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Are the Atlanta Braves’ demons of the Adam Wainwright trade finally exorcised?

By Alan Carpenter

Jun 1, 2017; St. Louis, MO, USA; St. Louis Cardinals starting pitcher Adam Wainwright (50) pitches during the third inning against the Los Angeles Dodgers at Busch Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Jeff Curry-USA TODAY Sports
Jun 1, 2017; St. Louis, MO, USA; St. Louis Cardinals starting pitcher Adam Wainwright (50) pitches during the third inning against the Los Angeles Dodgers at Busch Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Jeff Curry-USA TODAY Sports /
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Jun 1, 2017; St. Louis, MO, USA; St. Louis Cardinals starting pitcher Adam Wainwright (50) pitches during the third inning against the Los Angeles Dodgers at Busch Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Jeff Curry-USA TODAY Sports
Jun 1, 2017; St. Louis, MO, USA; St. Louis Cardinals starting pitcher Adam Wainwright (50) pitches during the third inning against the Los Angeles Dodgers at Busch Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Jeff Curry-USA TODAY Sports /

December 2003… a bad trade that came from a position of need.  But it does appear that the Braves have slowly been recovering from that deal – and maybe, finally have done so.

At the time, it really didn’t seem like that bad of a deal when the Atlanta Braves acquired J.D. Drew and Eli Marrero from the Cardinals.  Of course, when you give away prospects, there’s always the chance that they can develop into something good.

This was a case of the Braves wanting Drew badly to fill out a team that they believed would be able to compete deep into the playoffs again.

You’d have to argue that this worked as intended, too:  Drew had his career-best season in 2004, hitting .305 with 31 homers, 93 RBI, 118 BB and an OPS of 1.006.  That came to an fWAR of 8.6, which he never was close to – before or since.

But that was it.  2004 and one of the more noteworthy (notorious?) clients of super-agent Scott Boras was off to follow the money to another team in 2005 – after the Braves experienced an uncharacteristically early exit from the playoffs.

Eli Marrero pretty much also had a career year with the Braves, splitting time with Eddie Perez.  But he was also “one and done” with Atlanta at the end of that 2004 season, and was out of baseball very early in 2007.

But this trade cost quite a bit, as you could imagine.  The Cardinals got starter Jason Marquis and reliever Ray King, plus a AA prospect named Adam Wainwright that they really liked.

In fact, knowing that the Braves and John Schuerholz wanted Drew so badly, Cardinals GM Walt Jocketty basically held the outfielder for ransom – and the price was the Braves’ top prospect.

Here’s what Baseball America said about Wainwright entering the 2003 season:

"The 29th overall pick in the 2000 draft, Wainwright has lived up to the Braves’ early projections. He was the strikeout leader in the high Class A Carolina League–where managers rated him the league’s No. 3 prospect–and earned a spot in the Futures Game last season. Since signing, he has been ranked the No. 2 prospect in the Rookie-level Gulf Coast League and No. 1 in the Rookie-level Appalachian and low Class A South Atlantic leagues. In 2001, he set a Macon record and led the SAL with 184 strikeouts."

They also added these tidbits:

"Few pitchers are more projectable than Wainwright."

"Wainwright has the ingredients to be a top-of-the-rotation starter."

I guess so.

Wainwright entered the majors in 2005 and he’s still playing, though 2016-17 have been struggles for the leader of his team’s staff – now nearly 36 years old.

He has received 3 All-Star nods, 4 Top-3 Cy Young finishes, a Gold Glove, and 4 MVP Top 20’s.

It’s actually a bit surprising to see that he’s “only” 140-80 over his career, but the lifetime 3.22 ERA definitely merits notice over a 13-year career.

Oh, and did I fail to mention that his Cardinal teams have won 2 World Series titles in there?

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