LAKE BUENA VISTA, Fla. -- Pitcher Tommy Hanson is almost two years away from being arbitration eligible and five years from free agency, but he might have given the first indication he'll drive a hard bargain with Scott Boras as his agent.
Hanson didn’t accept the Braves' final offer for a one-year contract and was unilaterally renewed by the Braves, the team announced Thursday.
When his former agency Beverly Hill Sports Council split, Hanson, who is entering his second full season, changed agents last summer to mega-agent Boras. Hanson is eligible for arbitration after the 2012 season.
Hanson received a modest raise to about $456,000 after making $435,000 last year. As a player with zero to three years of major league service time, Hanson is under the constraints of the Braves’ pay scale.
The Braves also agreed to terms with reliever Cristhian Martinez and infielder Diory Hernandez, bringing their entire 40-man roster under contract.
The last time the Braves unilaterally renewed a player was Jeff Francoeur in 2007 and 2008.
Young comes up big
Fredi Gonzalez has been told since his arrival as Braves manager that he will love minor league outfielder Matt Young.
He enjoyed what he saw Thursday when Young made a run-saving catch in left field and hit a walkoff RBI single in a 4-3 win over the Tigers.
Young has an outside chance to make the roster as a backup outfielder and second baseman. He helped his cause Thursday.
“Sure enough, he’s always in the middle of something,” Gonzalez said. “… There is room for him in the major leagues because he’s a winner. You need those type players.”
Young is only about 5-foot-6, but the Braves haven't held that against their 2009 Double-A player of the year. Gonzalez compared him to David Eckstein, a 5-7 infielder who won World Series with the Angels in 2002 and the Cardinals in 2006, winning the World Series MVP award in 2006.
Jurrjens unhappy
Jair Jurrjens retired the first seven batters he faced in his second outing of spring, but two runs in the third inning left him something to stew over.
Ultimately, it wasn't just a long home run by Brennan Boesch that bothered him. He thinks Boesch knew what was coming. "When you shake, shake, shake [off signs] the hitter knows what's going on," Jurrjens said.
He wasn’t happy with his velocity, which isn’t yet consistently in the 90s.
“The ball is not nice and easy like I always am,” Jurrjens said. “I feel like I’m trying to force too much.”
Jurrjens said he started throwing a month later than usual in the offseason because he was coming off arthroscopic knee surgery. He thinks it’s just a matter of time.
“Sometimes you just want to get in that shape right away,” he said. “You want to feel game-ready early in spring training. You just need to be realistic.”
Delgado struggles
It would have been hard to match Arodys Vizcaino's two scoreless innings Wednesday, but fellow prospect Randall Delgado looked more like a minor leaguer in his first major league spring-training game Thursday.
Delgado gave up a run on three hits, including a double, in the ninth inning as the Tigers timed his 93-mph fastball.
“He got behind in the count with some pretty good major leaguers still in that lineup and was throwing fastballs,” Gonzalez said. “But that’s a good learning experience for him.”
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