Saturday Afternoon Chop
By Fred Owens
Herewith a summary of Atlanta Braves news you may have missed.
Braves add rocket fuel to rebuilding efforts at Winter Meetings
That was written just moments after word came down that the Braves swung the deal of the winter meetings, adding Ender Inciarte, Dansby Swanson and Aaron Blair in exchange for Shelby Miller.
This deal is the final piece of the Braves’ rebuild. It added rocket fuel to John Coppoella and John Hart‘s efforts.
Inciarte possesses a Gold Glove in the outfield and is under cheap team control the next five years. Swanson, last summer’s No. 1 overall pick, has already drawn comparisons to a young Derek Jeter. Blair is a young righty with a power arm — you might’ve heard John Coppolella likes those guys — and could be a No. 3 starter in a few years. His upside is that of, well, Shelby Miller.
Bethancourt traded to Padres for Kelly
ATLANTA — Christian Bethancourt‘s once-promising career with the Braves came to a close on Thursday evening, when he was traded to the Padres for right-hander Casey Kelly and catcher Ricardo Rodriguez.
Bethancourt, once one of MLB.com’s Top 100 prospects, began 2015 as Atlanta’s primary catcher, but his status as the Braves’ backstop of the future evaporated when he lost the starting role less than two weeks into the season.
(Ed Note: The sleeper in this deal is the young catcher Ricardo Rodriguez (not to be confused with two other players of the same name currently on rosters of other teams.) Rodriguez was rated the best international catching prospect and either the #30 (MLPIPELINE) or #21 (Baseball America) overall international prospect in 2014. I wrote a bit about him when the trade happened and we have an in depth look in the works, but this young man looks to be a solid backstop with a good bat.)