3 Premium Prospects the Atlanta Braves should use for trade bait

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SURPRISE, AZ – NOVEMBER 03: AFL West All-Star, Cristian Pache #27 of the Atlanta Braves signs autographs before the Arizona Fall League All Star Game at Surprise Stadium on November 3, 2018 in Surprise, Arizona. (Photo by Christian Petersen/Getty Images) /

CRISTIAN PACHE

This one could hurt the most overall, but in reviewing his stats, I have a fear that Cristian Pache could end up being a defense-only outfielder – albeit a spectacular defender at that.

There are a number of reasons for this, but the first question to ask is this: are the Braves going to need a future CF for a while?

If they choose to retain Ender Inciarte for the duration of his contract, that’s at least 3 more seasons of Gold Glove caliber defense. Even if they choose to move Ender elsewhere, then Ronald Acuna could likewise provide defense that is roughly on par with Inciarte’s abilities… and Atlanta still has 6 more years of control with him.

Hey – I’ve dreamt of an outfield consisting of Inciarte/Pache/Acuna and figured that no baseabll would ever find grass, but there’s more to life than just defense. It’s therefore a fair question to ask: how many outfield outs could they possibly pick up by having Pache roam the CF pasturelands vs. Inciarte or Acuna?

The second question involves offense: you’d certainly take Pache’s glove – and the extra couple of outs per month – if you knew he’d be an asset to the offensive lineup. However, the trends seem a bit off as he rises through the minors:

Significant reduction in OBP with each new level
Significant increase in strikeout rate
Lower batting averages
Very little in the way of power

When I comment on ‘power’, I’m not just looking at home runs – aside from a burst in Spring Training 2018 and in High-A ball, power hasn’t been a big thing with Pache thus far at all.

That said, I am also looking at doubles – the kinds of line-drives that suggest a player is on the cusp of tapping into his power resources.

Let’s take his Arizona Fall League numbers, for example:

In 73 AB, 20 hits (.274 average; .316 OBP)
16 singles, 2 doubles, 2 triples
.673 OPS to date

The average has been slipping in recent days, but this is all actually slightly better than his AA numbers: 27 hits in 104 AB; 3 doubles/1 triple/1 homers… and an OBP under .300 for a .630 OPS.

While it’s far too early to give up on Pache as a premium prospect, the time may be more right to exploit his value in a trade – especially since Atlanta can plausibly go on without him and thrive for a number of years.

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