Braves News: Yacksel Rios traded to Oakland for cash considerations

The Atlanta Braves have traded minor leauge reliever Yacksel Rios to the Oakland A’s in exchange for cash considerations. There had been a clamoring by some Braves fans for Rios to see a promotion to the big league club after posting some good numbers for Gwinnett thus far.

Rios had a 1.46 ERA, 0.77 WHIP, and 10.9 strikeout per nine in nearly 25 innings of work in Triple-A Gwinnett this season. However, a very interinteresting note came from Justin Toscano of the AJC regarding this trade.

Apparently, there was a clause in Rios’ contract that stated had to add him to the major league roster by tomorrow’s date or trade him to a team that was ready to add them to their 26-man roster. As Toscano points out in his tweet that would also have meant optioning Ben Heller back to Gwinnett.

Given how Heller has looked in his two appearances for Atlanta you can understand this corresponding move a little more. Ben Heller has fought through injuries for over two years, and was rewarded when he made his first appearance back in the majors since 2020 with the New York Yankees.

And man was he impressive in that appearance. He racked up five strikeouts while closing the final two innings of Friday’s blowout win against the Colorado Rockies. Today he worked another inning and his sinker touched 98 mph along with a sweeping slider and changeup that struck out Profar swinging. I’m certainly in the camp that wants to see more from him, and it seems the Braves front office feel that way as well.

The Braves bullpen depth was thought to be a strength entering the season, and as we get towards the All-Star break that certainly seems to have been proven true. It makes these blowout wins all the more fun when you get to watch guys like Heller and Michael Tonkin come in with some of the nasty pitches they feature.