This isn’t to suggest that other trades didn’t arrive with a jolt. Sending Jason Heyward to St. Louis was the first signal that the new Braves really were the new Braves. Shipping Craig Kimbrel to San Diego on the eve of Opening Day provided the answer for those still wondering if this franchise was truly serious about winning in 2015.
And yet: The Braves didn’t quite punt on the season. They tiptoed that thinnest of lines. They didn’t pump major resources into the major-league product, but the team itself hasn’t been an embarrassment. The bullpen was dire for a time, but it has gotten better. Which brings us to this:
Johns Hart and Coppolella wouldn’t have made all those bullpen tweaks if they weren’t trying to give the 2015 roster — or what was left of it — every chance to maximize modest resources. As of Monday morning, the Braves were on pace to finish 76-86, which would be three games worse than last year’s team, which was under different management and was absolutely trying to win. This season hasn’t been the travesty many among us feared.
Some reacted to Friday’s trade of Kelly Johnson and Juan Uribe in exchange for two middling Mets pitching prospects with more than a dollop of vitriol: The Braves had given up! Really, though: Hadn’t we known this was coming since the five-game losing streak leading into the All-Star break? Hadn’t we known they’d be deadline sellers? Here was the selling. More will follow.
And yet: This wasn’t selling for selling’s sake. There was a purpose. The Braves acquired Johnson and Uribe, respectively, as a non-roster invitee to spring training and in a package for Alberto Callaspo. (FYI, the Braves considered pitcher Chris Withrow the key to that deal.) Johnson and Uribe will be free agents. For a modest price, the Braves could bring either back. The same goes for catcher A.J. Pierznyski, who could be traded this week.
Still, the focus cannot be on journeymen nearing journey’s end. It has to be on young talent. The new Braves — meaning Hart, president of baseball operations, and Coppolella, assistant general manager — saw rebuilding the farm system as Job 1. In less than a calendar year, it’s Job Done. Last fall, Baseball America rated the Braves’ minor-league chain the second-worst in baseball. Last week, Keith Law of ESPN Insider ranked the Braves’ refurbished system the second-best.
This doesn’t mean that world domination is at hand, or three to five years away. In January, Sam Miller of Baseball Prospectus noted that the adjudged best farm systems of 2004, 2005 and 2006 were Milwaukee, Anaheim and Arizona — none of which has appeared in a World Series since those ratings were bestowed. Nothing is assured. Still, the acumen the new Braves have displayed augurs well.
Each of the Big Four offseason trades netted at least one player who has appeared in the majors this season, and some (Shelby Miller, Jace Peterson, Cameron Maybin, Matt Wisler) have made major splashes. More are coming, most of them pitchers. The Braves believe they can use the young arms they don’t need to land the position players they do.
Friday’s trade was essentially more of the same, albeit a bit less. Neither John Gant or Rob Whalen will crack the Braves’ list of top 10 prospects. Al Skorupa of Baseball Prospectus writes that Gant “projects for a limited major-league role.” Jeff Moore, also of BP, writes that Whalen is “likely destined for middle relief.” Nonetheless, both are — Hart’s word again — “currency.”
Say the Braves had kept Justin Upton, Evan Gattis, Heyward and Kimbrel. They’d probably have been a .500 team, give or take, and they’d be wondering if they should move any/all of the above ahead of the deadline. By trading all four, they’ve secured the immediate futures of Miller, Wisler, Max Fried and Mike Foltynewicz, and they’ve gone a ways toward securing the long-term future of this franchise.
No, watching an overmatched team lose isn’t fun. I get that. But we all need to get this: If the Braves’ reset succeeds, they won’t be overmatched for long.
