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Tim Brown of Yahoo Sports broke the news that the Atlanta Braves signed outfielder Jonny Gomes to a one year deal worth four million dollars.
Source: Jonny Gomes has a deal with the Atlanta Braves.
— Tim Brown (@TBrownYahoo) January 23, 2015
The deal has a vesting option for 2016 worth between $3-4 million pending on his number of plate appearances in 2015.
Gomes will be used in Atlanta as a left field platoon, splitting time with Zolio Almonte. The majority of Gomes's games will be against left-handed pitching, as the right-handed batter has hit 93 of his career 155 home runs against southpaws. He also has a career .277 batting average and .861 OPS against left-handed pitchers, as opposed to .222 and .721 against righties. Gomes, who turned 34 in November, hit for a .234/.327/.330 slash line, all numbers that have declined since 2012.
The move comes in a time where Atlanta has completely revamped their outfield from 2014. Gomes and Almonte will be taking over for Justin Upton in left field following his trade to San Diego, and Nick Markakis will man right field after Jason Heyward was shipped off to St. Louis. The Braves will be looking to Gomes as a source of veteran leadership and as a strong clubhouse presence for the young players that will be surrounding him.
The Mariners, Cubs and Rangers were all rumored to be in on Gomes, which makes the move to Atlanta confusing. The Braves have pointed to 2017 as their focal point for winning, and the three teams listed above all have a 'win now' vision for 2015. The Rangers, who are projected to have Jake Smolinski started in left on opening day, could have certainly used Gomes. Smolinski does have a career .349 batting average, but that is still only through 24 games and 86 at-bats.
When it comes to fantasy value, Gomes presents a mixed bag. In deep leagues with weekly lineups, he will be hurt by playing in Atlanta, as his platoon status will be taking away most of his at-bat's against right-handed pitching. In leagues where lineups can be adjusted daily, Gomes can provide some nice power vs. LHP. Playing around a developing Braves offense without much consistent production outside of Freddie Freeman, his runs and RBI totals will see a decrease along with his other numbers that have seen their own declining trend.
