Was the Atlanta Braves trading away Justyn-Henry Malloy a mistake?

In classic Anthopoulos fashion, the Atlanta Braves GM pulled the late-night trigger on a deal that would send the team’s 11th-ranked prospect, 3B/OF Justyn-Henry Malloy, and career minor leaguer, LHP Jake Higginbotham, to the Detroit Tigers in exchange for right-handed reliever Joe Jimenez on Wednesday night.

Despite the sun being down and many in the fandom likely preparing to rest before the struggles of another work day, this trade seemed to get a particularly extreme reaction in many of the Braves’ social media spheres, and understandably so. Justyn-Henry Malloy had spent an incredible 2022 campaign endearing himself to a fanbase that has witnessed the meteoric rise of his position-playing compatriots in Michael Harris II and Vaughn Grissom.

The 22-year-old Georgia Tech and Vanderbilt alum Malloy set the minors ablaze by climbing the developmental ladder all the way from High-A Rome at the beginning of the season to Triple-A Gwinnett, just one step away from the big leagues. His .289/.408/.454 slash line displayed his elite instinct for getting on base and even earned him the designation as the club’s best hitter for average and most disciplined hitter, according to Baseball America.

In fact, besides the 25-year-old Braden Shewmake who was recently leapfrogged in development by Vaughn Grissom, Malloy was the Braves’ best position player prospect. Frankly, he was likely to surpass Shewmake in both MLB.com and Baseball America’s new rankings for 2023. He had a real shot, barring any setbacks, to make his debut for the big league club next season.

Thus, it’s fairly obvious why this trade had Braves fans up in arms. When you consider Anthopoulos’ knack for not overpaying in trade deals and the Braves’ immense success with developing minor league players, it certainly makes this deal even tougher to swallow.

So, is it still possible for the Atlanta Braves to make good out of shipping Malloy away?

Of course. The return they got from the Tigers isn’t exactly something to scoff at.

In today’s “baseball economy,” elite relievers are at a premium. In order to be successful in both the short and long term, a team needs not just one or two, but several good-to-elite relievers to man down the back of their bullpen. Additionally, with the inherent volatility that comes with the reliever position, these season-long consistent players don’t exactly grow on trees.

Given that the Atlanta Braves recently lost out on Kenley Jansen, who was lockdown for the team down the stretch of the 2022 season, to the Boston Red Sox, their need for a back-end bullpen arm became even more glaring. Thus, when the cool and collected Anthopoulos heard that there was an opportunity to acquire Detroit Tigers stud reliever Joe Jimenez, he acted decisively.

When glancing at Jimenez’s stats at face value, things might appear questionable. Trading away what was sure to be the Braves top hitting prospect for a reliever with a career 5.24 ERA, 1.34 WHIP, and 4.03 FIP would certainly seem to most like an awful deal.

However, just on the raw numbers alone, Jimenez set career highs in just about every meaningful stat for a pitcher from ERA to BB/9 in 2022. His 2.00 FIP, 2.70 xFIP, and 1.4 fWAR alone put him firmly in the upper echelon of top relievers from last season. As our previous article covering this trade established, his underlying figures look fantastic too. Jimenez ranked in the 95th percentile in K%, the 84th percentile in chase rate, the 82nd percentile in whiff rate, the 85th percentile in xERA and xWOBA, and the 94th percentile for fastball spin.

When you generate a lot of whiff from high velocity all while setting career lows in your home run rates – 0.64 HR/9 – you’re crafting a recipe for sustained success. If Jimenez can continue this trend with an Atlanta Braves coaching staff that was able to get the best out of 39-year-old, seemingly broken Jesse Chavez, then Anthopoulos will have acquired quite the weapon.

At the end of the day, there is risk in both acquisitions. Jimenez has the natural volatility of a reliever and will be a free agent next offseason. Malloy, despite all of his positives, lacks defensive proficiency, is yet to crack a top-100 prospects list, and headlined position players in a bottom-three farm system that was fairly devoid of them.

With Detroit also sending over cash as a part of the trade, some of the risk the Braves may have incurred by acquiring Jimenez’s roughly $2 million salary was dampened. It certainly allows them to maneuver the free agent market, in which they are bound to be active, with a little more confidence.

Thus, trading Justyn-Henry Malloy was not necessarily a mistake. Acquiring ready-made players who can and will help the team in their pursuit of another championship during their competitive window at the expense of the farm is the name of the game.  Jimenez should slot in nicely as the Braves’ primary 7th-or-8th-inning setup man as Raisel Iglesias returns to his coveted closer role.

It should be noted that the nature of this deal shouldn’t stop us from cheering on Malloy, who went to college in Braves Country, as he pursues his big-league dreams. Hopefully, both players come good for their franchises and this deal can be remembered fondly.