Braves in Running to Sign Catcher

The Braves are battling the Mets and Yankees to sign the 16 year old son of former major leaguer Tony Pena and brother of current Richmond Brave Tony Pena, Jr. Francisco Pena cannot be signed until he turns 16. With a weak draft class this year, many teams are turning to free agents such as Pena. The Braves have plenty of catchers right now, but at 16 Francisco Pena will take years to develop. I don't know what our chances are to sign him with the deep pockets of the Mets and Yankees involved, but he has made a trip to Atlanta to work out.

The 2006 MLB draft is scheduled to take place on June 6th and 7th. I will have some pre-draft analysis soon, but the MLB draft is completely unpredictable compared to the NBA and NFL drafts. I think it is safe to say that the Braves will employ their usual strategy of drafting high school pitchers and top prep talent from the Atlanta area.