Joining a perennial pennant contender will work wonders for Jarred Kelenik, according to Atlanta Braves manager Brian Snitker.
“It will be good for me to get into our group,” said Snitker during a media conference at the Baseball Winter Meetings in Nashville. “I haven’t seen him play but I know how talented he is from people I’ve talked to about him. And he’s still just 24.”
Once considered one of baseball’s top prospects, Kelenik was the cornerstone of a five-man trade between the Braves and Seattle Mariners earlier this week. He’s expected to become Atlanta’s regular left-fielder, perhaps in a platoon with right-handed hitter Vaughn Grissom, who hit .330 at Triple-A Gwinnett.
Grissom, a former middle infielder, has volunteered to learn left field in the Puerto Rican Winter League, which opens its season in a few days.
“I love our team,” Snitker said of the club that led the majors with 104 wins and a record-tying 307 home runs, “but you can always make changes that will benefit the ballclub.”
So far, those changes have included adding Kelenik, converting Grissom, signing hard-throwing Reynaldo Lopez, and acquiring lefty reliever Aaron Bummer from the Chicago White Sox in exchange for five young players.
There will also be changes on the coaching lines, where Ron Washington left to manage the Los Angeles Angels and took Eric Young, Sr. with him.
Snitker said the organization has not yet decided how to replace them, though former coaches Terry Pendleton and Eddie Perez are still with the organization.
