5 Best and 5 Worst Trades of the Atlanta Braves Rebuild: Part 2

In part one we looked at the trades that worked out for the Atlanta Braves during their exhaustive rebuild. Today we’re looking at the ones that didn’t, or at least to this point, haven’t worked the way they hoped.

While I’m sure some of you had a few issues with part one of this Atlanta Braves rebuild series, this is the one I suspect will invoke the most disagreement so I’m going to echo what I said in yesterday’s intro:

• This is inherently a subjective exercise. While I’ll use as much universal logic as possible to explain my opinions, at the end of the day, they’re my opinions. You’ll disagree with them and I’m completely fine with that. I even encourage it. World would be boring if everyone agreed on everything. Just be respectful.
• Remember, we aren’t connecting the dots down the line to future trades. Each trade is valued on its own merit.

To the list!

1. Braves trade OF Kyle Wren to Milwaukee for SP Zach Quintana

It’s not easy finding 5 bad trades during this rebuild and that’s a testament to the 3 Johns and the Braves front office collectively, especially given how many deals have been made total.

But this one I didn’t like. I didn’t like it when it happened and like it even less now. You can, of course, understand the reason behind it. The organization had just fired Kyle’s father and the easiest thing to do was just move on from the entire family. Makes sense.

The problem with that plan, however, was Kyle was a good player for the Braves. And based on the numbers he put up last year with the Brewers, he’s still a good player.

The 136 wRC+ he put up in AAA last year was one of the highest in the league, and while that number was inflated by an unsustainable .414 BABIP, Kyle still profiles as a solid backup CF/4^th OF type player.

Meanwhile Quintana pitched 45 very forgettable innings for the High A Mudcats last year and as far as I can find, is no longer with the organization.

Remember we are going to have to nitpick a bit to make this list but Atlanta traded a perfectly useful player for a not-so useful player and the fact that the Braves are still looking for useful bench options for the 2017 club doesn’t make it any better.

1. Braves don’t trade Jason Grilli

Ok, I cheated a bit here but if you follow my logic, I think you’ll see it still falls within the spirit of the exercise. The Braves signed Grilli to a team-friendly 2 year/$8M contract before the 2015 season and he spent the first half of that season re-establishing himself as one of the best relievers in the game.

Atlanta had a serious trade chip on their hands.

That chip, of course, would never be cashed in. Grilli tore his achilles in a game in Colorado in mid-July and effectively ended his season.

Let me make one thing abundantly clear; I am NOT blaming the Atlanta Braves for Jason Grilli’s injury. It was a freak injury and was no one’s fault.

So why is he on this list?

Well, holding onto valuable players around the trade deadline is basically a big game of chicken. If you trade them early, you risk not getting the best possible return. If you wait until the deadline, you risk the chance of a serious injury and getting nothing. Every GM knows this.

With Grilli, the Braves rolled the dice, held onto to him into July, and he got hurt. Was it their fault he got hurt? Absolutely not. But when you knowing gamble and lose, you take some of the blame. Even when it’s just bad luck.

[ Ed. note:  once Grilli was finally dealt, it was for RHP Sean Ratcliffe… who literally didn’t last the year in the Braves’ system while Atlanta even paid Toronto nearly all of the remaining dollars on Grilli’s 2016 contract, minus the pro-rated league minimum. ]

1. Braves trade SS Andrelton Simmons to Los Angeles(Angels) for SS Erick Aybar, SP Sean Newcomb, and SP Chris Ellis.

This trade is on the list for a simple reason. I believe Andrelton Simmons is a valuable asset and, in my opinion, Atlanta did not receive equal value in return when they traded him. That concept, while simple in its idea, is made up of two somewhat complicated parts:

• How valuable is Simmons
• How valuable was the return

For Simmons, if you don’t value defense, then he’s an easily replaceable piece and really isn’t worth talking much about. I, obviously, value defense a great deal, especially at SS, and see him as a perennial 3 Win player regardless of what the bat does. And if that ever comes, he’s an MVP candidate.

For the return, it really comes down to what you think about Newcomb since he was the principal piece of the deal and he’s the only one left in the organization. And I’ve just never been a Newcomb fan.

His stuff, of course, is elite but if you can’t control where you’re throwing it, it doesn’t really matter how good your stuff is. He’s like a hitter with 80 power but can’t make any contact.

But it’s not just the control, it’s that there’s no easy way to fix it. Keith Law recently talked about why Newcomb dropped in his rankings and he mentioned the delivery. It’s really smooth and easy. Doesn’t sound like a bad thing but if the delivery is good and the control is bad, there’s not an obvious path to fixing it.

If Newcomb can’t figure out his control then he has no future in Major League Baseball and Atlanta traded away a fan favorite and once-in-a-generation defensive SS with absolutely nothing to show for it. No pressure kid.

[ ed. note:  note this update after the post was submitted ]

1. Braves trade CP Craig Kimbrel and CF Melvin Upton Jr to San Diego for CF Cameron Maybin, SP Matt Wisler, OF Carlos Quentin, OF Jordan Paroubeck and the 41^st pick in the 2015 draft.

Ok, so this trade was complicated with a lot of moving parts so I’m going to try to simplify it. For this trade, Atlanta wanted to:

• Clear a large chunk of payroll, specifically the remaining of Upton’s contract
• Acquire the 41^st pick in the 2015 draft (eventually turned into 3B/1B Austin Riley)
• Add more young starting pitching depth
• Acquire a replacement CF

My biggest issue with this trade was the fundamental structure of it. Using Kimbrel’s massive amount of trade value to clear Upton’s contract off the books was, in my opinion, a poor use of resources.

The Braves were knowingly on the verge of full blown rebuild, during which some truly terrible players would play for some truly terrible teams. Why not just let Upton continue to play out his contract and trade Kimbrel for what he was worth in prospects? What was one more terrible player?

If Upton continued to suck, so what, you’re rebuilding anyway. If he remembered how to play baseball again, like he did in San Diego, then even better and you might be able to move him anyways.

Yes the Braves saved $14M in 2015 and $15M in 2016 but those were 95 and 93 loss teams respectfully and with some comically low payrolls. If you gave me the choice between some extra money to spend during a time when the team sucks or 2 or 3 more top prospects that might contribute to the next playoff team, I’ll take the latter every time.

And I say 2 or 3 more top prospects because that’s exactly what Kimbrel was worth. A year later San Diego flipped him for 2 top 50 prospects, and that was with a year less of control than when the Braves traded him.

The one saving grace of this trade – because I’m really not a Matt Wisler fan – could be Austin Riley. While he has some serious concerns of his own, he does have the potential to change the outlook of a trade.

But as it stands now I think Atlanta missed out a tremendous opportunity to bring in even more high level talent in favor of saving some money. You can tell me in the comments below how stupid I am.

1. Braves Trade SP Alex Wood and 2B Jose Peraza to Los Angeles (Dodgers) for 3B/OF Hector Olivera.

I’m guessing there wasn’t much suspense in which trade was going to be voted the best and probably just as little in which trade was going to be voted the worst.

Olivera was basically a train wreck from the moment he got here from L.A. and amazingly only got worse. The Braves originally tabbed him as a guy who could play 3B for them but after he arrived it was clear he had the lateral quickness of a mailbox so left field was his new home.

More from Tomahawk Take

• Atlanta Braves 2023 Preseason Top 30 Prospects List: 1-5
• Braves News: Braves acquire Diaz, moves around the division, more
• Atlanta Braves 2012 Top Prospects Review: J.R. Graham
• Atlanta Braves Acquire Lewin Diaz from the Orioles
• Atlanta Braves 2023 Preseason Top 30 Prospects List: 6-10

That was ok, though, because the real reason he was brought in was the big bat he was supposed to bring to a power-starved lineup. That worked about as well as the defense did and it became clear the only thing he had any interest or ability in hitting was defenseless women.

Luckily, this piece of trash is no longer in MLB as the Padres outright released him after they acquired him in a bad contract swap with Atlanta for Matt Kemp.

You can probably debate the overall talent level of Alex Wood and Jose Peraza, but they’re still young, cheap big league contributors and that alone makes them miles and miles more valuable than Olivera.

Coppy has already publicly admitted how much he regrets this deal and I can confidently say, of all the trades on this list, this is the one he wants back the most.

Next: Check Out The 5 Best Trades of the Rebuild

Alright Braves fans, there haven’t been many moves to complain about during this process and I had to cheat a little to get to 5 here. Feel free to tell me why I’m wrong.

“Part 3: Honorable Mentions” drops soon!