Braves Sign Jose Bautista To A Minor League Deal To Play Third Base

Soooooooo this is obviously a favor by Alex Anthopoulos, right? Has to be. Anthopoulos was the general manager of the Blue Jays when Toronto plucked Jose Bautista from obscurity in 2008, acquiring him from the Pittsburgh Pirates for a player to be named later. At the age of 37, Bautista is once again linking up with Anthopoulos, this time in Atlanta where the native of Montreal is currently the general manager.

If any team was going to roll the dice on Bautista this season, I assumed it would’ve been an American League team so that they could slot him in as their DH. Turns out that the Braves have added the six-time All Star to play third base, not right field. With Ronald Acuna set to get his call up to the big leagues soon, there won’t be any spots open for old friend Joey Bats with Ender Inciarte and Nick Markakis already out there.

The reason why this move reeks of doing Bautista a solid is because the Braves currently have the ninth best OPS in the majors at the third base position (.823). Not that depth is ever a bad thing, but I just don’t see how a 37-year-old Bautista playing third base helps your team, especially considering that he hit .203 with a .674 OPS last year. Oh, and then there’s the small detail that your team hates him.

Other than that, I think it’ll work out great!