Braves announce they've signed Jose Bautista to minor-league deal
The Atlanta Braves announced Wednesday that they’ve signed free agent Jose Bautista to a one-year minor-league contract.
The Braves said Bautista has reported to the team’s extended spring training, in Lake Buena Vista, Florida, and will play third base.
It’s been strange for many in baseball to see the first couple of weeks of the season played and Bautista without a team; though the 37-year-old hit just .203 last year, his 10th with the Toronto Blue Jays, he played in 157 games with 686 at-bats, with 27 doubles and 23 home runs.
Known mostly as an outfielder, Bautista has played third in the past; he played there eight times in 2017, and 394 times in is career. The last time he was at third with any regularity was in 2010, his third year with Toronto.
It’s perhaps unsurprising that the team to sign Bautista, a six-time All-Star, is Atlanta: the Braves’ general manager, Alex Anthopoulos, joined the team in 2017 after seven years as Toronto’s GM.
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