Why Atlanta Braves are a good fit for Francisco Lindor
By Seth Carter
With the Atlanta Braves being loosely linked to Francisco Lindor trade rumors, we take a look at what that trade might look like.
The Atlanta Braves have a hole at third, a well-documented hole. The hole is a Josh Donaldson sized hole, and he didn’t just leave a hole there, he left holes all over, like a shotgun blast.
There’s a hole at third, a hole at cleanup, and a hole in our collective heart.
Now, the Braves could end up re-signing Josh Donaldson and none of this will matter, but we have to think about the alternatives. Really, you could just go about your lives and wait and see what the Braves do, thus relieving yourselves of loads of time and stress. It’s Christmas, you shouldn’t be thinking about this, should you? You are damn right you should!
So, what would a trade package for Lindor look like? First of all, what are we getting in Francisco Lindor?
Lindor turned 26 last month and already has four All-Star games under his belt. In addition to the All-Star appearances, he has two gold gloves and two silver sluggers.
Francisco Lindor is a slick-fielding shortstop with a .288 career average and a .347 career OBP. He has stolen over 20 bases in each of the past two seasons.
He plays great defense, gets on base, hits for average, he’s 26-years-old and steals bases…But wait! There’s more!
Lindor is a true slugger. His career slugging percentage is .493 but it’s been over .500 each of the past three seasons. The past three seasons he has averaged 34 home runs and 85 RBI.
Two of the past three seasons he has led the league in plate appearances and only exceeded 100 strikeouts once in his career (2016 with 107). For his career, Lindor has a 14.0% strikeout rate.
Through his age-25 season, Lindor has already amassed a 28.6 rWAR. To put that in perspective, through Nick Markakis‘s age-35 season he has 33 rWAR. Dansby Swanson will turn 26 in February and his career rWAR sits at 3.7.