Atlanta Braves News: The Morning Chop 12/23

Atlanta Braves

Gattis the next domino in busy offseason?

Tomahawk Take Editor’s Note:  Yesterday, Braves beat writer David O’Brien tweeted out that he has been told the Braves are not still looking to trade Evan Gattis.  In this article, Mark Bowman indicates that they still may.  Joel Sherman tweeted out on December 19th that the Braves will continue to listen to trade talks but unless overwhelmed, he’ll play left field and hit cleanup.  If an AL team blows the Braves away, I see John Hart pulling the trigger.  Not that Gattis is the key to this team but if they trade him away for more prospects, it will be a clear sign the Braves are looking ahead instead of for the 2015 season.

Considering that they were only able to offer one year of Heyward and Upton, the Braves should be very happy with the returns, which netted them a potential frontline starter (Shelby Miller), their latest top pitching prospect (Max Fried) and three other players (Tyrell Jenkins, Dustin Peterson and Mallex Smith) who might all rank among their Top 10 Prospects by the end of this upcoming season.

If the Braves do opt to trade Gattis, I believe they will attempt to gain a starting pitcher or an outfielder who could provide an immediate impact and remain under contractual control for the next few years.

Fox Sports South Arizona

For D-backs and Braves, Upton-Prado blockbuster will be judged on prospects

Tomahawk Take Editor’s Note:  Remember January 2013?  When the Braves and D-Backs pulled off a blockbuster move that sent Justin Upton to the Braves to play with his brother?  The Braves lost utility man, Martin Prado in the process but Upton was suppose to be the Braves lifesaver.  All the pieces aligned.  The youth of the Braves, added with once top prospect and recently signed (to a huge contract) B.J. Upton, the upcoming of Jason Heyward and Freddie Freeman, the starting pitching that wasn’t bad but with this offense the pitching can give up some runs because we were going to be able to recover?  Remember that time?  Well, both players got traded on the same day again in 2014.

Upton and Prado were traded on the same day for the second time last Friday, this time not for each other.

Upton was added to new San Diego general manager A.J. Preller’s collection of big-name outfielders when he was acquired from Atlanta for four minor-league prospects. Within hours, the Yankees sent Martin Prado to Miami in a five-player deal that brings them pitcher Nathan Eovaldi, left-handed power hitter Garrett Jones, who could be a nice fit given the short right field porch at Yankee Stadium, and a minor-league pitching prospect.

The D-backs were heavily criticized for trading Upton and Chris Johnson in the nine-player package to Atlanta two winters ago, and one analyst wrote the other day that Upton still had not reached his ceiling, a specious contention inasmuch as he has 4,314 major league plate appearances. Baseball-reference.com lists Corey Hart as the most statistically similar player to Upton, and Ruben Sierra as the most similar based on age comparisons.
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