The Atlanta Braves have gone completely mute about acquiring a corner outfielder to fill their need in the leadoff spot and left field. However, as Frank Wren and Fredi Gonzalez visited young players in Winter Ball, if no trade candidate is found, the Braves might stick to their home grown talent.
One of the key guys Braves' management is looking at in the Dominican Republic is Juan Francisco.
The team's main hope is that Francisco could pick up the slack by reducing his strikeout numbers and providing the pop many saw a glimpse of in 2012.
Right now, Wren and Gonzalez saw a slimmer Francisco who batter .315 with seven homers and a .565 slugging percentage while playing 29 games with Los Tigres de Licey this past winter. This reminded them a little of the Francisco they saw in mid-summer when they gave him consistent playing time.
At one point last season, Francisco hit .407 with three homers in 27 at-bats against left. Wren pointed out, "I think we saw that when he played semi-regularly last year, it was different than the end of the year when he was playing sporadically." Wren believes that, if Francisco performs the way he did in at the halfway point of the season, the Braves can plug him into the everyday lineup.
Consequently, Francisco becoming an everyday player will allow Martin Prado to take over the left field duties in Atlanta. He is projected to be the Braves' third baseman in 2013, but that's only if they acquire a left-fielder. The Braves would also have Prado in charge of the leadoff role.
Another alternative, if Francisco scuffles in spring training, is having Jose Constanza and Reed Johnson platoon in left field.
What the Braves are planning to do with Constanza is unclear. He possesses speed and is a pesky hitter. However, his strikeout total is a bit alarming. Constanza has received minimum playing time over the past two seasons. In 2012 he batted .250 and in just 76 at-bats struck out 21 times.
Wren said the Braves will need more time to decide whether they need to shop some of their talent for an everyday player or if their talent can step up and win the starting jobs available.
The Braves had some interests in acquiring Shin-Soo Choo of the Cleveland Indians, but he was shipped to Cincinnati as the Reds and Diamondbacks had more to offer in their trades.
