The Braves have been quite active this offseason, but it hasn’t been of the blockbuster variety.
The most notable acquisitions have been the Jarred Kelenic trade and the free agent signings of Reynaldo Lopez, Joe Jimenz, and Pierce Johnson. There’s been a handful of other minor moves, and Alex Anthopoulos just made another one.
The Braves have signed Taylor Widener to a minor league deal, according to MLB Trade Rumors. Though he’s been assigned to Triple-A Gwinnett, there’s reason to believe he’ll be a non-roster invitee for Spring Training.
The 20-year-old was originally drafted by the Yankees but was traded to the Diamondbacks in a three-team deal involving Brandon Drury among others. From 2020 to 2022 for Arizona, Widener tossed 107.2 innings of 4.26 ERA ball while punching out 22.4% of batters faced. However, his 11% free pass rate isn’t as encouraging.
Most recently, he was outrighted by the Snakes in January and ended up in South Korea, throwing for two different clubs in the Korea Baseball Organization, where he tossed 115 innings over 20 starts and one relief appearance, combining for a 4.54 ERA and striking out 20% of batters while walking 8.1%.
It’s not clear yet where the Braves see him fitting because of his time in Korea as a starter. That kind of versatility is clearly appealing to the club. Reynaldo Lopez is going to be stretched out as a starter, and if it doesn’t work out, he’ll be a high-leverage reliever, who can go multiple innings.
Widener shouldn’t be expected to be that type of player, but we’ve seen multiple arms in Atlanta come from obscure places, like Tyler Matzek and Michael Tonkin, who ended up pitching over 80 innings in a multi-inning role for the Braves last year.
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