TAMPA, Fla. -- As a 30-year-old Minor Leaguer who seemingly did not have enough power potential to compensate for his defensive woes, Adonis Garcia stood as nothing more than an offensively capable emergency option until the Braves essentially exhausted all of their other third-base options last year.
When the Braves traded Kelly Johnson and Juan Uribe to the Mets on July 24, they knew they had no desire to utilize Chris Johnson as their starting third baseman. But they had no reason to anticipate what they would receive when they instead gave this role to Garcia, who had been released by the Yankees at the end of Spring Training.