Et tu, Brute?

The Braves make their first cuts of the spring on this ill-fated day.

Brad Baker is the minor league closer that came over from the Padres organization. He had an awful spring, so it’s not surprising that he was optioned to AAA.
Scott Thorman opted to play for his home country of Canada in the WBC, but got only one at bat, and was not impressive upon his return to camp. I hope he enjoyed the WBC, because it probably cost him a shot at making the big club.
Luis Hernandez, Martin Prado, and Josh Burrus were optioned to AA. Prado impressed some folks this spring, and will be on the radar of many in the organization throughout the year.
Jose Ascanio was sent to high-A ball. He was a long shot to make the pen, and he got plenty of good opportunities, but had some rough outings early. He’s got great raw talent that we may end up seeing in the majors before too long.
Kevin Barry, Clint Sammons, and Jonathan Schuerholz were all assigned to minor league camp to be distributed to different levels later on. All of those guys should end up at AAA, save for maybe Sammons who could be at AA. Barry was having a decent spring, he certainly wasn’t wowing anyone, but he was doing a decent job.

The next cuts will probably come towards the middle of next week soon after we get all of our players back from the WBC.