LAKE BUENA VISTA, Fla. – The Braves announced Mike Minor is dealing with inflammation of the left shoulder and will begin the season on the DL.
Thus, Atlanta went from having one opening in its rotation to two, behind Shelby Miller, Julio Teheran and Alex Wood. The candidates include a couple of ex-Yankees: Chien-Ming Wang and Manuel Banuelos.
Neither is among the favorites to land a spot. Wandy Rodriguez, who is signed to a minor league contract, looked good on Monday, and the Braves are excited about the potential of Mike Foltynewicz, the key player they got back from the Astros for Evan Gattis. Eric Stults and Cody Martin also are under consideration.
Banuelos, not long ago the Yankees’ best pitching prospect, is due to make his second spring start Friday against the Mets. The lefty, who worked at 89-93 mph in his first start, hardly pitched in 2012-13 due to arm injuries. He only hinted at his former excellence last year, which motivated the Yankees to trade him to Atlanta in the offseason for relievers David Carpenter and Chasen Shreve.
The Braves, building toward the opening of a new stadium in 2017, spent the offseason accumulating as many high-ceiling young pitchers as possible, and Banuelos still fell into that category in their view.
“He’s been sharp so far,” Atlanta assistant general manager John Coppolella said.
Banuelos only threw 76 1/3 innings last year as the Yanks babied him. Coppolella explained he will be kept to no more than 140-150 innings this season. So if he does not make the rotation, he likely will be sent to the minors rather than be kept in the major league pen.
Yes, the Yankees were among a dozen teams that inquired with the Braves about right fielder Jason Heyward this past offseason. But they were never viewed by the Braves as serious contenders.
Heyward eventually went to the Cardinals with reliever Jordan Warden for young starters Shelby Miller and Tyrell Jenkins.
The two teams that were closest to getting Heyward were the White Sox (who eventually added Melky Cabrera) and the Giants (who added Nori Aoki).
The Braves covertly have tried to make a big move with a Cuban import. They quietly offered big dollars for Jorge Soler (Cubs), Rusney Castillo (Red Sox), Yasmany Tomas (Diamondbacks) and Raisel Iglesias (Reds).
Therefore, their offer for second baseman/third baseman Hector Olivera becoming so public makes them concerned about being used to get other teams to increase offers.
Olivera is an interesting but concerning case. He is an older free agent (30), missed a lot of time in Cuba due to a blood disorder, is rumored to have an injury to his elbow and just switched agents, though to the experienced Greg Genske. One of those who was advising Olivera was Rudy Santin, who had been a longtime Yankees scout. One of the first players he signed in the early 1980s was Fredi Gonzalez, who is the Braves manager.