Atlanta Braves Clippings

Tuesday, February 9, 2016

Braves.com

Pitchers get in last Turner Field workouts

Foltynewicz, Wisler and others will report to Orlando by Feb. 19

By Mark Bowman / MLB.com | @mlbbowman | February 8th, 2016

ATLANTA -- Though there was still a little chill in the air, those who passed through the Braves clubhouse at Turner Field on Monday could certainly get the sense that the baseball season is quickly approaching.

Braves general manager John Coppolella added a couple suitcases to a group of boxes that will be placed on a moving truck that will transport most of the club's equipment to Spring Training on Friday. As Coppolella packed, pitchers Matt Wisler,Mike Foltynewicz and Williams Perez were at the stadium to complete one of their final workouts before heading to Florida. Braves pitchers and catchers are required to report to Spring Training by Feb. 19, but many of them will arrive in the Orlando area a few days early to get settled before entering daily grind of the baseball season.

"You can tell that everyone is starting to get excited," said veteran reliever David Carpenter, who has returned to the Braves organization after spending last year with the Yankees and Nationals.

While Wisler, Perez, Foltynewicz and right-handed reliever Danny Burawa have been frequent visitors to Turner Field over the past week, Carpenter just got to town on Sunday evening. He plans to stay a few days before heading south toward ESPN's Wide World of Sports Complex, which has been the Braves' Spring Training home since 1998.

Carpenter wasn't the only familiar figure who was getting reacquainted with Turner Field on Monday. The same could be said of veteran catcher Tyler Flowers, who was in the Braves farm system before being traded to the White Sox before the 2009 season. He signed with the Braves on Dec. 16 after seven years in Chicago.

Flowers has worked out at Turner Field a few times over the past week. In fact, while the suburban Atlanta resident was taking batting practice in the indoor batting cages on Friday, he received word that he needed to leave the stadium immediately because his wife had gone into labor and needed to get to a nearby hospital.

With Foltynewicz likely out of the mix as he attempts to regain the strength he lost after having surgery to remove a blood clot and a portion of a rib in September, it appears Julio Teheran, offseason signee Bud Norris and Wisler will hold the first three rotation spots. Perez, Manny Banuelos, Ryan Weber, Kyle Kendrick and Jhoulys Chacin will battle for the final two rotation spots.

The battles for the final bullpen spots will be influenced by how far Jason Grilli has progressed in his attempt to return from a ruptured left Achilles tendon. If Grilli is not ready, Arodys Vizcaino, Jim Johnson and Chris Withrow would stand as the only three near-locks to begin the season in Atlanta's bullpen.

Carpenter, Alexi Ogando and lefty Alex Torres will all come to camp as non-roster invitees who are hopeful to win one of those bullpen spots. The competition will be further enhanced by the presence of some returning candidates like Daniel Winkler and Burawa, who showed some promise as he worked out of Atlanta's bullpen late last season.

"Competition makes everybody better," Carpenter said. "If you come in and you're lackadaisical, and you don't get yourself prepared, then in turn, you hurt the team, and you hurt yourself."

Atlanta Journal-Constitution

Braves free-agent target Maitan compared to Chipper

By David O'Brien - The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

The 16-year-old Cuban free agent known as ‘Lazarito’ had a private workout Saturday with the Braves and has been linked to them and at least eight other teams, but he’s not the teen free agent Atlanta seems most likely to sign.

That player is Kevin Maitan, a switch-hitting Venezuelan shortstop who’s been at the center of the Braves’ international radar for more than a year. He turns 16 this week and will be eligible to sign for the first time on July 2, when the next international free-agent signing period begins.

Oh, and a respected scout compared him to a young Chipper Jones.

It’s been rumored for some time that the Braves had a handshake agreement in place for Maitan. Such agreements are neither permitted nor entirely enforceable. So a team would never say publicly if a deal was in place, and it’s not unheard of for deals to get broken when another team swept in late and offered more money.

All the Braves will say is that, yes, they want Maitan. And yes, they did work out corner infielder/outfielder Lazaro “Lazarito” Armenteros last weekend at the Braves’ academy in the Dominican Republic, and they like him, too.

Armenteros can sign a contract at any time and was initially expected to do so this week. It now appears he might work out an off-the-record deal with a team and wait to sign July 2 in the new signing period.

“We’re going to go hard after Maitan, we’re just not sure where we’re going to be able to go (with a potential offer) for the Cuban kid (Armenteros)” said Braves special assistant Gordon Blakeley, who heads up the team’s international scouting, a point of emphasis since a front office overhaul in October 2014.

Maitan is rated by many — including Braves officials – as the jewel of the international free-agent class that becomes eligible July 2. The Cardinals and Padres are among the many other teams that have heavily pursued Maitan.

“He’s a 6.6 (second) runner in the 60, so he can run,” Blakeley said. “He has power from both sides of the plate; he can hit a ball out of a big league ballpark now. He’s got good hands. He’s probably going to end up 6-3, 215 (pounds).”

And if that doesn’t already get pulses jumping in Braves Country, consider this:

“My comparison when I talked to our people was Chipper Jones,” said Blakeley, an international scout for 30 years who previously worked for the Yankees. “Chipper until he hurt his legs could play short, could play third, could have played center. Chipper could have done anything Chipper wanted to do. Maitan reminds me a lot of Chipper Jones.

“Big time power from both sides, and does it easy. Bat whip. Loves to play, loves to compete.”

Maitan will probably command a signing bonus of more than $3 million and perhaps top $4 million. That’s only a fraction of what Armenteros is projected to receive, which could easily top $15 million and perhaps $20 million.

Some teams are more willing to spend lavishly on Cuban free agents after the recent major league success of Cubans such as Yoenis Cespedes, Jose Iglesias and Yasiel Puig. But Armenteros defected at a younger age than most Cubans, and the scouting reports on him aren’t as thorough as a result.

Armenteros stands to benefit from a perfect storm of sorts, as a group of moneyed teams including the Dodgers, Giants and Cubs already spent more than their annual international signing-bonus allotments, triggering a ban that will prohibit them from signing such players for more than $300,000 beginning July 2. As a result, those teams and others could decide to spend whatever they want to on Armenteros now, even though it would mean paying a 100-percent tax.

Or, a team could elect to sign Armenteros to a contract July 2 that puts that team far over its international bonus allotment for the period that starts that day.

The Braves determined some time ago that this year — the period beginning July 2 – would be the year they make a huge splash in the international market by signing multiple players and spending more than their alloted bonus pool, which will trigger a ban on signing international free agents the following year to bonuses of more than $300,000.

Not only will many players be available July 2 whom they covet, including Maitan, catcher Abrahan Gutierrez and switch-hitting shortstop Junior Severino, the Braves also will n ot have to compete for them against big spenders including the Cubs, Dodgers, Yankees and Red Sox — teams that will be restricted from spending more than $300,000 per player in that international free-agent class.

Fox Sports

Back with Braves, Carpenter looks to rekindle past success

In 2013 and '14, David Carpenter combined for a 2.63 ERA with 10 strikeouts per nine innings in 121 appearances for the Braves.

By Cory McCartney @coryjmccartney

ATLANTA -- David Carpenter bounded into the clubhouse following a session at the team's early pitching camp and couldn't hide his enthusiasm. After a year away, he was with the Braves again, back where he's had the greatest success of his five-year career.

"You smile. That's the best way I can put it," he said Monday.

The role of the 30-year-old right-handed reliever has changed since he was last in Atlanta. Once the primary setup man for the Braves, a down season with the Yankees and Nationals has Carpenter trying to distance himself from a crowded list of contenders to simply make the 25-man roster.

But for now, all he's attempting to do is prove that he's healthy and returned to form.

"It's just pretty much showing that 'Hey, I'm myself again' and show that you're ready to work and all that stuff and just see where (manager) Fredi (Gonzalez) and (pitching coach) Roger (McDowell) and (general manager John Coppolella) and (president of baseball operations) John Hart have in mind and just go from there."

In 2013 and '14, the one-time catcher emerged as a steady compliment to All-Star Craig Kimbrel for the Braves, posting a 2.63 ERA with 10 strikeouts per nine innings and a 1.121 WHIP over 126 2/3 innings. But he was traded Jan. 1, 2015 to the Yankees along with Chasen Shreve for Manny Banuelos, and Carpenter threw just 18 2/3 innings in 22 games in New York before being dealt to the Nationals.

"Just kind of got out of sync up there in New York; wasn't exactly sure what it was," he said.

Back in the National League, Carpenter appeared to be finding his footing, allowing one run over his first 5 2/3 innings. But after a June 30 outing against the Braves at Turner Field -- the game in which he allowed that single run -- Carpenter began experiencing an issue in his arm.

The problem was, he and the Nationals medical staff couldn't agree on what the root of it was, with the team believing it was general shoulder discomfort. On the mound, he couldn't help but fixate on the issue instead of concentrating on the hitter.

"That was one of the things that was tough near the end was, just trying to get that thought out of my mind," Carpenter said.

It was eventually diagnosed as bicep tendinitis and Carpenter sums up the entire situation as a "miscommunication."

"What a doctor was saying, what different people were saying, never really got on the same page." he said. "The worst part was I knew what it felt like. I tried to explain to them 'Here's what it is. Let's do this.' But they wouldn't really go with me on that."

Carpenter was placed on the disabled list July 17, and after playing in three rehab games, he was outrighted from Washington's roster. He would have been under club control for two more seasons, but now found himself having to opt for free agency, and returned to the place where he had his greatest success.

"I grew up cheering for the guys that played here," the West Virginia native said, "so to get to have the opportunity to come back here and try to see what I can do, it's a blast. I'm looking forward to it."

The question, though, is when he'll do it if he makes the team? In 2013, 26 of Carpenter's innings came in the eighth and a year later, he had 38 in that frame, two seasons in which opponents hit .198 and .256, respectively, against him. The hard-throwing righty's place is in those late-inning, high-leverage situations.

But much has changed, aside from Kimbrel having been traded to the Padres, and now the Red Sox. The back end of the bullpen is seemingly solidified with the Braves having revitalized veterans Jason Grilli (2.94 ERA, 24 saves in an injury-shorted season) and Jim Johnson (2.25 ERA, nine saves in 48 IP before being dealt to the Dodgers) and 24-year-old Arodys Vizcaino coming into his own with nine saves and a 1.60 ERA.

Carpenter is fighting for a spot along with a number of veteran relievers in former All-Star Alexi Ogando, Alex Torres (one of the few left-handed options), Jhoulys Chacin, not to mention the collection of young arms that could help to bolster the major league bullpen if they can't make the rotation (i.e. Mike Foltynewicz).

"Just seeing what is coming back, you've got Grilli -- coming back off of his injury -- who has done really well in the past and knows how to get people out out; Jim Johnson, who turned it around last year and did really, really well," Carpenter said. "Then you've got some young guys, Vizcaino, and a handful of other guys that came up and made an impact and threw the ball really well. It's exciting what can happen."

Carpenter figures his familiarity with the Braves staff will be key, as well as Gonzalez and McDowell's knowledge of the kinds of situations he can thrive in. "Trying to go into a different situation trying to learn where you're going to be used, that's tough to feel out," he said.

He'll head down to spring training with that weighing in his favor, along with his health. Carpenter is no longer experiencing any discomfort and is confident he is healed.

"When I can pick up a ball, play catch and then just all of a sudden just uncork one that goes 300 feet, no problem? That in my mind let's me know ... we're good to go," he said.

Atlanta Business Chronicle

Braves may be stepping back from St. Pete stadium

Mark Meltzer - Executive Editor - Atlanta Business Chronicle

The Atlanta Braves could be stepping back from a proposed new spring training complex in St. Petersburg, the Tampa Bay Times is reporting.

The paper said Braves officials did not attend a meeting last week that included Pinellas County staffers and SportsPark Partners LLC, a consortium that incudes the Braves, former major-league star Gary Sheffield and St. Petersburg developer Darryl LeClair.

Joe Lauro, the county’s director of purchasing, told the Times he does not know if the Braves are still part of the proposed 240-acre amateur sports complex.

Braves President John Schuerholz had said the Braves would like to have a deal in place by the end of 2015 for a new spring training complex. But he has said several times recently that no deal is in place.

Asked if there was anything new he could report, he said in an email on Jan. 4, “Nothing other than we are continuing to speak to various Florida communities about their level of interest in having the Atlanta Braves spring training complex relocate to their town.”

The Braves’ 20-year contract to hold spring training at ESPN’s Wide World of Sports Complex in Orlando, Fla., expires after spring training 2017.

The team needs a new facility because of the rigors of busing major and minor league players from central Florida to play teams that are increasingly located on Florida’s east and west coasts.

Tampa Bay Times

Atlanta Braves might be fading from view in Toytown spring training plans

Charlie Frago, Times Staff Writer

ST. PETERSBURG — A plan to bring Atlanta Braves spring training to Toytown might be tanking.

Pinellas County staffers and SportsPark Partners LLC, a consortium that incudes the Braves, former major-league star Gary Sheffield and St. Petersburg developer Darryl LeClair, met Tuesday.

Representatives for LeClair and Sheffield attended.

But no Braves officials did.

Are the Braves still part of the ambitious project to build a spring training facility and amateur sports complex on the 240-acre former Pinellas County landfill?

"I honestly don't know," said Joe Lauro, the county's director of purchasing.

If the Braves have pulled out, it would be a quiet backing-away from the club's announcement in September that it was a partner in LeClair's project, which sent a tremor through Major League Baseball and local politics.

The club's plan asked for up to $10.5 million in annual bed tax revenue, which would have put a serious, perhaps fatal, dent in any plan to keep the Tampa Bay Rays in Pinellas County. If the Braves got that money for their facility, little if anything would be left for a new Rays stadium or any other team.

The Philadelphia Phillies train in Clearwater and the Toronto Blue Jays train in Dunedin.

Major League Baseball quickly issued a statement last year basically telling the Braves to back off while the Rays tried to reach a deal with the St. Petersburg City Council to look outside the city for a new stadium site.

The Pinellas County Commission put on the brakes, too, while letting the St. Petersburg City Council do what it needed to close a deal quickly to let the Rays look for a new stadium in Hillsborough.

Last month, the City Council did just that, allowing the team to look in Pinellas and Hillsborough counties for three years for its next home.

Now that the closed-door negotiations on SportsPark's Toytown plans have begun, county officials can't go into details, Lauro said. But the negotiations won't be speedy, lasting at least six months, he said.

The Braves declined comment. Representatives for LeClair and Sheffield also didn't return calls.

Mike Meidel, the county's economic development director, said the county could still possibly fund a Braves spring training facility and a new stadium for the Rays.

"It would be tight," he said.

Meidel said the team might have to settle for less county money. Meidel also pointed to West Palm Beach, where the Astros and Nationals are teaming up to build a $144 million facility with Palm Beach County. Both of those teams are contributing millions of dollars to the project.

The West Palm Beach site is also being constructed on a former landfill, which has resulted in some higher-than-expected costs to clear debris and trash. It's slated to open in 2017.

The Braves, who currently train at the ESPN Wide World of Sports facility at a Disney resort near Orlando, need to find a new spring home by 2018.

The team trained in West Palm Beach from 1962 to 1997 before moving to Orlando in 1998. But after the recent departures of the Astros and Nationals from Central Florida, only the Braves and Tigers in Lakeland remain. That's a lot of long bus drives.

And with LeClair and Sheffield's plans calling for a five-year construction phase, the Braves would be faced with the possibility of opening a new ballpark surrounded by cranes and earthmovers — hardly a pleasing prospect.

Still, Pinellas County Commissioner Ken Welch said he's optimistic that the Braves will end up at Toytown. And he thinks a deal can be inked to keep the Rays in Pinellas.

"I want it all," Welch said.