The Right Thing To Do?

December 5, 2007 – 3:58 pm

With the arrival of Will Ohman and Omar Infante from the Cubs in exchange for Jose Ascanio yesterday, room had to be made on the Braves 40-man roster.  The unlucky one this time around?  Willie Harris.  Now, I have approved of pretty much every move that Frank Wren has made since stepping into the GM role…….until this one.

I understand that Willie struggled in the later part of last season, but looking past that to his first two months with the Braves, you see the real Willie Harris.  In those games, he batted .383 and made it on base in nearly half of his plate appearances.  Yes, he has had this issue in the past, starting like wildfire and fading off as the season progresses and as a result, has been back and forth to the minors multiple times.  But what he had in Atlanta was different.  Willie not only was an exciting player; he quickly became a fan favorite.

As a whole, Willie Harris is a great left fielder.  He has great range and speed, but he just has a few struggles at the plate.  Nevertheless, he has the fans talking.  You’ll still hear people talking about his 6-hit game this past season.  I understand the need to make room on the roster and the other resources we have to use in left field, you have to look past that sometimes.  A fan favorite is more than a baseball player; they bring more to the stadium than their talents.  Players like Willie Harris are the ones that bring the fans to the stadium to cheer on their team.

I can only hope that nobody grabs Willie now that he has been designated for assignment.   Just so he can stay in our minor league system and hopefully one day be back here in Atlanta showing what he can do.

-Jonathan

Posted in General, Roster Moves |