I’m working on the assumption that the Braves plan to have only one reserve outfielder on the roster to start the season. Mark DeRosa and Matt Franco can play the outfield corners, as can Robert Fick (or Chipper Jones, if he’s at first), so the Braves probably feel they need only one reserve, but that reserve has to be able to play center.
A natural fourth outfielder — lefthanded hitter, not enough of a hitter to play a corner full-time, not quite fast enough to play center regularly, but a good enough hitter and fielder to be an asset part time anywhere. Last year Darren hit .269/.347/.401, which was his best season since 1998. The Braves re-signed him to a minor league contract, but the assumption is that…
