Alex Anthopoulos signed Ezequiel Carrera in December 2014 when Anthopoulos was general manager of the Blue Jays. Now Anthopoulos is the Braves GM, and he signed Carrera again.
But it’s a minor league contract, and the 30-year-old outfielder knows there’s no guarantee he’ll make the opening-day roster or even be in the organization after spring training, though Anthopoulos thought enough of him to sign him Tuesday after the Blue Jays released him.
“Obviously Alex and I have a good relationship; he’s the one who got me to Toronto,” Carrera said through an interpreter. “Right now really I’m just focusing on this opportunity, I want to make the most of it and do everything I can to make the team and help the team.
“I don’t try to take advantage of (his) relationship with Alex, I just want to focus on the things I can control here and give my best effort to make the team.”
Carrera, was released Sunday by Toronto, after hitting a career-best .282 with a .356 on-base percentage and eight homers in 325 plate appearances in 2017. The left-handed hitter gives the Braves a potential platoon option in left field until top prospect Ronald Acuna takes over the position, at which point Carrera could move to a fourth-outfielder role if he’s with the major league team.
Incumbent Braves fourth outfielder Lane Adams is out of minor league options, but the right-handed hitter has struggled this spring after deciding to make offseason changes to his swing that have thus far been counterproductive.
Other outfield bench possibilities include left-handed hitter Preston Tucker, who was acquired over the winter from the Astros and has minor league options, and non-roster invitee Dustin Peterson, a right-handed hitter who has come on strong in the past week with a pair of long home runs, albeit late in games against less-than-stellar pitching.
Carrerra has a .262 career average, 19 homers and a .690 OPS in 1,305 plate appearances over parts of seven major league seasons.
He went to Blue Jays spring training with a $1.9 million arbitration salary, but was designated for assignment March 1, outrighted to Triple-A, and returned to camp as a non-roster invitee. The Blue Jays decided this week to release him.
Career played in 121 games in the outfield for Toronto last season and made 71 starts including 50 in left field, 13 in right field and eight in center.
“I’m just happy to be here,” Carrera said. “I’m grateful for this opportunity, very grateful for the Braves to take a shot and I just want to take advantage of my opportunity here. I figured there could be other teams that might be interested, but once it happened to be the Braves I was really excited.”
