LAKE BUENA VISTA, Fla. (WOFL FOX 35) – The Atlanta Braves, who are in their 14th spring training season at Champion Stadium at ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex at Disney, began their first week of full-squad workouts.

The team is under new management for the first time since 1990. The Braves added first-year manager Fredi Gonzalez and all-star second baseman Dan Uggla this season. Long-time manager Bobby Cox retired last season, but some regular faces remain, including last years rookie sensation Jason Heyward and 18-year veteran Chipper Jones.

The Braves are holding full-squad workouts each day leading up to the opening of Grapefruit League play this weekend. The Braves first home game at Disney is Sunday, February 27, against the Mets at 1:05 p.m. at ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex.

 

by Charles Odum
Associated Press Sports Writer
Cherokee Tribune

ATLANTA – The start of the Atlanta Braves’ first rookie development camp was a hit with the team’s top draft pick from 2010.

Matt Lipka, only 18, sounded like a school kid as he gushed about the week’s schedule that includes trips to Atlanta Hawks, Atlanta Thrashers and Georgia Tech games and a visit to the King Center.

“It’s like a field trip,” Lipka said. “It’s awesome.”

Each of the 26 minor league players who gathered at Turner Field on Tuesday also found their names on lockers in the clubhouse and Braves’ backpacks stuffed with gifts hanging in each locker.

Lipka, an infielder from Frisco, Texas, said seeing his nameplate on a locker between All-Star catcher Brian McCann and veteran reliever Peter Moylan “just adds to the hunger” to play for the Braves.

Infielder Tyler Pastornicky, from Bradenton, Fla., said he was speechless when he turned to see Hall of Famer Hank Aaron walk through the clubhouse.

“That was pretty crazy,” said Pastornicky, who came to the Braves in the 2010 trade that sent shortstop Yunel Escobar to Toronto. “It was awesome. A Hall of Fame legend.”

The Braves are going to a lot of trouble to make their top prospects feel comfortable, and they hope the return on their investment comes when the players are called up to Atlanta.

“Our hope for them, and somewhat our expectation is that this is the Braves team of the future,” said general manager Frank Wren. “This is the team we hope will carry us to championships in the future. That’s why we’re spending this time and effort to make them feel as comfortable as possible.”

Wren said he hopes the players receive “a total acclimation” to the stadium, coaching staff and the city.

“We always hear stories about rookies not knowing which hotel to go to, not knowing how far it is, not knowing about the traffic in downtown Atlanta, not knowing really which area to live in and how to get to places,” Wren said. “This is all to ease those kind of problems that pop up.”

The week’s schedule began Tuesday with a workout at Turner Field and a speech from Wren.

“Our hope for every single one of you is one day you’re a member of the Atlanta Braves and your home is this clubhouse,” Wren said.

The players played catch on the field, away from last week’s snow still standing in front of the Braves dugout.

The players also hit in the indoor batting cage, but the emphasis of the week is not hitting and pitching.

As a safeguard against such top pitching prospects as Julio Teheran, Arodys Vizcaino and Randall Delgado trying too hard to impress Braves manager Fredi Gonzalez and pitching coach Roger McDowell, the team canceled plans for bullpen sessions.

The offseason schedule is for pitchers to throw at 50- to 60-percent velocity in January.

“I think we all know you put them on the mound with the big league manager and pitching coach watching them, they’re going to throw 90 percent or 100 percent because they’re going to try to impress and that’s really not what this program is all about,” Wren said.

Teheran, who made the climb from Rome to Myrtle Beach to Double-A Mississippi last season, could reach Atlanta in 2011.

“I’m sure we’ll see some of these kids,” Gonzalez said.

Vizcaino, another top prospect, was a big name in the trade that sent Javier Vazquez to the Yankees before the 2010 season.

Shortstop Edward Salcedo, 19, received a $1.6 million signing bonus last year.

“It’s incredible,” said Salcedo, a native of the Dominican Republic, of his first day in the camp. “When I learned I was coming here I was so excited. This is where every player wants to be.”

ATLANTA — With ice still glazed across the surface of the home dugout and a layer of snow sitting along the first-base line in foul territory, the Braves welcomed 26 of their top prospects to Turner Field on Tuesday morning, introducing them to some of the sights they will experience if they fulfill their dreams to become Major Leaguers.

“If you need any more incentive, this is it — seeing this kind of stuff,” Braves Minor League shortstop Tyler Pastornicky said.

Having grown up the son of Cliff Pastornicky, a longtime coach and scout for multiple Major League organizations, Pastornicky has at least had some small tastes of what it might be like at the big league level.

But those previous experiences certainly didn’t prepare him for what he witnessed early Tuesday morning, when Hank Aaron casually walked through the Braves’ clubhouse as many of these already wide-eyed prospects were donning their uniforms and simply enjoying the thrill of dressing in the same room that Chipper Jones and John Smoltz called home for many years.

“That was unbelievable,” Pastornicky said of seeing Aaron. “But it was cool.”

Sightings of Aaron have been infrequent enough that even those players who have spent an extended period in Atlanta view such opportunities as something special.

For Braves general manager Frank Wren, Aaron’s appearance simply gave these young prospects to experience one of those “eye-opening firsts” that they could be introduced to once they make their first trip to the big leagues.

“We’re trying to replicate as much as we can,” Wren said. “We can’t put 50,000 people in the stands. We can’t make it 90 degrees out there. But we can do as much as we can to ease the process.

“We’re doing this in lieu of an early Spring Training program for some of these prospects. We felt this would have more long-reaching value to them, because it will put them in position to feel better about their first trip to the big leagues as a player.

When Pastornicky, Julio Teheran, Arodys Vizcaino, Christian Bethancourt, Matt Lipka and the other prospects arrived in Atlanta on Monday, they were shuttled to the same hotel they would inhabit if they were promoted to the Major League roster and needed lodging.

When they arrived at Turner Field on Tuesday, the prospects found themselves granted many of the comforts of a big league clubhouse and the opportunity to interact with the big league coaching staff.

It marked the first time many of these players were introduced to manager Fredi Gonzalez, hitting coach Larry Parrish, bench coach Carlos Tosca, first-base coach Terry Pendleton, pitching coach Roger McDowell, third-base coach Brian Snitker and bullpen coach Eddie Perez.

“I’m hoping when they leave this program, they’ll be on a first-name basis with [the coaches] and go up and say hello when they run into each other in the parking lot at [Spring Training], and that they’ll feel comfortable engaging,” Wren said.

Allowing the players to gain a sense of comfort about what could await them is Wren’s primary objective. Thus before sending the players to stretch and play catch in left field Tuesday morning, Braves director of player development Kurt Kemp stressed that this shouldn’t be viewed as a “tryout camp.”

While some of the hitters took batting practice in the indoor cage, the Braves opted to have most of their pitchers simply discuss the art of pitching with McDowell and other members of the player development staff.

Former Major League managers Dave Trembley and Lee Elia are among those present to lend a hand this week. Trembley was recently hired to serve as the club’s Minor League field coordinator and Elia is preparing for his first season with the club as an instructor for both the Major and Minor League levels.

“This is a select group,” Wren said. “It’s not about trying to impress. We just want them to get to know us and for us to get to know them. That’s really the focus of this.”

Once they completed baseball-related exercises, which included meeting with strength coach Phil Falco, the prospects were introduced Tuesday afternoon to a media specialist, who was slated to advise them about how to handle print, broadcast and social media elements.

To aid in the process of getting used to the media aspect, Wren has invited members of the Atlanta media to interact with the players during the morning hours this week. Later this week, the players will be introduced to an instructor who specializes in the mental part of athletics. They will also have the opportunity to hear speeches delivered by Brian McCann, Tim Hudson, Jason Heyward and Jones, who will address the group Saturday, during the final day of this program.

“I’m going to take advantage of this and learn a lot,” said Salcedo, the 19-year-old Dominican shortstop who received a $1.6 million signing bonus from the Braves in March.

The Braves will take the prospects to a Georgia Tech basketball game and introduce them to the NBA scene during a Hawks game. This will allow Salcedo a chance to catch up with his friend Al Horford, the Hawks’ All-Star forward who was born in the Dominican Republic.

But Salcedo said he is most looking forward to the opportunity to watch the Thrashers later this week. While visiting agent Scott Boras in 2007, he was introduced to hockey and immediately fell in love with the speed of the game.

Wren is hoping that providing the prospects these off-the-field activities will be both educational and enjoyable. But most of all, he simply wants this week to set the stage for these talented young players to feel comfortable if they indeed find their way to Atlanta to fulfill a Major League dream.

“We all know this game is very mental,” Wren said. “That’s a big part of it. There’s a lot of physically talented players in the Minor Leagues who have a tough time of it when they get to this level.”

ATLANTA, Ga. – FOX Sports’ Ken Rosenthal is reporting that the Atlanta Braves have signed Dan Uggla to a five-year deal worth $62 million. The Braves have not commented on the report.

If it’s true, Rosenthal reports the deal would make Uggla the highest-paid second baseman in the history of Major League Baseball. The report was published on the network’s website on Tuesday night.

Rosenthal reports that while Philadelphia Phillies second baseman Chase Utley has a higher guarantee in his seven year, $85 million deal, he has a lower annual average.

FOX Sports reports the deal extends from 2011 to 2015.

In November, Uggla rejected a four-year, $48 million offer from the Florida Marlins. That prompted his trade to the Braves.

Read the full report from FOX Sports by clicking here.