Braves president reveals outfield lineup in light of Jurickson Profar acquisition, Ronald Acuna Jr. absence

In light of Ronald Acuna Jr. not being available when Opening Day hits, the Atlanta Braves has addressed their outfield by signing Jurickson Profar to a three-year, $42 million, deal on Thursday.

With Spring Training approaching, it's that time of the year when teams assemble their offseason pieces to see where they stand in terms of active lineup and roster for the start of the new season. It gives them a feeling on whose performance to monitor during spring training so that they can select their minor league players and promote them to the majors.

On Thursday, Braves president of baseball operations Alex Anthopoulos said on the Braves Today podcast to reveal the Braves outfield lineup following the signing of Profar.

"Jurickson (Profar) will be playing left, (Michael) Harris will be playing center, and then we'll have a competition in right field," Anthopoulos said (10:51 onwards).

"But, you know, I told Jarred, right now, knowing Ronald's not going to start, we're going to get him a lot of reps in right field. He's got the range and the arm strength to play all three positions. Obviously, he's played a lot of left field, but he knows he'll back up in center and so on."

Anthopoulos made it clear that right field will see some competition, with Jarred Kelenic expected to get the most reps.

"That doesn't mean guys like Brian De La Cruz won't come in and compete as well," Anthopolous added. "He has options, and we'll see if some other guys come into camp or if we bring anybody else in.

"We'll have those two, and it'll be a competition for right field. Jared will have every opportunity to be that guy with his defense and left-handed bat, but he knows he's going to have to earn it. Snit [manager Brian Snitker] will make those calls."

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Braves president speaks on Jurickson Profar signing and offseason plans

Alex Anthopolous spoke his mind when asked about Jurickson Profar's three year deal.

"Profar, at this price and this contract, makes sense for us," he said.

The Braves president also mentioned that while they don't want to make any deal forcefully, don't be surprised if another move comes by before Spring Training.

"Like I said, I think I mentioned in a radio interview or something, it won't surprise me if we're still talking to people into spring training," Anthopolous added.

"The way things are going, we're almost into February. We'll continue to see if something comes up that makes sense, and if it does, we'll do it."

With high expectations for Michael Harris II’s future, including a potential Gold Glove, and confidence in Jarred Kelenic’s arm strength and defensive capabilities, the Braves will hope to not let Ronald Acuna Jr.'s absence affect them much.