Atlanta Braves Trade David Hale/Gus Schlosser

In a Friday-afternoon-stealth-deal, the Braves have announced a trade intended to ease their 40-man roster crunch:

David Hale was probably slated to be the “long man in the pen” with all the 5th starter competition seemingly getting more crowded by the day.  It is his 40-man roster spot that is one important part of this deal for Atlanta.  This deal is probably comes initially as a supreme disappointment to him, as he grew up in Marietta, GA, but it’s very likely that His Day would never come with the Braves.

Gus Schlosser provided the Braves with a couple of spot start shots-in-the-arm in early 2014 until Ervin Santana and Mike Minor could get back onto the hill.  Schlosser was released by Atlanta – losing his own 40-man slot – earlier this off-season, though was re-signed to a minor league deal.  

Catchers?  Who Exactly?

Atlanta Braves starting pitcher Gus Schlosser (50). Mandatory Credit: Daniel Shirey-USA TODAY Sports

Jose Briceno and Chris O’Dowd hail from the Rockies organization.  But don’t bother checking for their names on ‘Top 20 Prospects’ lists… they aren’t on many.

I found Briceno rated at #24 on one prospect chart.  That writer placed the Venezuelan native 4th among their prospects at Catcher – noting his low strikeout rate (not especially so) with the chance of becoming a reliable hitter in the upper .200’s, though he doesn’t walk enough. 

He also seems to have a rocket for an arm – throwing out an amazing 62% of base-runners in the Dominican Summer League one year. The 22-year-old Briceno spent 2014 in low-A ball.. and 2013 as well, for that matter.  Fangraphs shows his scouting scores as very high on throwing (60), decent fielding (40 now/50 later).  Other skills suggest average-to-above-average once given time to develop.  At this point, he looks to be a possibility in 3-4 years.

UPDATE: I will quote from MLBTR.com:

"Briceno, the more highly regarded of the two prospects headed to the Braves, didn’t rank among the Rockies’ Top 10 prospects per ESPN’s Keith Law or Baseball America, but he did place 11th among Rockies farmhands on the list of Fangraphs’ Kiley McDaniel. Briceno, who turned 22 in September, spent this past season at Class-A where he batted .283/.336/.476 with 12 homers in 350 plate appearances."

Well, there’s somebody who likes Briceno.  Quite a bit.

Now here’s the weird bit.  The Rockies General Manager – until October 8th, 2014 – was Dan O’Dowd.  The new GM is Jeff Bridich… and he just traded away O’Dowd’s son.

O’Dowd (the younger one – he’s 24) got to play in the Arizona Fall League this year after posting a .270 batting average across two levels of play in 2014 (High-A/AA).  He has no power to speak of, but by some accounts appears to be legitimate defensively (though unranked as a prospect).  But I guess this time the Braves are on the receiving end of a familial house-cleaning.

Chris does seem to have been improving his hitting a bit, though if he ultimately gets to the majors, it’s likely as a defender.

Summary

Overall, it’s a “meh” thing, but this deal does suggest a couple of things to me:

• Luis Avilan can probably feel a little safer now
• Mike Minor can feel a little safer now.. at least for a while
• The Braves’ organization has not been overly satisfied with its minor league catching options.  Four have now been signed/acquired this week.  Two veterans and now two kids.
• This was largely about getting Jonny Gomes onto the roster in a useful way

 …and accordingly…

Best of luck to David Hale and Gus Schlosser, though:  the Rockies are likely to have better opportunities for both of you!

Next: Big Announcement for Fantasy Baseball in 2015