Atlanta Braves acquire LHP Justin Kelly from Angels for RHP Jim Johnson

All Hail Alex Anthopoulos! The Jim Johnson train has left its station.

Just to clarify for a moment – this is a real trade:  it is not a drill, nor a simulation, nor something we’re speculating on.  The Atlanta Braves have really traded former closer Jim Johnson – the first such transaction pulled off by new GM Alex Anthopoulos.

With the addition of Justin Kelly and the loss of Jim Johnson, the  Braves add a young pitcher to their minor league repertoire, and free up a spot in the bullpen for a new player and a 40-man roster spot, to boot..

This entices the possibility of signing a quality free agent reliever to a contract as the Braves are going to save some significant change, $4.5 million to be exact, from trading Johnson and his contract.

But, there’s a catch; a fair one albeit. This was not a player-for-player trade. Atlanta gave some of their International signing space to go along with Johnson. The Braves are not going to be able to use much of this space for quite a while due to the sanctions and restrictions placed on Atlanta by MLB Commissioner Rob Manfried.

At 24 years old, Justin Kelly is still finding his way through the Minor Leagues. He has hurled exactly 100 innings in his Minor League career, combining 2016 and 2017 with a 8-5 W/L, 4.59 ERA, and 1.54 WHIP.

Next: Atlanta Braves winter meeting simulation summation

Kelly has fluctuated from AAA to Single-A in the past two years and wasn’t ranked among the Angels prospects (which admittedly is tough to do, given their system), but he has the potential to be a quality arm in the minor league system for the Atlanta Braves.