Braves.Today.Com

Update 5:20 p.m.: The Braves have landed an outfielder … didn’t we say this the other day? Seriously folks, it’s being reported by MLB.com and the AJC that the Braves have reached a deal with Garret Anderson.

I’ve been all about signing Anderson, as I wrote Friday. Short burst just filed now, will have a full blog tomorrow morning on the subject.

Poor Brandon Jones, who I wrote about this morning … think he’s Gwinnett-bound now. But I really like this signing.

OK, here’s the burst. Back to a day off … kinda.

By Bud L. Ellis
braves.today.com

ATLANTA – The Braves capped a topsy-turvy week Sunday by finalizing a one-year deal with free-agent Garret Anderson on Sunday.

Anderson, 36, doesn’t generate the same buzz that the presence of Ken Griffey Jr. would have, but the production from the left-handed hitting outfielder is just what the Braves need to go with Matt Diaz in a left-field platoon.

Anderson hit .293 with 15 homers and 84 RBIs in 145 games for the Angels last season. Against right-handed pitching, Anderson hit .293 with 14 HRs and 69 RBIs, matching the number of homers Griffey hit off rightys last season while hitting 21 points higher and drive in 21 more runs.

Griffey, who reportedly had decided Tuesday to sign with the Braves, reversed course and agreed Wednesday night to play with Seattle, where the future Hall of Famer started his career. At that point, Braves’ officials looked content to let internal candidates Brandon Jones, Gregor Blanco and Josh Anderson to battle for the other half of the platoon.

But adding Anderson gives the Braves a guy who has hit between 14 and 17 home runs in each of the past five seasons, during which his batting average has ranged from .280 to .301. Anderson also plays solid defense, having committed just two errors in the past three seasons in left field (a span of 261 games).

Anderson teamed with Diaz, who hit over .300 with nine homers off leftys in 2007, figures to give the Braves a tremendous upgrade in production over last season. Atlanta generated just six home runs from left field last season, part of a woeful offensive outfield that hit a combined 27 home runs.

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Updated 3:11 p.m.: Remember us discussing Garret Anderson the other day? Sure you do. According to MLB.com, it appears the Braves may have stronger interest in the 36-year-old free-agent outfielder than the organization let on in the days following Ken Griffey Jr.’s return to Seattle.

Like I wrote after Junior decided to go back to the M’s, Anderson makes a heck of a lot of sense. We shall see, but folks this really makes sense. Now to this morning’s post:

By Bud L. Ellis
braves.today.com

ATLANTA — You gotta know for all those Braves fans who were steaming when Ken Griffey Jr. decided to head to Seattle, a certain 25-year-old native of Panama City, Fla., was smiling.

Had Griffey ended up a Brave, then certainly Brandon Jones would be opening the season in Gwinnett, and not Atlanta. Instead, Jones now finds himself with a pretty good opportunity to be the left-handed bat in the Matt Diaz platoon in left field, a position that generated a paltry six home runs in 2008.

Jones hit eight dingers at Triple-A Richmond and slugged his first and, to this point, only major-league homer June 14 against the Angels in Los Angeles. But his 2008 production was disappointing following a 2007 during which Jones combined for 19 homers, 100 RBIs and a .295 average between Richmond and Double-A Mississippi.

Jones hit just .260 in 95 games at Richmond last season, driving in just 52 runs. . He posted respectable numbers in his 41 games with the Braves last season, hitting .267 with that one homer and 17 RBIs. Defensively, he made just one error in left field in 93 games (59 with Richmond, 34 with Atlanta).

And unless the Braves make a late push for Garret Anderson or Jim Edmonds, I think – as we sit here three days before the start of the exhibition season – Jones has the best chance to join Diaz in left. Unless Jordan Schafer blows people away the next six weeks, Josh Anderson figures to start in center. Gregor Blanco led the Braves in stolen bases last season with 13, but his on-base percentage was brutal.

Jones would bring more power potential to the lineup than either Anderson or Blanco, but he’s going to have to earn the spot. Last season, it appeared Jones or Anderson would be the fourth outfielder. But both struggled in camp, and Blanco caught fire the final three weeks of March to win the spot.

It would serve Jones well to have a camp like Blanco did last spring. If Jones can convince the Braves of that during the next month and a half, he’s likely to be on the big-league roster come opening night. The Braves haven’t had a Jones patrol left field since Chipper moved back to third base during 2004.

But maybe Jones — Brandon, not Chipper — can give the Braves a bat with pop to go with Diaz in left.

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