Seemingly out of nowhere, the Braves have been connected to Marwin Gonzalez.
Fuente: #Braves es uno de los equipos que ha mostrado interés en el venezolano Marwin González, pero no le ha hecho ninguna oferta. González sigue agente libre y esperando por un contrato en MLB.
— Enrique Rojas/ESPN (@Enrique_Rojas1) January 15, 2019
Translation:Â Source: #Braves is one of the teams that has shown interest in the Venezuelan Marwin Gonzalez, but has not made any offer. Gonzalez remains a free agent and waiting for a contract in MLB.Â
Minutes later, we got this tweet from Andres Alcay, whose Twitter bio says he is the “animator of CaraboboFC, Narrator of baseball of MeridianoTV, and Sports analyst of La Notta 91.1FM Talent of Latin World Sports” for those not familiar:
https://twitter.com/ArcayAndres/status/1084947439210188800
TRANSLATION: Marwin González signed for 3 years and 56 million with the Braves of Atlánta … was the best option for Marwin? I want to see your impressions!
Braves beat writer Gabe Burns is not buying it:
The Braves have NOT made any offer to Marwin Gonzalez.
— Gabe Burns (@GabeBurnsAJC) January 15, 2019
Jon Heyman went as far to mention that the Braves do not even have ongoing contact with any free agents:
Inquiring about the rumor that the Braves were signing Marwin Gonzalez, heard that Atlanta has no offers out to any free agents (including Marwin) and in fact is not currently in talks with any free agents. So I’d guess they are either focusing on trades or waiting out market.
— Jon Heyman (@JonHeyman) January 15, 2019
Heyman makes it clear: this really is indicative of what the Braves plan is to add an outfielder if this rumor is fake news.
Gonzalez had a wide open market, as teams craved him for his versatility. He can play all around the diamond and can hit. The signing may not make a ton of sense on the surface if it is indeed a true rumor. This does seem like an overpay, but given his market, it is also not that surprising. Just not exactly ideal.
This would fill the Braves’ need for another outfielder and give them a ton of options due to the versatility of him, Johan Camargo, and Charlie Culberson. This would be especially helpful in the case that Dansby Swanson struggles, Josh Donalson gets hurt or the Braves have to find a spot for Austin Riley.
If this rumor proves legitimate, welcome Marwin! The Braves’ future is bright!
Stay tuned for updates.