Yesterday the Braves tried to sneak left-handed pitchers Jose Ortegano and Lee Hyde through waivers off the 40-man roster to triple-A. They did not make it, with Hyde being claimed by the Nationals, and Ortegano by the Yankees. The speculation is that the Braves are opening up some roster spots to make a few claims of their own in the coming week or two as teams trim their rosters.
Yesterday David O'Brien tweeted the following:
Braves manager Fredi Gonzalez reiterated today what GM Frank Wren has said: Braves would like to add RH-hitting backup to complement Hinske [...]
And no, by complement, I don't mean someone to say, "Hey, Hinske, nice haircut." Or, "Hey, Hinske, nice car."
Good humor by DOB, and certainly something to keep in mind with these roster moves. Matt Eddy has a post up at Baseball America about some out of options players whose teams might try to sneak them through waivers. A couple that interested me were Mets right-handed first-baseman/left fielder Nick Evans, and Padres center fielder Cameron Maybin. These players are long shots to be placed on waivers, but if they do I would imagine the Braves might have an interest in them as a right-handed bat off the bench.
Evans is the most interesting player since he's blocked by both Ike Davis and Lucas Duda. The Braves have seen a lot of him this spring, and if the Mets don't have a spot for him on the roster, Atlanta may be interested. Keep in mind though, at this point he is only really useful against left-handed pitching.
Maybin is more of a stretch to be placed on waivers, and if he does it's even more of a stretch that another team ahead of us doesn't claim him before we do. He would present an intriguing option as a future replacement in center field to Nate McLouth.