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Welcome to Atlanta, where the players, Nate McLouth, play. Before I get into another failed attempt at rapping, I’d like to talk about the Braves’ most recent acquisition, what Atlanta surrendered to, and the reaction I’ve heard from many other Braves fans.
For my part, I am delighted with the deal. Definitely a win for Atlanta. McLouth is young (27 years old), has a very good bat (9 HRs and 34 RBI already), played a gold glove in center field last year and is signed through the 2011 season at an incredible bargain with a club option. for the 2012. season. While he doesn’t have incredible power, the 9 home runs he’s hit already lead the Braves. Bobby Cox moved him into third in the lineup, behind Yunel Escobar and directly in front of Chipper Jones, with Brian McCann sliding into the fifth hole. It’s pretty safe to say that McLouth will see better pitch selection among those guys compared to Freddy Sanchez and the LaRoche brothers in Pittsburgh.
While there’s plenty of certainty with the player Atlanta traded for, Pittsburgh is getting three question marks from prospects in return. That’s why I can’t understand the constant complaints on the Braves forums that we give up too much. Let me start with the most touted prospect Atlanta signed, Gorkys Hernandez.
There’s no denying that Hernandez is a strange athlete. He is extremely fast and covers a ton of ground in the center. Although he has speed, his base-stealing ability can apparently improve since he’s only been successful 10 of 18 times this year. While he has hit well at both A and AA, his strikeout rate is a big concern. The K/BB ratio of him is 54/15. He has almost four times as many strikeouts as walks. So for those who thought he might eventually be the Atlanta leadoff hitter they’ve so desperately missed since the Rafael Furcal era, wake up. When a guy strikes out as many times as he does on AA ball, what is there to believe that anything will change when he gets to the big leagues? Atlanta also has Jordan Schafer in Gwinnett now, where he belongs, and most scouts agree that Schafer projects to be the better major league player of the two young center fielders. That alone made Hernandez very expendable.
The next prospect in the trade to mention is Charlie Morton. I watched Morton pitch several times for Atlanta last year and most of the time he struggled in the Majors. All I’ve heard for the last two years is his incredible numbers in AAA. Well, he for some reason never translated into success in Atlanta. I still believe his ceiling is a number four in an average major league rotation. For those Braves fans who had a problem with him in the deal and wanted Jo-Jo Reyes substituted, Pittsburgh and no other franchise is that dumb. Reyes is negative trade value right now and Morton has put up solid numbers in AAA again this year. In case you don’t know, we have a guy named Hanson who just got called. I’ve heard pretty good things about him. Morton was simply a spare part in the Atlanta organization.
Last, and least I know, is Jeff Locke. I hear he’s considered an “educated” pitcher and that he’s a few years away from the majors, if he ever makes it. Apparently, the material from him is very good, however, the location of him has been the kryptonite from him. He may solve the problems in the Pirates organization, maybe not. Either way, he wasn’t a super prospect by any means. Most reports had him as the 10th best prospect on the Atlanta farm.
The bottom line is that the Braves were able to acquire a very good bat for parts that were expendable in their current system. Obviously, Pittsburgh values those three guys more than I do, or Atlanta does. This deal in no way reminds anyone of the Mark Teixiera trade, as McLouth is under contract for at least three more seasons with an option after that. It’s pretty obvious that any Brave fan who isn’t happy with this deal wouldn’t have been happy with anything less than Ryan Braun for Greg Norton. Realistically, this is about as good a deal as Atlanta could have made at this point in the season. Good job Frank Wren.