Sep 24, 2015; Los Angeles, CA, USA; Arizona Diamondbacks second baseman Aaron Hill slides into home plate to score in the third inning against the Los Angeles Dodgers at Dodger Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports
Report: Atlanta Braves Tried to Buy Another Diamondbacks Prospect
Maybe we should start applying some “Chuck Norris Facts” to Braves GM John Coppolella:
- Coppy can lie honestly.
- Coppy doesn’t sleep. He waits.
- Coppy got into a staring contest with a mirror. After 3 days, the mirror blinked.
- There was a team that refused to deal with Coppy. After lunch, they traded him 2 top prospects. And a starting outfielder.
Remember the deal last Spring/Summer (June 20) when Bronson Arroyo started his glorious career with the Braves? Right… that was the trade in which Philip Gosselin went to Arizona and Touki Toussaint came to Atlanta. The Braves essentially paid $10.1 million for Arroyo (plus/minus however you figure the later Dodgers’ deal) and would up with Toussaint.
Fast-forward to last weekend. The Brewers made the following trade with Arizona:
In this deal, the Brewers took half of Hill’s contract and picked up a very interesting prospect in Isan Diaz. More on him in just a bit.
Why bring this up here? Because of this:
The Braves worked hard to find ways to alleviate D'Backs cash issues so they could get SS-2B Isan Diaz, but Brewers got him.
— Peter Gammons (@pgammo) February 3, 2016
Now I admit that I’m not terribly clear on what Arizona’s “cash issues” might have been… I mean they did sign Zack Greinke to a really big number, but still have the entire rest of the club signed at rates under $8 million per year (Aaron Hill was at $12 million). Their payroll now is looking like $81 million, pending whatever A.J. Pollock ends up with in arbitration. And this is a team with a shiny new monster TV contract.
Nonetheless, Hill was considered to be something akin to dead weight on their roster and they wanted Jean Segura to bolster their offense. Sorry about that, Nick Ahmed.
But Coppy Tried the Ploy Again
Seems that Atlanta wanted Isan Diaz, a SS/2B with some serious power… and he’s not yet 20 years old. In 312 AB in the Rookie Pioneer League last season, he popped 13 dingers and hit .360 for a total OPS of 1.076. Diaz, despite being born in Puerto Rico, went to high school in Massachusetts and was drafted by Arizona in the second (supplemental) round in 2014. He may be one of the few top picks left (then) that the Braves don’t already have.
But despite the fact that Diaz didn’t appear on Arizona’s top 30 prospects list at MLBPipeline, it’s pretty clear that MLB scouts knew about him, with the Brewers and Braves obviously being active in the pursuit of this teenager. Our sister site Venom Strikes also was well aware, having profiled him as a ‘special player’ a few months ago.
You might ask about the Braves adding yet another middle infield prospect, but at this point in his development, that’s not a big concern. It’s the idea of continuing to add talent, and that’s what happened here again. Aaron Hill would undoubtedly become a Brave – and might have fit in at third base. Sure: he would have been the equivalent of Gordon Beckham… or he might have been cut outright. Erick Aybar might have become a Diamondback (and thus AZ went for the better long-term option in Segura). Hard to know.
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There’s no word on what Atlanta might have tried to offer Arizona, but the phrase “worked hard” from Gammons does sound like this was a priority for Coppy. Clearly, he’s still got a stick and he’s poking around for more talent to add to the 2017-18-19 clubs to come. That’s not a bad thing.
One has to wonder if AZ GM Dave Stewart hadn’t already been stung enough by Atlanta, and opted for the Brewers’ offer as a means of deflecting the inevitable criticism that would have come his way… even if the deal had been equitable for both sides.
You see, the Coppy effect might actually have a downside to it… if repeated often enough.
John Coppolella doesn’t trade with other teams. Other teams give him their prospects out of respect.
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