The Atlanta Braves have signed outfielder Eric Young Jr. to a minor league contract that involves an invite to Spring Training. After spending the last two seasons with the New York Mets, Young was non-tendered by the team in December.
Young is a career .252/.320/.332 hitter in his six year career. He is best known for his blazing speed, and he has 138 career stolen bases in 171 attempts. He does have some defensive versatility in the outfield, but Young is best suited defensively as a corner outfielder. However, with a career .332 slugging percentage, Young lacks the power that teams typically like to have in a corner outfielder.
The Braves do have a hole at second base, and Young has played 54 games at the position in his career. That being said, a bulk of that was at the very beginning of his career, playing in only 13 games at the position since 2011. A full-time position switch is unlikely, but it is not impossible to think he could fill in at second base at times.
The 29-year-old switch hitter will likely battle in Spring Training to be the platoon make in left field for the right handed hitting Jonny Gomes. He will have an uphill battle to grab that job, but his speed, position versatility and ability to switch hit could be valuable for the Braves as a bench option.