Atlanta Braves center field shopping: Ramon Laureano
The Atlanta Braves acquired three outfielders after the All-Star break but couldn’t acquire a true center fielder, which makes the hunt likely continue.
As Alan wrote a week ago, Atlanta Braves President of Baseball Operations/ General Manager Alex Anthopoulos wanted to add a true center fielder at the trade deadline, but no one wanted to make a deal; where’s Wayne Brady when you need him?
The club made it through the season, mixing and matching Guillermo Heredia, Joc Pederson, and finally Adam Duvall.
Heredia added personality but is at best a fourth outfielder. Duvall made one great catch in center, but he’s best in a corner outfield slot, and there’s no guarantee he’ll be back. Joc’s days as a starter in center are in the past, and he’s also a free agent.
Internally, Cristian Pache’s glove plays at any level, but his bat has yet to reach Major League quality. Drew Waters continued to strike out over 30% of the time and posted a 56.9% ground ball rate, culminating in a .240/.329/.381/.710 line, a .321 wOBA, and 94 wRC+ for Gwinnett.
While it’s not time to give up on either player, Anthopoulos knows the team still needs that true centerfielder. The cost and age of a free agent center look higher than the Braves would pay.
Starlin Marte is 33, turned down an age offer from the Marlins during the season; after Marte, the free-agent market is pretty thin, which brings us to trades.
The Pirates aren’t going to trade Reynolds, and the Orioles aren’t going to trade Mullins, making the list of quality candidates short. The list improved when Athletics GM David Forst said the store was open.
GM David Forst of the cash-strapped A’s said they are willing to listen on everyone. “This is the cycle for the A’s. We have to listen and be open to whatever comes out of this. This is our lot in Oakland until it’s not.”
— Jon Heyman (@JonHeyman) November 10, 2021
The Athletics in sell mode made me smile because I’ve liked Ramon Laureano for a long time.
Ramon Laureano is perfect for the Atlanta Braves outfield; he plays at 27, is inexpensive, and under team control through 2024.
Who is Ramon Laureano?
The Astros selected Laureano in the 16th round of the 2014 draft. He struggled early on, and the Astros decided to trade him to Oakland following the 2017 season rather than protect him from the Rule 5 draft.
He started 2018 with Nashville and batted .297/.380/.524/.905 with 14 homers in 64 games. Oakland noticed and called him up on August 2nd, and on August 12th, he showed off the arm.
Over the final two months of the season, Laureano came to the plate 176 times in 48 games and batted .288/.358/.474/.832 with five homers.
A stress reaction in his right shin cost him six weeks in August and September limited him to 123 games in 2019, but he replicated those numbers the following season, batting .288/.340/.521/.860 with 24 homers in 481 PA, and stole 13 bases in 15 attempts.
Fangraphs said those numbers were worth 127 wRC+, a .356 wOBA, and 3.9 fWAR. His 2019 production closely resembles that of Atlanta Braves center fielder for most of that season, Ronald Acuna Jr., who batted .280/.365/.518/.883 with a .369 wOBA and 125 wRC+ line.
Great start, unfortunate interruption
Laureano started 2021 well; despite minor hand injures, he was batting .257/.332/.503/.354/.857 on May 27th when he suffered a right hip strain that put him on the disabled list until June 18th.
He returned without a rehab assignment, and his average suffered as a result; he batted only .235/.304/.359 over the next 40 games.
On August 6th, MLB suspended Laureano for 80 games because he tested positive for nandrolone. Starling Marte tested positive for the same substance in 2017, and as it turns out, there’s an extremely high probability that neither actually used it.
I’m not a fan of or apologist for PED cheats. However, I see no reason that the Atlanta Braves should allow the suspension to get in the way of acquiring Laureano.
Nandrolone makes no sense.
Nandrolone isn’t a new, designer PED created to avoid detection. It’s been around since the 1960s and is easily detected. According to the non-profit Sports Integrity Initiative, Laureano may have never heard of the substance until the positive test.
The post cited here discusses the cases of world-class athletes who received bans after testing positive for the substance and discusses scientific data that shows positive tests can happen after eating pork.
In a Study performed in 2000, three male volunteers reported nandrolone concentrations in urine between 3.1µg/L and 7.5µg/L ten hours after being fed 310g of pig offal. A standard burrito recipe contains 500g of meat.
MLB contracts with the World Anti-Doping Agency to conduct their tests. WADA acknowledges that these false-positive happen, but while tests are available that determine whether the drug was made in a lab or eaten, WADA doesn’t routinely run that test, nor are they open to discussion about it.
Laureano’s smarter than that.
The other, easier to understand part of this is when they tested Laureano. Laureano was coming off of injury, and players know they’ll get a no-notice test soon after returning from injury.
It makes zero sense to inject a drug this easily discoverable when you know you’re going to get tested; nandrolone doesn’t speed healing; it’s used to create muscle mass. Whatever the cause, he’ll remain suspended for the first 27 games of the season.
Speaking of injuries, on October 1st, the Athletics announced that Laureano had undergone successful core surgery. Core surgery is the latest name for what was once called a sports hernia. The surgery won’t prevent him from reporting to spring training on time.
The Atlanta Braves will have to give to get
Laureano projects to earn just $2.8M this year and has three arbitration years of control remaining. He’s a gold glove caliber center fielder with an arm that’s as good as Acuna’s, a 24 homer bat, and projects will steal over 20 bases a season.
In 2019, Fangraphs said he was worth 3.9 fWAR, 127 wRC+, and a .356 wOBA. Players with those credentials do not come cheap.
I tried to use the trade values site to get somewhere close to his value, but I couldn’t. When you’re talking about a young proven player with five tools, the asking price will include three “55 value” prospects.
Not many teams will venture to that level; Braves would have to include Contreras, Waters, Ynoa, and at least one more good prospect, maybe two.
That’s a wrap
The signing of Manny Pina makes Contreras expendable. Waters won’t reach Laureano’s level any time soon, if ever. Ynoa’s value is as high as it will get, and a Laureano solves multiple problems for the Atlanta Braves.
Next. We have pitchers . . .. dark
Nothing drops in an outfield of Acuna, Laureano, and Rosarios, or Duvall. His bat makes the lineup longer, and his speed on the bases causes trouble for opposing pitchers. Let’s make a deal.