prospect Mike Foltynewicz this offseason. These two gutsy moves hinged on top prospect C Christian Bethancourt becoming the next Yadier Molina.

Bethancourt is now back in AAA Gwinnett relearning how to call games behind the plate and make sound defensive decisions. Yes, we all love his arm, but throwing out base runners is a small sliver of what it takes to become a Big League catcher. While AJ Pierzynski has had a great first half to the 2015 season in Atlanta, he’s 38 years old and likely won’t catch in the Big Leagues for more than maybe a couple of seasons.

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The Bethancourt issues were real and at one point there were trade rumors circulating about the Atlanta Braves having interest in Milwaukee Brewers backstop Jonathan Lucroy. I’ve loved Lucroy’s game for the last few years. He became a household name as an MVP candidate for the Brew Crew in 2014, finishing 4th in voting. To me, acquiring Lucroy would essentially replace Brian McCann’s lost offensive production. Part of me wants to take a Mulligan on Bethancourt and try to get Lucroy before 2017.

Jonathan Lucroy like every player I will mention in this post has that ‘gamer’ quality about them. When the game is on the line, I know that these guys will deliver. The more your team has, the better your team will be. That’s why I loved the Nick Markakis signing so much. When he was in Baltimore, he was definitely on this list of mine. I’d love to see what Lucroy could do in managing this up-and-coming Braves pitching staff.

Next: Why Not Bring Markakis' Former Teammate to Atlanta?

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