After trade, Grilli named closer in Atlanta
Hours before Monday’s season opener, Atlanta Braves manager Fredi Gonzalez assessed his team’s latest moves and didn’t try to spin them as an upgrade.
“It’s a big boy’s world,” Gonzalez said. “Guess what, we’ve got to go play a game.”
On the eve of the season, the Braves traded All-Star closer Craig Kimbel and outfielder Melvin Upton Jr. to the San Diego Padres for outfielders Cameron Maybin and Carlos Quinten, two minor leaguers and a draft pick.
Quinten never joined the Braves, and the two-time All-Star was designated for assignment. Maybin arrived before the opener against the Miami Marlins but wasn’t in the starting lineup.
Veteran right-hander Jason Grilli was given the closer job, with right-hander Jim Johnson his backup. Grilli has 50 career saves, including 33 with the Pittsburgh Pirates in 2013.
“We feel like if the team gives us a lead, these guys will be able to shut it down for us,” Gonzalez said.
Maybin will play some against left-handers and be used as a late-inning defensive replacement in center field, Gonzalez said.
The Braves’ motive for the trade was to unload the remaining $46.35 million on the underachieving Upton’s contract. Even so, the loss of Kimbrel was a blow. He has had at least 45 saves each of the past four seasons.
The trade was the latest in a series of rebuilding moves by the Braves since a late-season collapse that cost them a 2014 playoff berth. They have only six players who were on the opening day roster a year ago, the fewest in the majors.
The objective this year hasn’t changed, however, Gonzalez said.
“I told the guys our goal is to get in the postseason any way we can,” he said. “That doesn’t change one bit. What changes a little is how you get to the ninth inning.”
All-Star games to D.C. in 2018: Washington Nationals owner Mark Lerner recalls what a thrill it was to attend the 1962 All-Star Game at age 8, and he can’t wait for his club’s ballpark to host the 2018 edition.
Asked Monday whether he has any memorabilia from that Midsummer Classic more than a half-century ago, Lerner replied: “I don’t know if I still have anything. I have the memory, though. It’s crystal clear.”
What Lerner said he’s known for months became official Monday, when new Major League Baseball Commissioner Rob Manfred announced that Nationals Park will host the 2018 All-Star Game, the fourth consecutive year that event will be in an NL city.
“What I would say about the Nationals’ bid was that their facility, the support of the city, the development that had gone on around the ballpark were all important factors in terms of awarding the game,” Manfred said at a news conference before attending Washington’s opener against the visiting New York Mets.
MLB ticket prices rise: Major League Baseball’s average ticket price rose 3.3 percent this season to $28.94, the steepest increase in six years.
Team Marketing Report said in its annual survey Monday the average is up 4.4 percent since 2013 after remaining flat in 2012.
Boston had the highest average at $52.34 after leaving prices the same. The New York Yankees also left their average unchanged at $51.55 after missing the playoffs for the second straight season.
The Chicago Cubs, who renovated Wrigley Field and their roster, raised their average for the first time since 2010, a 1.5 percent increase to $44.81. The Cubs are coming off a last-place finish and fifth straight losing season.
The Dodgers’ average rose 10.9 percent to $28.61 as Los Angeles hiked its opening-day payroll to a record $270 million, boosting the team’s two-year increase to 27.9 percent.
After reaching the playoffs for the first time since 1985, winning the AL pennant and coming within one win of a World Series title, the Kansas City Royals had the largest increase for the second straight year, a 20.3 percent rise to $29.76. Following consecutive winning seasons, the Royals have increased their average 50 percent.
World Series champion San Francisco increased its average 6.8 percent to $33.78.