Add another name to the Braves' string of offseason maneuvers, and this one is a blast from the past.
Atlanta has agreed to a minor league deal with Kelly Johnson, the Braves confirmed Thursday, a pact, thatincludes an invitation to spring training.
Johnson, who was a first-round pick of the Braves in 2000 and broke into the majors with the team from 2005-09, spent last season with the Yankees, Red Sox and Orioles.
The nine-year veteran is a career .250/.333/.423 hitter, Johnson is coming off a year in which he hit a career-low .215/.296/.362 and had 14 doubles, seven home runs and two triples in 265 at-bats.
Primarily a second baseman throughout his career, Johnson could be an option in left field as well, playing 137 games there, but he did so just five times last season. He spent most of his time at third base in 2014 with 49 games and also played 30 at first base, while manning second just five times.
As detailed here, Johnson is the Braves' last second baseman to hit above the league average and meet the qualifications for a batting title when he hit .285 in '08. He left the Braves in '09, signing with the Diamondbacks as a free agent.
After releasing Dan Uggla last season and trading his heir apparent, Tommy La Stella, to the Cubs, the Braves head to spring training with a crop of candidates for the position that includes Alberto Callaspo, Philip Gosselin, Jace Peterson and Joe Peraza.
Callaspo, 31, hit 223/.290/.290, but he was at or above the MLB average in the previous five seasons, including hitting .300/.356/.457 in '09 and .288/.366/.375 in '11.
Gosselin, 26, hit .221 in 68 at-bats as second baseman last season and has 29 strikeouts in 134 career trips to the plate (21.6 percent).
Acquired from the Padres in the Justin Upton deal, Peterson made his MLB debut last season, hitting .113/.161/.113 in 53 at-bats over 27 games. He struck out 18 times and walked twice.
Peraza hit .339/.364/.441 in 2014 in 110 games between High-A Lynchburg and Double-A Mississippi and in four minor league seasons has a .306/.351/.390 slash line.
If Johnson is seen as a utility player, he could add more experience to that group, back up Freddie Freeman at first base or Chris Johnson at third -- or pitch in at left field, where the Braves have Zolio Almonte and Todd Cunningham atop their depth chart.
Almonte, who the Braves signed as a free agent in November, showed potential while in the Yankees farm system. He hit a combined 45 home runs the past three seasons in Double-A and Triple-A, but has just 142 major league at-bats over 47 games, posting a .211/.242/.282 line with four doubles, two homers and 12 RBI.
A switch-hitter, Almonte's numbers at big league level aren't much better from one side or the other (he's hit .215 vs. right-handers and .200 against lefties), but he's clearly more comfortable from the left side of the plate with 72 more at-bats so far as a lefty.
Cunningham, 25, has appeared in eight major league games, hitting .250/.250/.500 and has yet to register an extra-base hit.
