After losing out on signing Ken Griffey, the Braves have moved on and brought in veteran LF Garret Anderson. The reported deal is worth $2.5M for one year.Naturally this is being reported by AJC.com, so you might think, "did we really sign him?" Well don't be too shocked that its likely true. Since Anderson was our second option after Griffey, it makes sense that we'd bring in the life-long Angels lefty on the cheap. Anderson is a three-time all-star, averaging over 20HR and 100RBI in each of his fifteen Major League seasons.
Its probably safe to assume that Anderson would assume the same platoon role planned for Griffey: Matt Diaz will start against lefties while Anderson starts against righties.
This all sounds like a safe way to hold the fort until top prospect Jason Heyward can take the reins. It follows the trend GM Frank Wren appears set to follow: sign veterans on the cheap as a stop-gap until the prospects can take over. I love this trend. You have to assume that enough GMs out there (who don't have $100M to spend every winter) have seen teams like the Dodgers and Yankees sink way too much money into overpaid veterans while sacrificing their farm system for short-term gains. Sure the Braves haven't made the playoffs in three years now, but we're finally developing the top-tier farm system that helped build a dynasty nearly twenty years ago. We've locked in a strong core of Chipper, McCann, and Lowe while prospects Heyward, Tommy Hanson, Jordan Schaefer and Freddie Freeman wait in the wings.
The future is bright for Atlanta, and after struggling early in the offseason it appears that Frank Wren has found his stride. Its time to get excited about Atlanta Braves baseball again.
The first game of Spring Training is this Wednesday.
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