iteFanposts Fanshots Sections Talking Chop User’s GuideTalking Chop PodcastAround the NL EastBaseball Analysis PrimerAtlanta Braves Spring Training Preview: InfieldersNew Alan Trammell Jersey ,13commentsThe Atlanta infield welcomes Josh Donaldson into the mixESTShareTweetShareShareAtlanta Braves Spring Training Preview: InfieldersJason Getz-USA TODAY SportsThe Braves had one of the better infields in baseball in their division-clinching 2018 season. The Braves got top-10 production in baseball from first, second, and third base, which covered up for some struggles at the shortstop position. In 2019, they’ve added Josh Donaldson to the mix, freeing up Johan Camargo to fill in around the diamond as needed.Roster LocksFreddie Freeman wasn’t quite as good offensively in 2018 as he was the two seasons prior, but he still managed to clear 5 fWAR while topping 20 homers for the sixth time in eight seasons. Freeman will turn 30 in September of this coming season and has a good shot of once again leading his team in hitting and overall production, especially if he can get his power back to where it was in the first half of 2018 rather than the second half.Ozzie Albies had a pretty Jekyll-and-Hyde showing in the first full season, with a 120/67 first half/second half wRC+ split, and another dramatic 141/84 wRC+ split against left-handed and right-handed pitching, respectively. Still, the net result was a 3.8 fWAR season in which he provided stellar defense and notched over half a win on the bases as well. Albies is going to need to show some ability to adjust or otherwise break out of his second half/righty-facing doldrums, but it’s more than a little bit heady to think how insane his production might be if he fixes even one of these two things. Just to be clear, Albies was the 38th-most productive position player in baseball last year by fWAR, and that’s with those two struggle bug areas. What happens if he fixes one? What happens if he fixes both? (Let’s not think about what happens if he doesn’t fix either.)Dansby Swanson, the presumptive starter at short for the Braves, remains a bit of an enigma. Offensively, his career has been dreadful to date (76 wRC+), and it remains to be seen how much of that was caused by wrist issues that he attempted to play through during the majority of the 2018 season. On the plus side, Swanson turned in a great defensive season in 2018 after a below-average-to-plain-terrible one in 2017. It’s not entirely clear how much of that was really Swanson versus the Braves’ better acumen at defensive positioning, but in any case, he gave the team what they needed defensively last year, if not with the bat. While there’s not much chance that Spring Training alone results in Swanson being supplanted from his starting shortstop role, his hold on it may also not be as long as he or anyone else thinks.This brings us to Josh Donaldson http://www.tigersfanproshop.com/authentic-joe-jimenez-jersey , the Braves’ big offseason addition. After four legitimately monster seasons, Donaldson was still highly productive when healthy in 2017, but his stats took a tumble as he struggled to stay on the field last season. Donaldson enters 2019 with twin question marks about his ability to stay healthy and his ability to stave off age-related decline, but he should be highly productive if he can answer either affirmatively. One key thing to watch out for is his defense: after three incredible defensive campaigns from 2013-2015, his defense has tumbled fairly rapidly since. Given Freeman’s presence, there’s not really any other place to play Donaldson, so the Braves will have to hope that a bounceback comes with the glove as well.With Donaldson’s signing, Johan Camargo has been pushed to the bench, joining Charlie Culberson as a multi-positional option. Camargo’s 2018 was as bewilderingly gladdening as his entire team’s season, and he combined some highly variable and reasonably lucky offensive approaches and splits with awesome defense to post 3.3 fWAR last year. With a career 140 wRC+ against lefties, the Braves should absolutely find a place to play him every time a southpaw takes the hill against them, and if Dansby Swanson’s offensive struggles continue... well, suffice to say, the Braves have options.Charlie Culberson’s heroics (and heroic efforts at kicking baseball logic in the shins) bought him a likely roster spot lock in 2019, as well. While Camargo may serve as the primary spot-filler, Culberson will likely ascend to that role again if any Braves regular has to miss a fair chunk of time, giving Camargo an opening to start every day. One thing for everyone to be aware of, though: despite being touted as a versatile solution, Culberson’s defensive metrics are actually fairly poor pretty much all around the diamond, which makes him somewhat more difficult to play if he isn’t doing the baseball equivalent of dividing by zero and causing the universe to fold in on itself.Other Infield Options (aka Austin Riley)The Braves don’t actually have any other infielders on their 40-man roster. However, this Spring Training, all eyes will be on Austin Riley, who could make a big impact for the team at some point during 2019. While there’s not really a spot open for Riley on the infield unless injury strikes, it remains to be seen how the Braves will use him in Grapefruit League action. It’s unlikely that the team would call him up and squander his service time in a bench or time-share role (especially since Lance Parrish Jersey , as a right-handed hitter, he doesn’t profile as the strong side of a platoon), but once games start, anything could happen.Non-Roster InviteesThe Braves’ list of infielder non-roster invitees is one of contrasts. On the one hand, you have big-bat prospects Riley and 2018 draftee C.J. Alexander, who had some amusingly-boisterous batting lines across three minor league levels last year (212, 147, 142 wRC+ across Gulf Coast, Appy, and Florida State league action, respectively, with a BABIP topping .400 at each stop). On the other hand, you have a bunch of former Phillies turncoats and other “but why?” organizational-depth guys. Specifically, the Braves invited Andres Blanco, Pedro Florimon, Sean Kazmar, and Luis Marte to take infield reps down in Florida in March. Of these four names, three have seen major league action before (Marte has not), though Kazmar’s was more of a cup of coffee all the way back in 2008. All four of these names represent generic quad-A utility infielder options at best, and with Camargo and Culberson already entrenched, it’s hard to see a way for any of them to claw their way into an Atlanta Braves uniform. More likely is that most of these guys end up like similar signing Christian Colon last year — they’ll play in Spring Training, head to Gwinnett, and then latch on with another team where there’s a clearer path to major league playing time, which they may or may not receive in the end. One more minor trade should move the Fish ahead of the Baltimore Orioles in terms of international bonus pool size http://www.tigersfanproshop.com/authentic-joe-jimenez-jersey , ensuring they can outbid any other MLB team for the Cuban free agent."The Marlins and Yankees have been frequent trade partners, including twice in 2017. Due to prospect graduations and deadline moves, New York’s farm system has dipped from elite to closer to the middle of the pack, so the club may prefer to secure their shortstop insurance in a creative way that doesn’t sacrifice more young talent.Rojas slashed .252/.297/.346 last season—almost identical to his career averages—while setting a personal best with 11 home runs. Going by Defensive Runs Saved, his defense at first base, shortstop and third base rated as above average. Only five players topped his 10 DRS at short, all of whom benefited from heavier workloads. MLB Trade Rumors estimates a $2.6 million salary for the arbitration-eligible Rojas.Keep in mind, the Marlins were initially assigned a $6,025,400 bonus pool for the 2018-19 international signing period. Teams are allowed to trade up for an additional 75 percent of their bonus pool allotment, which would be $4,519,050 in this case (h/t Baseball America’s Ben Badler). They already got $2 million of that in return for Barraclough, Lillie and CameronMaybin. That leaves another $2,519,050 to potentially add to the $6,069,500 estimate from earlier. Miami can max out at $8,588,550 to target the Mesas, Gast贸n and whatever else remains of the international free agent class.