Atlanta Braves Trade Shelby Miller, Get To Know The New Braves

Aug 26, 2015; Phoenix, AZ, USA; Arizona Diamondbacks right fielder Ender Inciarte (5) singles in the fifth inning against the St. Louis Cardinals at Chase Field. Mandatory Credit: Matt Kartozian-USA TODAY Sports

Ender Inciarte

Unlike the other two parts of this trade Inciarte wasn’t hot prospect. The D’Backs signed him as an international free agent in 2008 at the age of 17.  At that age it isn’t surprising he moved slowly through their system but at every level he’s consistently posted both a high OBO and BA.  Inciarte does have a considerable R/L split.

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Generated 12/8/2015.

I’m sre Kevin Seitzer will work with him to correct that but the Braves wanted him to play center field and he’s a good man for the job..

In 2014 Inciarte played 649 1/3 innings in CF with 15 DRS, a .903 RZR and a 13.7 UZR. Overall in his two seasons playing all over the D’Backs outfield he posted 52 DRS in 1972 1/3 innings.

Overall Inciarte’s been a 3 fWAR player over the last two years and looks to slot an outfield where he’ll be flanked by older, slower, and in one case less experienced players where his speed and experience will be badly needed.

That’s A Wrap

This deal looks a lot like the one the Cubs made with the Athletics when they sent Jeff Samardzija and Jason Hamel to the west coast for Billy McKinney (minors), Addison Russell, Dan Straily and cash.  So all the Twitter Critters who were laughing at the Braves demanding too much for Miller should go order their plate of crow now.

The Braves cornered a Diamondbacks team that’s obviously all in for 2016 and wanted Miller badly. As a result they extracted a major haul of quality players for Shelby Miller and A ball relief pitcher Gabe Speier who never had a chance to unpack after being traded to the Braves as part of the Cameron Maybin deal.

The trade took everyone by surprise.

Inciarte solves the center field issue until Mallex Smith is ready and now there is no need to rush him. Blair could well be as good as Miller in the end and ready to begin that journey this season. However Dansby Swanson is the crown jewel of this trade. The Georgia native gets to play for his home town team and at least begins to fill the void left by the departure of Andrelton Simmons for Sean Newcomb. It also answers the second base question.

At 5’9” and 150 pounds Ozhaino Albies is a little undersized for a shortstop in today’s game. He is however a nicely sized second baseman and with Swanson should create a sweet double play combination.

Next: Flowers in Atlanta in the Fall

Some are shocked at the price in prospects for Miller but they ignore the price of middle of the rotation arms in today’s game. Samardzija just got a five-year $90M deal and Mike Leake is looking for $85M over the same time. J.A. Happ is a back of the rotation arm and her got an AAV of $12M over three years and soft tossing erratic Marco Estrada got two years at $13M. Miller is inexpensive and under control for three years, the Braves were always going to get their price, if not now then at the deadline or next year.

While Miller was a popular player in Atlanta this trade unlike some others gives Braves fans something to look forward to. Let’s hope they can continue in this vein.