The Braves made an under the radar, low-risk, high reward signing on Monday. The team added another potential rotation member when they signed Jhoulys Chacin to a minor league deal. Perhaps you recognize that name. He has been around for a while, and has always been solid. The righty is not a big strikeout guy, but has just good enough stuff to get by. He pitched for the Rockies for six years, and had a 3.78 ERA for them as a starter, altitude included. Though he spent most of last season in AAA, he was good in a small sample size for the Diamondbacks, and has a legitimate shot of making our rotation. Not to mention he’s a former top prospect and is still just 27 years old.
Now it is interesting to see the Braves add another arm considering how many they have to pick and choose from in 2016. Consider that we already have Julio Teheran, Bud Norris, Matt Wisler, Mike Foltynewicz, Williams Perez, Manny Banuelos, Casey Kelly, and Ryan Weber in the  mix. Tyrell Jenkins, Chris Ellis, Sean Newcomb and John Gant could be knocking on the door of the majors by midseason. That’s 13 guys fighting for 5 spots in July or August, and it will be interesting to see how that situation will play out. We saw how the Braves signed similar contracts with the likes of Eric Stults and Wandy Rodriguez last winter, so some of these arms will come and go. It’s good to have more arms than less, but I think a trade may have to be inevitable by early season.