The Braves’ front office stayed busy on the team’s final day of spring training in Florida, working to strengthen their outfield defense with the addition of Peter Bourjos.
They were close to finalizing a one-year major league deal with veteran right-handed hitter, a person close to the situation said Sunday.
At 31, Bourjos is still regarded as a strong defender at all three outfield positions. He was released by the Cubs on Friday after signing a minor league deal in February.
The Braves were also close to finalizing a major league deal with veteran utility man Ryan Flaherty, who can play all infield positions and the corner outfield spots. He spent the past six seasons with the Orioles and was released by the Phillies this year after exercising a clause in his minor league contract that made him a free agent if he wasn’t added to the major league roster.
Braves first-year general manager Alex Anthopoulos has put a premium on improving the defense of a team that has so many young pitchers and pitching prospects as its main asset. He wants to make sure those pitchers have good defense behind them, both with starters and bench players.
Bourjos is a .241 career hitter with a .298 OBP and .680 OPS in eight seasons with the Angels, Cardinals, Phillies and Rays. He hit .271 and led the American League in triples (11) in 2011 in 502 plate appearances in his second big-league season with the Angels. That was the only year he had as many as 300 PAs until 2016 with the Phillies, when he hit .251 with seven triples and five homers in 383 PAs.
Bourjos hit just .223 with a .272 OBP in 100 games (203 PAs) with the Rays last season, but still hit .260 with a .752 OPS in 113 plate appearances against left-handers. That could make him valuable on a Braves team that has left-handed hitters Ender Inciarte in center field and Nick Markakis in right.
