12 December 2007

The Braves made decisions regarding their arbitration-eligible players today. The team tendered contracts to first baseman Mark Teixeira, relievers Rafael Soriano and Tyler Yates, left fielder Matt Diaz, and recently acquired utility man Omar Infante. The one they didn't bring back was outfielder Willie Harris. Teixeira is up for a big raise and the rest should get decent salary increases as well out of the process. Harris is now a free agent but the team could still bring him back on a minor league deal if he doesn't sign elsewhere. I think the chances are pretty good that he lands on as a utility outfielder for another team based on the first half of his season, when he hit .342. However, if he does end up back in the Atlanta organization, he'll probably play a minimal role for two reasons. One, is that the team will be utilizing Brandon Jones more than likely in Harris' place and the second reason is that Harris' talent is closer represented by his performance after the all-star break, when the speedy outfielder hit .214. I think we can pretty much say goodbye to the Cairo, GA native. It was good while it lasted (at least for the first part).