Atlanta Braves Trade Lucas Harrell and Dario Alvarez To The Texas Rangers
By Jeff Schafer
Braves Flip Harrell and Alvarez To Rangers
News broke Wednesday afternoon that the Atlanta Braves will be shipping starting pitcher Lucas Harrell and left-handed relief pitcher Dario Alvarez to the Texas Rangers.
Harrell pitched a fantastic game last night against the Minnesota Twins, going six innings giving up four hits, three walks and had four strikeouts. He picked up his second win of the 2016 season as he’s now 2-2 for the Braves. Harrell has started five games in the majors this season and has a 3.38 ERA with a 1.261 WHIP.
The 31-year-old starter clearly wasn’t in the Braves long-term plan so they traded him to the Rangers while value was high. This is a pitcher with major league AL experience as he pitched for the Chicago White Sox in 2010 and 2011 as well as with the Houston Astros from 2011-2014.
Harrell has pitched in the Rangers Ball Park three times in his career, but his ERA is very forgettable…maybe they didn’t look at it. His ERA is 15.09 in the 11.1 innings he’s pitched there. He gave up four home runs, a triple and two doubles, along with nine walks, and four allowed stolen bases. All three appearances were starts.
Atlanta picked Harrell up on May 20th as a free agent that was let go by the Detroit Tigers four days prior.
Dario, My Sweet Dario!
In this deal, the Braves also sent lefty Dario Alvarez to Texas. The 27-year-old shot out of the gate with the Braves as in his first 10 appearances, he had a 0.93 ERA and somehow had a record of 3-1. Another impressive stat was that in three appearances, he pitched more than one inning. In his next six appearances, he’s had two bad outings, but still pretty good.
Braves signed Alvarez off waivers on May 25th from the New York Mets.
Alvarez will be a solid lefty reliever for the Rangers.
Our Man, Mr. D!
The Braves player in return – Travis Demeritte. The 21-year-old was the Rangers #20 top prospect according the MLB.com. The 6’0″ 180 pounder can play multiple positions in the field and AJC’s David O’Brien hinted at a possible move to left field.
The second, third and shortstop from Winder, Georgia – yep, a Georgia boy – has played his 2016 season in A+. He’s currently batting .272/.352/.583 with 25 home runs, 20 doubles, four triples, 59 RBIs, 13 stolen bases…wow.
Demeritte was drafted by the Rangers in the 2013 MLB draft with the 30th overall pick. He was drafted as a shortstop, but has played short, third and second base. Texas moved him to second because of both Adrian Beltre in the majors and Joey Gallo close to the majors.
If you watched the MLB Futures game this year, you may recall seeing Demeritte on the field. He started at second base for the US Futures and went 0-1 at the plate with a walk. In the field, he turned two double plays.
Right when we couldn’t be more giddy about this trade, JJ Cooper of Baseball America shoots them down…
When looking at Demeritte's stats from this year remember he is on High Desert. Massively inflates HRs.
— JJ Cooper (@jjcoop36) July 27, 2016
Regardless, I’m still pumped about another right-handed bat in our organization! Let’s give him a jersey and get him on the field!
The Braves have Austin Riley at third base in Rome and Rio Ruiz in Gwinnett. Could the Braves send him to Mississippi? Why not pair him with Dansby Swanson and Ozzie Albies?