A weekly update on the business of the Braves:
Dealing with dollars: Last weekend's trade with Arizona, in which the Braves essentially paid $10 million for 19-year-old pitching prospect Touki Toussaint, created quite a buzz in baseball circles.
The Braves dealt backup infielder Phil Gosselin to Arizona for injured pitcher Bronson Arroyo and Toussaint. Arroyo may or may not ever pitch for the Braves, but that was beside the point of the deal. The point from the Braves’ perspective was to acquire Toussaint. The point from the Diamondbacks’ perspective was to unload the guaranteed $10 million left on Arroyo’s contract, which now is the Braves’ responsibility.
From a business-of-baseball standpoint, the deal was intriguing in two respects.
For one, there was the monetary value it placed on a Class A pitcher who was the 16th pick of last year’s draft. The consensus reaction seemed to be surprise that Toussaint would be dealt for “only” around $10 million, although Arizona presumably canvassed the market and got no better offer.
The other point underscored by the deal is the financial flexibility the Braves have created since the end of last season. The Braves have traded away contracts totaling about $103 million in guaranteed future salaries, $80 million of that by dealing Melvin Upton Jr. and Craig Kimbrel to San Diego. The Braves took back $24 million in contracts from the Padres, meaning that trade netted a savings of $56 million.
So there is more money where the $10 million for Toussaint came from.
Ticket discount: Braves hitters delivered a 38-percent discount on tickets for next week's homestand.
In a new promotion, the Braves offered a discount for games next Tuesday through July 5 — including the July 4 game and fireworks show — based on the team’s number of hits during its previous homestand. The offer: 1 percent off per hit. The Braves collected 38 hits in five games, so all tickets sold for next week’s games between the end of the previous homestand and 9 a.m. Wednesday, when the offer expired, carried a 38-percent discount.
