Atlanta Braves Huascar Ynoa’s value could be more than what we originally thought

Braves newest pitching prospect brings a huge upside

The deal is finally official between the Atlanta Braves and the Minnesota Twins…LHP Jaime Garcia has been sent to the Twins along with catcher Anthony Recker and cash considerations.  In return, the Braves receive 19-year-old Huascar Ynoa.

The right-handed pitcher is in his third year as a professional pitcher after being signed as a 16-year-old out of Puerto Plata in the Dominican Republic.  That year, he was ranked as the 14th best international prospect, according to Baseball America.

When this trade finally became official, many thought it was a head scratcher.  Shouldn’t the return of Garcia bring more back for the Braves?  And why are we sending Recker and cash to the Twins for their 22nd ranked prospect in their system?

Money could have influenced a little…the Braves will be saving $4.75 million by making this deal.  Garcia was still owed $4.55 million.  But that can’t be it, right?

Braves General Manager John Coppolella and the entire front office may have something up their shelves.

The other question is…why Recker?  He was on the Braves 40-man roster — did we just eliminate a spot for something?  Maybe just for Kris Medlen, maybe not.

Things will play out like they always do, but for now, let’s look at what the Braves received in this deal.

For more information about Ynoa, I reached out to former Tomahawk Take writer and now Pucketts Pond (Minnesota Twins on FanSided) editor, Benjamin Chase.  Let’s see what he had to say since he did a little homework on Ynoa.

Who is RHP Huascar Ynoa?

Huascar Ynoa is the younger brother of former big-money Chicago White Sox pitcher Michael Ynoa, who broke the record for a 16 y/o pitcher with a $4.25M signing bonus in 2008, actually getting a higher signing bonus than Miguel Sano in that same year.

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He had eyes on him for years due to his brother’s reputation, but he is nothing like his brother’s 6’7″, bulky build. Ynoa is in the range of 6’3″ and lean with long arms and legs that make consistency an issue for him.

Ynoa works with a fastball that can touch 96-97, but he typically works more in the 92-93 range with his fastball. He works with four fastballs/fastball variations, with a two-seam, four-seam, cutter, and split-finger. He also has a sharp curve. His best off speed pitch is definitely his change, though. He has a legit 60-65 grade change-up that he can manipulate to mimic either his two-seam or four-seam fastball.

Ynoa’s long legs and arms lead to issues repeating his delivery, and that’s been evident in two of his three seasons in the minors so far.

In 2015 and this season, he has walk rates of around 12% each of those seasons. In 2016, he really had his delivery down for the season, and he walked less than 6%, so the difference is huge.

He has incredibly difficult stuff to square up, and even when he struggles, guys cannot barrel his pitches because he gets so much movement on them due to his unique arm length.

Ynoa is only 19 (just turned such in late May), so he still has a lot of growing still to do, but his diverse repertoire is very impressive, and the Braves have been able to harness guys with height previously (Weigel, Povse for two recent examples), and Ynoa’s issues are very similar, so he could definitely develop.

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He’s a legit guy who will be a top 30ish prospect in the Braves system. The risk with Ynoa is whether the Braves can develop his frontline-caliber stuff rather than if Nick Burdi could overcome a wealth of injuries he’s dealt with since he was drafted. Braves fans should be very, very happy.