The Atlanta Braves are seemingly not done making moves even after an active offseason that featured the departures of some of their best players. But they still have first baseman Freddie Freeman, who is optimistic about the 2015 season.
According to Ben Badler of Baseball America, the Braves held a private workout for Cuban second baseman Hector Olivera on Saturday in the Dominican Republic. Olivera is another Cuban defector who is seeking an MLB contract, but must wait for clearance from the U.S Office of Foreign Assets Control, which is also an ongoing issue for Cuban prospect Yoan Moncada.
Badler mentions Braves' manager Fredi Gonzalez, assistant general manager John Coppolella and other top team officials were in attendance for the workout. Olivera is expected to sign as a second or third baseman with an MLB club, which explains the team's interest since they have veteran Alberto Callaspo at second and Chris Johnson, who was the subject of trade talks this offseason, at third. However, the 29-year-old Olivera missed all of the 2012-2013 season in Cuba and had just 273 plate appearances this past season.
He's scheduled to have another open showcase on February 11, which will follow the one he conducted in late January.
Despite all the changes the Braves made this offseason (and ones they're still making), thanks to president of baseball operations John Hart taking the reigns, All-Star first baseman Freddie Freeman is "excited" for the upcoming season and thinks the team is "going to surprise a lot of people," according to Mark Bowman of MLB.com.
Atlanta traded away its top power hitters in Justin Upton, Jason Heyward and Evan Gattis with a plan to build up their farm system and plan for the future. They've acquired an arsenal in prospects in most of the deals they made this offseason, which mirrors Hart's philosophy once he was hired. They've particularly built up their pitching staff, both at the major league and minor league level, and Freeman believes that's going to help them in 2015.
"I think [president of baseball operations] John Hart, [assistant general manager] John Coppolella and [team president] John Schuerholz are preparing for the long haul," he said, via Bowman. "I think we're going to be good for a lot of years. Maybe, it might start this year. You never know. But our pitching staff is what will keep us in a lot of games this year. If [the pitchers] can keep us in the game, we've got a lot of speed guys and a lot of guys who make contact. So, hopefully, we can move some runners and get some runners in this year."
However, they'll have some competition in the NL East with the Washington Nationals, Miami Marlins and New York Mets.
