Atlanta Braves Trade Shelby Miller For Ender Inciarte and Huge Prospects

Tuesday night, news broke that the Atlanta Braves and the Arizona Diamondbacks have finally come to a settlement for a trade.  These two teams (plus about 15 others) have been calling the Braves about starting pitcher Shelby Miller…well, the Braves finally were satisfied with the deal.

Can you blame them?? Have you seen the return for Miller??

The DBacks will be sending outfielder Ender Inciarte, pitcher Aaron Blair and 1st overall pick in the 2015 draft shortstop Dansby Swanson.

WOW, I MEAN WOW!!

I truly didn’t believe I would be happy with anything with the DBacks unless outfielder A.J. Pollock was involved.  He was the guy the Braves continued to ask about, he was the guy everyone wanted, he was the guy we all thought we’d have if we got rid of Miller….well, that’s not the case and I’m very okay with this.

Ender Inciarte

I’m okay with this.  He’s a 25-year-old outfielder who bats left-handed and has been historically labeled as a defensive player and a contact hitter.  Sure, “Braves Way”, but this lineup can not use another left-handed bat.  He hit .303 last season with 21 stolen bases….I think we’ll find a way to fit him in.

Inciarte played mostly right-field for the DBacks in 2015, but mostly center field in 2014.  His breakdown of games played at position in 2014 was 76 in CF, 37 in LF and 1 in RF.  In 2015 he played 77 games in RF, 47 in LF and 22 in CF.

With Nick Markakis slotted into the Braves right field slot and Hector Olivera suppose to play left field, Inciarte will probably head into Spring Training fighting for the center field full-time job.

Aaron Blair

Blair is a 23-year-old pitcher who stands 6’5″ 230 pounds and already has three years of minor league professional baseball under his belt.  Last year, he reached Triple-A and pitched in 13 games…starting 12 of them.  He had a 3.62 ERA with a 7-2 record.

Many scouts are very high on Blair, but will the Braves view him as a starter or a relief pitcher.  Looking around the web, some suggest his ceiling as a number three or four pitcher in a rotation.

Dansby Swanson

HUGE, HUGE, HUGE!! This Vanderbilt stud shortstop was the number one pick in the 2015 draft and will have huge expectations.  He’s 21-years-old and went to high school in Georgia.

He played in 22 games in 2015, hitting .289/.394/482 with seven doubles, three triples and a home run.

If you’re upset about anything else, please get excited about this guy.  He WILL be a difference make for the Braves in the near future.

I’m ecstatic about this trade if you can’t tell and mostly because of Swanson.

So let’s recap…

Braves traded Jason Heyward who had one year left in his contract for Shelby Miller who we had an amazing one year with, a six-year contract of Tyrell Jenkins and now five years of Inciarte, Blair and Swanson…I can live with this!

Did the Braves just rip off the DBacks once again with a trade…see Phillip Gosselin trade in late June for then top prospect Touki Toussaint.

I think the Braves first pick in the 2015 (14th overall) sums it up perfectly…