Atlanta Braves Add Pizzazz Acquire Brandon Phillips
By Fred Owens
Sean Rodriguez’ injury forced the Atlanta Braves to make a last-minute trade for the former All Star second baseman. Phillips insures it won’t be boring at Sun Trust this year.
Last night’s trade for Brandon Phillips – first reported by Ken Rosenthal (Twitter) – came as Alan noted late last night, after they learned that injuries suffered by Sean Rodriguez in the automobile accident two weeks ago would require season ending surgery.
The Atlanta Braves sent lefty reliever Andrew McKirahan and 29-year-old righty Carlos Portuondo to the Red for Phillips and according to Jon Heyman $13M in cash leaving the Braves just $1M in added payroll this season.
The Braves will honor Phillips contractual no-trade (reported by Jim Bowden) but not his 10-5 rights.
Braves will only honor Phillips limited no trade clause in reds contract (can veto 12) so he no longer has full 10-5 veto
— Jon Heyman (@JonHeyman) February 12, 2017
#Braves honor previous limited no-trade (12 teams) clause in Phillips contract, before he got 10-and-5 no-trade rights. Gets $500K if traded
— David O'Brien (@DOBrienATL) February 12, 2017
They also agreed to pay a $500k assignment bonus if he is traded. The Braves were quick to point out that this is not a change to their no-trade clause policy.
#Braves Coppy: Since Schuerholz became GM in '91 "we have never granted no-trade provisions & we have no intention of changing that policy."
— David O'Brien (@DOBrienATL) February 12, 2017
McKirahan had a troubled start to his Braves tenure missing half of 2015 due to a PED suspension. He returned to be a useful bullpen piece late in the season but had to have TJ surgery and missed all of last year as a result.
Portuondo signed in late 2015 as an international free agent in 2015 and split last season between A+ and AAA throwing 34 2/3 innings with a 3.63 ERA. He was seen as a middle innings reliever but his age limited his future in a Braves system full of quality relievers. GM John Coppolella said the Braves were happy to finally have BP on board.
"“We are excited to add Brandon Phillips to our club,” Braves general manager John Coppolella said. “He is a Gold-Glove caliber defender who will also deepen our offensive lineup. We are thrilled to ‘welcome home’ Brandon to Atlanta, where he will play in front of his family and friends and many of his fans.”"