The Braves have re-signed outfielder José Azócar to a minor league deal, according to his transactions tracker at MLB.com. He has been assigned to Triple-A Gwinnett. He is in tonight’s lineup, batting seventh and playing left field.
Atlanta clearly values Azócar as a potential bench player or depth piece. Since he is out of options, he has been repeatedly shuffled on and off the roster this year. The two sides agreed to a minor league deal in the offseason. Twice this year, he has been selected to the roster and been designated for assignment shortly thereafter. In both cases, he cleared waivers, elected free agency and then re-signed on a new minor league deal.
For the club, they effectively get an extra roster spot for added outfield depth, with Azócar giving them a speed-and-defense guy. He has 83rd percentile sprint speed this year, per Statcast, and has been even higher in previous seasons. He has received strong grades for his glovework at all three positions.
His offense is less impressive on the whole. He has a big .333/.375/.467 line this year but in a small sample of just 16 plate appearances. In his career, he has a .248/.293/.325 line in 434 appearances. He’s a useful player who has allowed the club to cover for injuries to guys like Ronald Acuña Jr. and Eli White.
For Azócar, it’s probably not his preference to be riding this transactions carousel, but at least he has a job and has gotten some sporadic big league pay and service time. Based on the fact that he has cleared waivers multiple times this season, no other club is willing to give him a roster spot, so it’s not as though he has significantly better opportunities elsewhere. He’ll rejoin the Stripers to get reps as he waits for the call back to the big leagues.
Photo courtesy of Brett Davis, Imagn Images
