After only a little more than an hour after releasing veteran pitcher Freddy Garcia, the Atlanta Braves have signed former New York Mets starter Aaron Harang.
After losing their two best starting pitches (Kris Medlen, Brandon Beachy) for months due to Tommy John surgery and one more (Mike Minor) after being put on the 15-day disabled list.
"We did not want to go into the season with really four young guys (in the starting rotation) and just not have any coverage for them," Braves general manager Frank Wren said. "This gives us someone who's kind of been through the battles, knows what to do, knows how to handle things. Similar to Freddy, but we just felt he was a better fit for us."
The deal was only for a single year, but he wasn't signed to finish the season starting or make the playoff roster. The main reason that it was Harang that was signed was that Braves manager Fredi Gonzalez and the rest of the coaching staff saw that he would give the Braves their best chance to win whenever he's starting.
"(Harang) a guy who, every time we faced him when he was with Cincinnati and other places, he gave his team a good chance to win," said Gonzalez.
Ervin Santana was also signed, along with Harang, by the Braves this offseason to add a little more depth to the pitching staff.
Although the Braves have been making plenty of moves and changes on the pitching staff to ultimately improve it from where it was last season. You can confidently say that they failed at doing so due to all of the injuries to star pitchers.
"He can pitch in a variety of roles," Wren said, "but the thing we feel most comfortable with right now is giving us a veteran presence in that rotation."
After losing their two best starting pitches (Kris Medlen, Brandon Beachy) for months due to Tommy John surgery and one more (Mike Minor) after being put on the 15-day disabled list.
"We did not want to go into the season with really four young guys (in the starting rotation) and just not have any coverage for them," Braves general manager Frank Wren said. "This gives us someone who's kind of been through the battles, knows what to do, knows how to handle things. Similar to Freddy, but we just felt he was a better fit for us."
The deal was only for a single year, but he wasn't signed to finish the season starting or make the playoff roster. The main reason that it was Harang that was signed was that Braves manager Fredi Gonzalez and the rest of the coaching staff saw that he would give the Braves their best chance to win whenever he's starting.
"(Harang) a guy who, every time we faced him when he was with Cincinnati and other places, he gave his team a good chance to win," said Gonzalez.
Ervin Santana was also signed, along with Harang, by the Braves this offseason to add a little more depth to the pitching staff.
Although the Braves have been making plenty of moves and changes on the pitching staff to ultimately improve it from where it was last season. You can confidently say that they failed at doing so due to all of the injuries to star pitchers.
"He can pitch in a variety of roles," Wren said, "but the thing we feel most comfortable with right now is giving us a veteran presence in that rotation."