Former closer Ken Giles is sent to a minor league camp by the Braves. NORTH PORT, FLA. Ken Giles’ attempt to reach the opening day roster was dashed on Friday when the Atlanta Braves transferred him to their minor league camp.
In an attempt to restart his injury-plagued career, Giles, who has 115 career saves from stints with Philadelphia, Houston, and Toronto, agreed to a non-roster pact with the Braves.
Since 2019, the 33-year-old right-hander has only appeared in nine major league games.
Giles appeared in three Braves spring training games, working three innings. He gave up a run on a hit and two walks in a 3-2 victory over Boston on Thursday, following two shutout innings. If he stays healthy, he might be considered for a promotion to Atlanta after starting the season in Triple-A Gwinnett.
For Houston’s World Series-winning squad in 2017, Giles recorded 34 saves.
Along with outfielder J.P. Martínez and left-hand reliever Ray Kerr, the Braves optioned both players to Gwinnett, leaving 42 players in the big league camp.
In the context of fantasy baseball, audacious forecasts are audacious for good reason—they involve high stakes and defy expectations. It’s not at all daring to predict that Aaron Judge will hit 30 home runs. To say that he won’t is, well, audacious. The spring training games for 2024 have begun, so it seems like a good opportunity to take a chance without being very daring.
We smile because some of our audacious forecasts from the previous season were either accurate or nearly accurate. Yes, Jose Berrios and Cody Bellinger did indeed recover well with the Blue Jays and Cubs, respectively. James Outman of the Dodgers and Kerry Carpenter of the Tigers earned opening positions and hit for power. Ji Hwan Bae of Pittsburgh stole 24 bases, while Esteury Ruiz of Oakland stole more than 50. Jhoan Duran of Minnesota and Jesus Luzardo of Miami were both excellent.
On the other hand, looking back, some choices seem dumb. Michael Soroka and Vaughn Grissom did not perform well for Atlanta. They hardly made any music at all. (But in 2024, beware!) Kris Bryant of Colorado faltered once again. Ask not about Adam Wainwright and Nelson Cruz, who are now retired, or about the afterthoughts Drew Rucinski and Oscar Gonzalez. Hey, sometimes we take chances that we shouldn’t have.
In any case, let’s take a risk once more and aim for the National League in 2024.
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