The Top 16 franchise-making trades in Atlanta Braves history

1. The Kid

1890 – CHARLES AUGUSTUS ‘KID’ NICHOLS / OMAHA (MINORS)

The Boston Beaneaters paid the Omaha Omahogs $3,000 ($84,425 today) for Kid Nichols‘ contract; a bargain at twice the price.

He won his first game for Boston, but no one paid attention until he squared off against the New York Giants’ 19-year-old righty and future Hall of Famer Amos Rusie in a thirteen inning battle.

". . .This pitching duel was immediately put on a pedestal by journalists, and remains one of the most-discussed battles of the National League’s early decades."

In 1892, the Beaneaters met the Cleveland Spiders in the first postseason series championship series, The Split Season Playoff. Nichols started two games, throwing a seven-hit, complete-game shutout in game four and besting Cy Young in Game 6. He finished the series with a 1.00 ERA and 1.167 WHIP in 18 innings of work.

He appeared in 557 games for Boston, started 502, threw, 476 complete games and finished 53 others for a total of 4,549 IP.

He won 330, lost 183 and by today’s definition, recorded 15 saves while pitching to a 3.00 ERA, 143 ERA+. Baseball-Reference credits him with 107.4 rWAR, while Fangraphs gives him only 72.9.

Bill James wrote about Nichols in his 2001 edition of The New Bill James Historical Baseball Abstract.

". . .while you might have guessed (Babe Ruth and Mickey Mantle) as the players with the biggest impact on pennant races in a career, the number three man was a pitcher who had a decisive impact on the pennant races of 1891, 1892, 1892, 1897, and 1898, Kid Nichols. Nichols won [at least] 30 games in all of those seasons—for teams that won pennants by relatively thin margins.”"

Thanks to the loud and constant intervention of players who saw or knew of Nichols, including Ty Cobb, Nichols earned membership in the National Baseball Hall of Fame in 1949.

There are other deals with a shorter-term impact that didn’t make the list and the discussion ignores free-agent acquisitions.

That said, these deals created a huge part of the history of the Braves franchise.