Thus far this offseason, the Atlanta Braves have, by far, been the most active team on the free agent market. On back-to-back days they added veteran hurlers R.A. Dickey and Bartolo Colon, both on one-year contracts. Now, for the third time in as many days, they’ve added an arm via free agency. The most recent addition? Jordan Walden.
While the Braves had expressed an explicit interest in adding multiple starters, no mention was made of bullpen upgrades. Regardless, that’s what they’ve done.
This will be Walden’s second stint with Atlanta. Originally a member of the Los Angeles Angels, he was acquired by Atlanta in the trade that sent Tommy Hanson (RIP) out west. After two excellent seasons with the Braves, Walden was shipped to the St. Louis Cardinals as part of the Jason Heyward trade.
Unfortunately for Walden, his time in St. Louis was mired by injury. After five fantastic big league seasons, his sixth was cut short by shoulder issues. He would miss the majority of 2015 and all of 2016.
Despite his injury history, Walden represents a fantastic buy-low candidate. When healthy, he has experienced prolonged success at the major league level.
Perhaps more so than his on-field performance, Walden is known for his unorthodox delivery. While many have given interesting descriptions of it, one from Grant Brisbee stands out when he said that the righty “jump[s] off the mound like a meth-addled ninja.”
In less colorful terms, Walden begins his delivery in a fairly standard way before taking a full leap (with both feet momentarily off the ground) and lunging at the batter.
Though Walden will instantly become one of the most accomplished arms in the battle for Atlanta’s bullpen, he won’t immediately be given a spot on the roster. Arodys Vizcaino, Mauricio Cabrera, and Jim Johnson are virtual locks but beyond that, there is a large cluster of arms vying to make the roster.
With any amount of success during Spring Training, though, it seems likely Walden will get another chance in the bigs. Like Dickey and Colon, he is an inexpensive veteran presence who can mentor a young staff.
Scott Ferris covers the Braves as a Staff Writer for Outside Pitch MLB. You can follow him on Twitter @ScottHFerris
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