With little in the way of bench depth, the Atlanta Braves have been connected to a couple veterans lingering in free agency – most notably Kelly Johnson and Angel Pagan.
The rumors surrounding each player were similar.
- Atlanta offers minor-league deal (potentially with incentives).
- Player says they want to hold out for a major league commitment.
- Team and player remain at stalemate.
This sort of will-they-or-won’t-they courtship takes place all the time between teams and players that fill a sort of (but not extremely) pressing need.
But with the season just weeks away, it now appears that Pagan’s name can be taken off of the list of potential bench candidates.
According to David O’Brien of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, the Braves are no longer in the mix for the veteran outfielder.
#Braves are not among teams pursuing Angel Pagan, haven't been for several weeks.
— David O'Brien (@DOBrienAJC) March 20, 2017
While Pagan is likely the best remaining option in free agency, it appears he’s priced himself out of consideration for the Braves. Fresh off of a four-year/$40 million contract with the San Francisco Giants, the two-time World Series champ has reportedly been seeking at least $5 million on a major league deal.
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Though it sounds like nothing is currently in the works, it remains to be seen if the two parties will circle back around to one another.
Despite coming off a pretty strong season at the plate (including a career-high 12 home runs), the 35-year-old Pagan hasn’t been able to find a team willing to meet his contract demands and remains unemployed.
Meanwhile, there have been some rumblings out of Atlanta that journeyman Emilio Bonifacio could win a roster spot out of Spring Training.
While Pagan could opt to keep waiting and Atlanta could opt to go with Bonifacio, there still does appear (at least on paper) to be a good match between player and team.
Scott Ferris covers the Braves as a Staff Writer for Outside Pitch MLB. You can follow him on Twitter @ScottHFerris
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