Atlanta Braves Add Bautista With Minor League Contract

The Atlanta Braves (9-7) surprised many Wednesday by signing José Bautista to a Minor League deal. That isn’t the strangest part.

How many times can one write about the bullpen blowing another game? I don’t know, but was going to trot out another in a growing “woe is us” type thing lamenting just that from Tuesday night. Then, the Atlanta Braves surprised when they announced the inking of former All-Star José Bautista to a Minor League deal. The real surprise? It is, ostensibly, to play 3rd base.

There are a number of thoughts and questions that arose when the news dropped. Is Camargo that behind in his rehab? Is he in the “doghouse”? What does this tell us about Ryan Flaherty who has played well, to date?

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It might not mean anything. We do know that GM Alex Anthopoulos was in Toronto with Bautista for years, and enjoyed success. Maybe he was just hooking his buddy up with a last chance. It’s not like Bautista has been all that productive in the last few years.

Maybe it is a cheap way to sell tickets in Gwinnett. I’d go a see him hit a few bombs up on I-85 N.

Chances are that this isn’t a significant action. Meaning, surely they aren’t going to trot José Bautista out at the “hot corner” at STP. Are they?

In an ongoing discussion with my Brother, The Sloff Dizzle, and the “A-Train (remember: The Hater of all Haters), it seems to be consensus that, were that to happen, it could stymie or interfere with the development and/or actualization of young players like Camargo.

At some point the Atlanta Braves have to find out which, if any, of these young players is going to pan out. The only way to do that is to let them see the field.

If this is an indication that the Braves’ Front Office has come to a conclusion, specifically regarding the current 3rd Base situation, it would not portend well, at all.

This writer doesn’t think so. The guess here is that it is a cheap way to sell tickets in Gwinnett and help a friend and competitor.

Or Anthopoulos knows something the rest of us don’t. Namely, that Bautista can play 3rd and is hitting with enough power to protect Freeman in the lineup.

Next: Atlanta Braves Could Become Surprise Team of 2018

It is a strange surprise to even write those words.