The Braves have acquired veteran outfielder Matt Joyce, becoming his third team in less than a week.
Joyce, 34, was released by the Cleveland Indians on Tuesday, signed to a minor-league contract by the San Francisco Giants on Wednesday and traded by the Giants to the Braves for cash considerations Saturday.
“I just heard about that myself,” Braves manager Brian Snitker said when asked about the Braves’ acquisition of Joyce after Saturday’s exhibition game against the Mets.
Joyce, a left-handed hitter, is an 11-year major-league veteran with a career .240 batting average and 138 home runs. He has played for Detroit, Tampa Bay, the Los Angeles Angels, Pittsburgh and Oakland. He hit a career-high 25 home runs with the A’s in 2017, but had a dismal season last year, hitting .208 with seven home runs while bothered by back issues.
He has a career .250 average and .802 OPS vs. right-handed pitchers, compared with .184 and .573 vs. left-handed pitching.
His acquisition could imperil backup outfielder Adam Duvall’s position on the Braves’ roster.
Snitker said he would meet with general manager Alex Anthopoulos on Saturday night to discuss various roster decisions. The Braves will have several days to look at Joyce in exhibition games before deciding whether to place him on the opening-day roster.
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