In an ideal world, all teams involved in a given trade end up being winners. Obviously there are going to be some differences in value in hindsight, but the reason the trade market operates at all is that organizations find ways to help each other. If every trade only had one clear winner, teams would probably stop making them very often in a hurry. However, the Atlanta Braves' trade for Joe Jimenez is a particularly weird situation to look back on.
On one hand, the Braves got a really good reliever in Jimenez who was a key piece of Atlanta's bullpen in 2023 and 2024. However, Jimenez's knee is a real problem now as not only did it cost him the 2025 season, but the start of 2026 is no sure thing after he needed a clean-up procedure on the same knee.
However, the trade for Jimenez did get a boost in the Braves' favor over the weekend. To make room for new bullpen addition Kyle Finnegan, the Tigers designated Justyn-Henry Malloy for assignment who was the centerpiece of the Jimenez trade from Atlanta.
Former Braves prospect Justyn-Henry Malloy just got designated for assignment
Unfortunately, Malloy got a bit of a raw deal in Detroit and was a victim of circumstance here. While he mashed at Triple-A in 2025 with a .955 OPS, the Tigers kept bouncing Malloy back-and-forth between the majors and minors which was probably a factor in his less-than-stellar performance in the big leagues. Given his minor league numbers, it is very likely that Malloy won't be unemployed for long.
For the Braves, this is a relatively pleasant development. Giving up Malloy was a real cost back then as he was one of Atlanta's best hitting prospects. That he isn't tearing the cover off the ball in MLB has to be a bit of a relief, though the Braves can only be so excited given Jimenez's current injury issues.
It is so funny how quickly things can change in baseball. At the time, the Braves had to be thrilled that they got a setup-quality reliever. Then, the Tigers looked like they may have gotten a bit of a steal with Malloy as his bat appeared to be under-appreciated by Atlanta. Now that Malloy has been DFA'd and Jimenez is hurt, another twist in the history of that trade has to resolve itself before we can give it a final grade.