Pastornicki's stock has fallen this far - that you need to give up players to get Paul Janish? Wow.

Pastornicky simply can't handle SS defensively at the MLB level. He doesn't have the range or the arm. The Braves started Martin Prado there over him as an emergency option, which tells you how they evaluate his defense at SS. He's in AAA to learn to play 2B and CF. The team still likes his bat as a multi-position backup but they have no inclination to play him at SS in the majors again.

Janish will start until Simmons is better, at which point Janish will almost certainly end Jack Wilson's time in Atlanta and become the backup MI.

Janish is fine as a backup. As the reds found out last year, he's overexposed as a starter.

How long have the braves AAA team been in Gwinnett? I'm sure I'm really dating myself, but I remember something about them leaving Richmond, but no memory of where they went.

Janish is fine as a backup. As the reds found out last year, he's overexposed as a starter.

...and, hey, he's got a 91-92 MPH fastball if you need a spare reliever in a blowout. He's gotten destroyed in his two MLB pitching appearances, but he at least looks like he knows what he's doing out there.

Is it uncommon for shortstops/third basemen/right fielders with good arms for their positions to be able to throw 90-ish MPH fastballs off mounds?

Pastornicki's stock has fallen this far - that you need to give up players to get Paul Janish? Wow.

As a Jays fan, a lot of us were disappointed about giving up Pastornicky, but seeing him fall this far has been surprising to say the least. Major league utility player seemed like his floor. The Escobar trade is looking more and more one-sided, conditions excepted of course.

How long have the braves AAA team been in Gwinnett?

Since '09.

The Escobar trade is looking more and more one-sided, conditions excepted of course.

On the other hand, Escobar himself is almost 30 and is hitting .254/.298/.342 this year.

The setup to this was moderately amusing. The Braves didn't make a move to replace Simmons during the break and figured that Jack Wilson, the only shortstop on the roster, could hold down the position until they made a deal. Of course, in the first game after the break, Wilson injured himself diving after a ball, so Martin Prado had to come in from left to play a position at which he had two games of major league experience. It would have been a lot more embarrassing for the front office if the Braves had lost that game or yesterday's.

Is it uncommon for shortstops/third basemen/right fielders with good arms for their positions to be able to throw 90-ish MPH fastballs off mounds?

There are even some 1B with good arms who can do that. E.g. Dave McCarty was one of them, and Mark McGwire and Dave Kingman were both first recruited to USC as pitchers.

Janish was always supposed to pitch while he was at Rice, but they wound up letting him focus on playing short. When he was drafted the line on him was that he was a great defender who might not be able to hit enough, but if he can't hit you can move him to the mound.

4: Richmond's market was AAA worthy, but the park wasn't. The Braves tend to own their affiliates, so they set up shop in the northern burbs instead. Richmond is now in AA (the Flying Squirrels, assoc. with SF), the Eastern League had some weak entries to replace (took the Norwich Conn. spot).

I'm okay w/ Janish on the roster - really strong glove.

When he was drafted the line on him was that he was a great defender who might not be able to hit enough, but if he can't hit you can move him to the mound.

Yeah, in the link I posted up in #5, he strikes out Chris Duffy on what looks like a pretty nice slider.

What you see is likely what you get with Janish - a completely cromulent insurance policy in case your real shortstop breaks down. He's probably not enough of a hitter to be an everyday option and not enough pitcher to do anything other than eat innings in a double-digit blowout loss. I have a soft spot for these guys; their skill set is so broad, but they don't do any one thing well enough to be useful.

The Richmond stadium looks like the last gasp of the concrete, multi-purpose stadiums of the 70s.

The Richmond stadium looks like the last gasp of the concrete, multi-purpose stadiums of the 70s.

Two things conspired to move the Braves' AAA. First, they wanted a new stadium in Richmond and Richmond didn't want to build it for them. Outer Gwinnettia was willing to foot that bill to bring the Braves AAA team there (but god knows they can't be funding any transit projects or anything!) And the Braves liked having the AAA roster a cab's ride away from the big league team too.

And the Braves liked having the AAA roster a cab's ride away from the big league team too.

I don't know why all teams don't do this. May as well make it easy in case of emergency.

I don't know why all teams don't do this. May as well make it easy in case of emergency.

Agreed. When the Braves AAA team was in Richmond, calling a guy "on the shuttle" up literally meant finding him a new apartment (in Atlanta) and moving his stuff down the coast 500 miles. Now it means having him drive from his apartment in Duluth to Atlanta rather than up to GA-20 for games.

I don't know why all teams don't do this.

Not always easy to find a city in your market willing to foot the bill for a AAA team. Seattle has Tacoma. Oakland has Sacramento. There are others but sometimes your metro area doesn't have a minor league town close by. MN has no affiliated minor league baseball at all.

And the Braves liked having the AAA roster a cab's ride away from the big league team too.

I was a Senators fan when I was a kid; their Triple-A club for a while was... the Hawaii Islanders.

The Richmond stadium looks like the last gasp of the concrete, multi-purpose stadiums of the 70s.

I'm surprised to see this from a Phillies fan. You never saw an AAA Red Barons game? Lackawanna County Stadium (now PNC Park) is an outdoor stadium that had Astroturf until five years ago! I am not sure what the ongoing major renovations entail, but it's still standing.