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Throwing a Wrench in the Braves Outfield Picture

From Ken Rosenthal comes this interesting scenario:

One rival executive speculated this week that the Braves might open with Jordan Schafer in center field and platoon Mark Kotsay with Matt Diaz in left. Such a plan, however, is probably more ambitious than anything the Braves are considering: Schafer, 21, has yet to play above Class A.

More likely, the Braves would use one of their speedy left-handed hitting center fielders -- Schafer, Gregor Blanco or Josh Anderson -- as a platoon partner for Diaz if Brandon Jones returns to Class AAA.

Schafer, though, figures to be in the majors soon. He will be ready "as soon as we need him," one club official says.

I just love speculation sometimes. This is a bit of a wild one, but a very interesting one. If Schafer could hold down the center field job, and the Braves believe this, then a platoon of Diaz and Kotsay would greatly strengthen the Braves bench -- and this is probably the most attractive side of this scenario

I actually like the idea, though it's probably a bit far fetched, and putting two multi-million dollar players in a platoon is a bit strange (even though the Braves are not on the hook for more than a million of Kotsay's salary). We'll see how it shakes out, but there's probably only about a 20 percent this could happen.

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