29 Trades for 29 Teams: Atlanta Braves

by Robert R on Dec 12, 2011 5:26 AM EST

Braves Receive:

Orioles Receive:

I'll examine the Braves side of this trade first. The two main pieces going to the Braves in this deal are obviously Jones and Hardy. Jones in LF gives them a great compliment to Michael Bourn, and Jason Heyward . That would easily be one of the best outfields in the entire league, not only offensively, but defensively as well. A lot of people question Jones defense, but the switch to LF should benefit him greatly. The Braves are currently planning on employing Tyler Pastornicky as their opening day SS, but he could probably use a little more seasoning in AAA. So enters JJ Hardy, if he can even come close to replicating his production from 2011 he'll easily be a top of the order bat for them. Not only that, but the guy plays Gold Glove caliber defense on a nightly basis. Andino is involved in this trade to give Atlanta a super utility player, that can capably back up any infield spot minus 1B should there be an injury. Let's face it, with Jones and Hardy on the left side of the infield you'll definitely want a quality backup. I just threw Bergessen in this deal as a little depth in the Atlanta rotation and bullpen(like they really need it). They have plenty of depth in the minors, but with Hudson hurt, and Jurrjens an injury concern, a little extra pitching could help.

Now onto the Orioles side of the trade

Mike Minor- LHP (12/26/1987)

He's the main piece coming back in this deal for the O's. Just last year Minor was ranked as the 37th best prospect in all of baseball, according to Baseball America. He would easily become one of our top 3 pitchers, along with Guthrie and Britton. In about 83 innings last year Minor managed a WAR of 1.4, a 3.39 FIP, and a K/9 of 8.38. Here's a blurb about Minor from Fangraphs, before the 2011 season.

Minor shows above-average command of his three-pitch repertoire, which includes an 87-94 mph fastball, plus changeup and curveball.

Edward Salcedo- 3B (7/30/1991)

John Sickles rated him as the Brave's 6th best prospect and gave him an overall grade of B. A guy with a lot of upside, but hasn't been able to translate it to the field just yet. Was signed as a SS, but moved to 3B due to overwhelming amount of errors(40 in 100 games). Guy I would love to see develop alongside Machado and Schoop. Hit .248/.315/.396 with 27 doubles and 12 HR, while swiping 23 bags with the Braves A level affiliate this past year.

Tyler Pastornicky- SS (12/13/1989)

Sickles has Pastornicky as the Braves 8th best prospect, and gave him a grade of B-. Definitely a glove first prospect, hasn't shown much power, but has put up a decent average and OBP throughout the minors. Atlanta has him penciled him in as there everyday SS at the moment, but he probably needs a little more time to develop the offensive side of his game. Hopefully he could hold down SS until Machado arrives, then move over to 2B to take over for Brian Roberts.

JJ Hoover- RHP (8/13/1987)

Sickles has him rated as the Braves 7th best prospect and gave him a grade of a B-. However most places such as Baseball America have him rated out of the top 10. The Braves moved him to the bullpen, due to their absurd SP depth but Sickles believes he could profile as a good 3rd or 4th starter. I would give him a shot at the starting rotation, as he has the ability to miss some bats, and doesn't give up many HR's.

Mycal Jones- CF (5/30/1987)

Sickles has him outside of his top 20 Braves prospects, but since the O's organization is running low on CF options after a Jones trade, this is a guy who could provide some depth. Needs time at AAA before a shot at the majors, but the guy has good speed, and a great eye at the plate. At AA last year he batted .252./359/.381 with 25 doubles, 7 HR, with 56 walks, and 17 SB in 373 AB.

Overview

Atlanta would be parting with a good deal of talent in this trade, but talent that also has a lot of question marks attached to it outside of Minor. Will Salcedo find a place defensively and put his talents to the playing field. Will Pastornicky's bat play well enough for him to avoid being a super utility player. I'm willing to find out if I'm the O's, but the Braves should be in a win now mode. With Jones and Hardy, their line up suddenly becomes pretty potent, with a defensive upgrade at both positions.

C- Brian McCann

1B- Freddie Freeman

2B- Dan Uggla

3B- Chipper Jones

SS- JJ Hardy

LF- Adam Jones

CF- Michael Bourn

RF- Jason Heyward

I'm gonna say this trade favors the Orioles, but if we're giving up 2 of our top position players in their prime, I would like to feel like we've won the trade. Not to mention both guys are under contract for multiple years, and in Hardy's case, at a very team friendly rate. Most likely would have to remove one of Salcedo, Pastornicky, or Hoover to get this deal done. But why not shoot for the stars, until they say no.

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Comments

a 9-player deal?

I think you can cut my comments from earlier threads, particularly the Phillies one. This is yet another “MLB The Show”/“Out of the Park”-style trade, where you wind up continuing to stockpile players on both sides of the ledger. In the real world, trades like this basically never happen.

In terms of actual value, this is perhaps the most lopsided proposal among all of the “29 Trades” series. I can’t envision a scenario under which it makes sense for the Braves to trade a young, cost-controlled left-handed starter who has had significant success in MLB and has ace upside (Minor). The idea that they would trade Minor and 3 of their top 10 prospects plus another guy? That’s not remotely realistic.

I suppose the Braves might do something like Minor for Jones, Hardy, and Guthrie. Alternatively, you might be able to get one of Pastornicky or Salcedo, plus Mycal Jones, for Hardy straight up. But as configured, this is just not happening.

by AndrewTorrez on Dec 12, 2011 10:19 AM EST reply actions

if I'm not mistaken the cubs and rays had an 8 player swap back in January

So believe it or not it does happen. The reason they trade a cost controlled lhp, with ace potential, Is because they have a stacked rotation with adequate depth in the minors. If they wanna compete in what’s becoming a top heavy division, they need some bats. And of these three top 10 prospects, not a single one would likely be in the top 100 in baseball. They all have legit questions to if they’ll ever make it. I think adam jones alone would get you minor and jones, hardy could fetch two b prospects in salcedo and hoover. So maybe a more realistic trade would be jones and hardy, for minor, salcedo, Hoover, and jones.

by Robert R on Dec 12, 2011 11:43 AM EST via iPhone app up reply actions

This is a good counterpoint

If the Braves want to compete right now, they will want to make moves to solidify their offense. Maybe not this exact move, but they would definitely want to sacrifice some pitching prospects for some immediate power in the lineup.

However if I was the Braves GM and I had this absolutely stacked farm system, I would be more inclined to wait it out another year or two and keep stacking prospects. They almost made the playoffs as is last year. In two years, the Phillies could be done and the Marlins piggy bank could be tapped. Then the Braves would have all their prospects peaking at the same time and they’d be in a good position to dominate for the latter half of the 2010’s.

Empty your mind, be formless, shapeless - like water. Now you put water into a cup, it becomes the cup, you put water into a bottle, it becomes the bottle, you put it in a teapot, it becomes the teapot. Now water can flow or it can crash. Be water, my friend.

by Astronaut Mike Dexter on Dec 12, 2011 12:21 PM EST up reply actions

Very true

The Braves farm system is extremely stacked, but they lack any elite hitters in their upper minors. The closest thing they have to an elite hitting prospect is Salcedo, and he’s probably another 3 years away from the majors. Now Hardy is definitely an elite bat at SS, who also plays gold glove defense. Those guys don’t grow on trees, and he is still on the good side of 30 with a cheap contract. Jones isn’t near an elite hitter at the moment, but at 26 he may still develop into the hitter we all hoped. He presents a clear upgrade over anything else they have, and I would assume he’d be above average defensively in LF.

by Robert R on Dec 12, 2011 1:26 PM EST up reply actions

The Braves did just graduate Freeman and Heyward.

One of the reasons why the Braves farm system is down in heavy-hitting positional talent is because of this. Neither are elite hitters at this moment but certainly have a lot of potential.

Mother, did it need to be so high.

by salvotion on Dec 12, 2011 5:03 PM EST up reply actions

two things

1. The Rays deal was essentially a 5-for-1 for Garza, so I don’t really think it’s comparable.

2. You’re way overrating Adam Jones.

by AndrewTorrez on Dec 12, 2011 1:27 PM EST up reply actions

two more things

1. If you look at this trade it’s essentially a 3-for-4 swap, Mycal Jones and Bergesen are both kind of filler in this trade. So they’re back to being comparable.

2. While I’m overrating him, I wouldn’t say it’s by that much. The guy has proven to be a legit talent in the majors, and may be able to improve on his performance. He’s also only 26 and under control for 2 more years.

by Robert R on Dec 12, 2011 1:46 PM EST up reply actions

Their pitching development program

might just be better than the Rays. Incredible. They graduate Minor, Beachy, Kimbrel; trade Paul Clemens and Brett Oberholtzer; and still have arguably the best 1-2-3 of pitching prospects in the minors in Teheran, Delgado, and Vizcaino. Can we just give whoever runs that program, say $10M/yr to come do what they do for the O’s?

He praised my creativity, though he spoke sarcastically...

by PBR me ASAP! on Dec 12, 2011 10:22 AM EST reply actions 1 recs

My question from this trade is where will the O’s middle infield depth be? The O’s are trading the starting SS and backup SS to the Braves. Who plays SS? Also who plays 2b when Roberts gets hurt? Yes the O’s are not going to compete next year but there does need to be some middle infield depth in order to form a team.

by Liverpoolcubsfan on Dec 12, 2011 12:29 PM EST reply actions

The O's have plenty of middle infield depth at the moment

Now no one knows if it’s good depth, but they still have it. One thing Duquette has done this far, is add former high draft picks that can fill utility roles. Also, in the proposed trade the Orioles would be getting back Pastornicky, who is nearly major league ready. I’d prefer to see him start the year at AAA, but if you really need a SS, then throw him out there. The O’s most likely aren’t gonna compete this year, so they can afford to throw a rookie out there and let him take his lumps.

by Robert R on Dec 12, 2011 1:17 PM EST up reply actions

I'm not sure what you mean by depth at middle infield.

Schoop and Machado are the two guys. Ryan Adams? C+ prospect with a ceiling of fringe starter and utility man a la Andino with a little more pop. Gyvens is floundering and didn’t even make Sickels’ top 20 O’s prospects list. I don’t see this as depth by any stretch unless you just mean “guys in the farm system who also happen to play middle infield positions.”

Mother, did it need to be so high.

by salvotion on Dec 12, 2011 5:08 PM EST up reply actions

I was speaking about Adams, Antonelli, and Flaherty

Like I said above, it isn’t necessarily good depth, but there’s warm bodies to fill the roles.

by Robert R on Dec 12, 2011 5:18 PM EST up reply actions

It looks like you have some good ideas here.

I really like the idea of giving Hoover the chance to start in the minors, and I think that Hardy is a good fit for the Braves.

On the other hand, adding Andino and Bergesen as filler doesn’t make much sense. The Braves already have Prado and a group of young pitchers to fill those roles.

You probably have to remove Minor from this trade since he looks like he’s ready to start in the majors and the Braves will only make this trade if they want to win now.

by SeanP on Dec 12, 2011 5:06 PM EST reply actions

They seem inclined to move Prado in a trade

The Braves like his defense he provides in LF, but from everything I’ve read they would also like more power from their corner OF spot. That’s why I put Jones into the trade, he fits the need they’re looking to fill. By picking up Jones they can look to flip Prado and add some prospects in a trade, rather than a guy like Seth Smith from the Rockies. With Prado gone, they’ll need an adequate back up on the infield so that’s why I put Andino in the trade. I agree on the bergesen part, probably shouldn’t have included him in the trade.

by Robert R on Dec 12, 2011 5:14 PM EST up reply actions