Braves sign former Angels utility player after dropping him from 40-man roster

The Angels kicked off their flurry of offseason acquisitions by clearing space off of their 40-man roster. One of those casualties just found a new home-- Charles Leblanc secured a minor league contract with the Atlanta Braves.

The Braves are taking a flier on the positionally versatile 28-year-old with intriguing tools. In a short sample size in the bigs last season, Leblanc flashed the in-game power that has kept him around for almost a decade in professional baseball. He drew a lot of walks, did not chase pitches outside the zone, and was able to both barrel balls up and find the sweet spot of the bat (an optimal launch angle). He had four hits during his 28 plate appearances with the Angels, and two of them were home runs. He had a .190 batting average, but a .476 SLG.

Leblanc's AAA numbers the past couple of seasons, in the hitter-friendly confines of Salt Lake in '24 and Jacksonville in '23, have been very consistent. A batting average around .250, an OBP around .380, a SLG around .430, and OPS around .810. The Canadian native was a fourth round pick in the 2016 MLB Draft by the Texas Rangers, and he was selected out of the University of Pittburgh.

The Angels outrighted Leblanc off their 40-man roster, and it seems now that it was an indication of a flurry of moves that were to come. They have since added depth options in his absence to use instead, like Scott Kingery, Kevin Newman, and Ryan Noda. The Angels are going with an "out with the old, in with the new" approach to bolster their organizational depth. They lost 99 games in 2024, and are trying to remodel their team with veterans with ample big league experience. Leblanc has enticing facets of his game, but is a career minor leaguer.

The Braves and Angels have a growing amount of connections, with some calling the Angels "Braves West." You can now add Leblanc to the list of overlapping players, coaches, and front office members like Perry Minasian, Alex Tamin, Ron Washington, Eric Young Sr., Sal Fasano, Travis d'Arnaud, Jorge Soler, Griffin Canning, Raisel Iglesias, David Fletcher, Kurt Suzuki, Max Stassi, Gio Urshela, Luis Guillorme, Kevin Pillar, Ehire Adrianza, Mike Ford, Phil Gosselin, and many more.

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