Random Prospect Sunday - Tanner Murphy

TannerMurphy.com

Sometimes, you just have to be in the right place at the right time. For Tanner Murphy, that right time happened on a baseball diamond during his sophomore year of high school. The catcher on his travel team broke his thumb, prompting the coach to ask for a volunteer to put on the tools of ignorance. Murphy, a shortstop, went behind home plate and immediately threw out a greedy base runner trying to take advantage of the new catcher. For Murphy, it was a match made in heaven and would soon help him catch the eye of major league scouts.

Born on February 27, 1995, Murphy will turn 22 tomorrow. He graduated from Malden High School in southeast Missouri. A small city of just 4,275, Murphy was a star athlete who earned a scholarship to Southern Illinois University. However, the Braves came calling in the fourth round of the 2013 draft. The Braves had already taken Victor Caratini about 80 picks before Murphy, but were going to try Caratini out at third base, which made Murphy their top catching prospect from the draft by default. Murphy was also an option as a pitcher as he possessed low-90's velocity, but catcher seemed like his calling. Shortly after the draft, they inked the young man to a minor league contract with a $250,000 bonus - about $125K below the slot value.

At the time, Murphy may have been considered a stretch at #133. Ranked #488 in Baseball America's Top 500 rankings before the draft, Murphy fit the bill during the Frank Wren era. Safe, calculated picks that wouldn't demand the world and had pretty decent floors. Murphy's defense was pro-worthy, but could he hit?

After the draft, the 18-year-old headed to Florida to join the Gulf Coast League Braves in Lake Buena Vista. His bat never seemed to catch up, as he managed just 22 hits in 97 AB (.227 average). Only three of those hits went for extra bases - all doubles. He did on-base .313, which is solid enough considering where his average was. He did cut down 42% of potential base stealers (13-of-31). The next season put Murphy on the map a bit as a prospect. He hit just .242 with Danville, but bashed 5 homers in 191 PA. He showed an exceptional understanding of the strikezone with 30 walks, or a 16% walk rate. He did much of his best work over his final 29 games, slashing .292/.389/.438.

His quick rise in prospect status continued the next spring. Braves bullpen coach Eddie Perez took an immediate liking to the country boy from Missouri. "When you look at this kid, you know something good is going to happen," the former long-time personal catcher of Greg Maddux said. It was Murphy's first training camp with the big league club, an award for his strong 2014 campaign. At the time, the Braves were breaking in Christian Bethancourt as their new starter behind the plate and hoped they wouldn't need Murphy for a few years. Former Braves manager Fredi Gonzalez noted, "He's got some talent and he's got some ability...(Catching instructor) Joe Breeden has seen him the most and Joe likes him a lot."

Not only would 2015 be Murphy's first big-league camp, but also his first taste of full-season ball. Former Fangraphs prospect guru Kiley McDaniel ranked Murphy as the #22nd best prospect in an improving system, noting that, "The Braves really like this kid and see a breakout year coming in 2015 at Low-A, praising his makeup, receiving ability, solid average arm, average raw power and flashes of hitting ability and an approach." Murphy headed to Rome to join another catcher picked with a high-round choice the year before Murphy in Bryan De La Rosa. The two shared the position and shared in the misery of an awful season at the plate. In De La Rosa's final season in the system, the former third-rounder hit .205/.277/.322. That's bad, but slightly better than Murphy, who slashed .193/.277/.312. His walk rate dropped 6% while his K-rate spiked 4% to nearly a quarter of all plate appearances. Just 20 years-old, it was the kind of ugly campaign you hope is the strange outlier in an otherwise productive minor league career.

Most of the time, a prospect that has such a down year would get a repeat assignment, but traffic was getting crowded behind Murphy. With 2015 draftees Lucas Herbert and Jonathan Morales joining Rome, Murphy moved up the ladder to the Carolina League. The league is known to favor pitchers, which did not improve Murphy's chances for a big bounceback season. Some of his metrics did improve (12.6% walk rate, 16.5% K-rate), but what Murphy did with his swings were less than thrilling. He hit just .214 with 15 EBH in 334 PA.

But...that's not the complete story. Murphy got off to an epically bad start to open 2016. It was the kind of start that often gets players cut. Over his first 30 games, Murphy had just 12 hits in 100 AB (110 PA). It doesn't take a mathematician to know how bad that is. He wasn't walking, had just one extra base hit, and was K'd a fifth of the time. He started to get some of his power back over his next eleven games and then, on the day before the All-Star Break, his stance was altered to loosen him up at the plate. The results were pretty immediate. He walked twice in his first game with the new stance and hit a homer in his second game. Over his final 48 games, Murphy slashed .288/.412/.390 with 3 homers. No longer pressing, he walked 30 times to 26 K's over his final 182 PA. Murphy's bat, for the first time in two years, was an asset to his team.

As we move into 2017, it doesn't get any easier for Murphy. Mississippi's catching situation seems packed. Kade Scivicque was added to the organization late last year and finished with a cameo in Pearl. Joseph Odom also played 39 games in Mississippi after a callup from Carolina while the Braves added Armando Araiza this offseason. With little room at Triple-A, the Braves could opt to keep Murphy at the High-A level, though how much time is available there is also suspect. The aforementioned Morales and/or Herbert could be moved up the chain - especially with Brett Cumberland coming up from Danville. Further, Alex Jackson is moving to catcher and will demand much of the playing time with whatever A-level squad he starts with. Despite Murphy's strong finish, he could find it difficult to find at-bats once the 2017 season begins. The fact that Scivicque and Odom were non-roster invitees while Murphy wasn't does not bode well, either.

Whatever the case, Murphy is easy to root for. I've linked to a recent interview he did with Talking Chop earlier in this profile and it's an eye opener into the struggles he went through over the last two years and how he kept striving for success. However, the name of the game is production. Murphy will need to get off to a good start to avouid being forgotten in the rapidly improving catcher depth Atlanta now has. If he continues to hit like he did in the second half of 2016, he'll definitely be hard to forget.

Follow Murphy on Twitter @tsmurph14

Braves Top 50 Prospects, 2017 Preseason: #42-#31

Last week, I began my Top 50 prospects and almost immediately, the Atlanta Braves swung a deal for more prospects. So...thanks for that, John Coppolella.

I kid, but the trade forced me to change my Top 50 to a Top 52 as both players acquired jumped right into the list with one appearing in today's portion. To get me back on track, today's part of the list will be supersized to a dozen. Short of another trade, I'll release ten more next week and ten more the following week before splitting the Top 10 into two parts. I also must apologize for this post being so late. I've been sick the last few days and had trouble wrapping my head around this list. 

When I originally did my Top 50 prospect list, I had Kyle Kinman ranked #38. However, I realized he was actually 26 and I like to keep my prospect lists limited to 25-and-under and players designated as a rookie. With that said, I thought his placement was worth a mention. Lastly, please check out Gondeee's Top 30 Braves prospects that he published this week. As usual, it's a valuable read. 

42. Jonathan Morales, Catcher, 22 years-old, Grade: C 

It wasn't the season many had hoped for with Morales. After blitzing the Gulf Coast Lague (.304/.377/.511) the previous year, Morales jumped to Rome in 2016 and saw a 220 point drop in his OPS. Included was a long stretch of 41 games where he hit .151/.241/.212. That month-plus really impacted his numbers, though even if you take those games out, it was still a far cry from his 2015 run after he was a 25th round pick.

Morales has decent pop and won't strike out much. The flipside of that is he's so aggressive that he's unlikely to take many walks. Offensively, the right-handed hitter needs his hit tool to stand out and it simply did not in 2016. Defensively, though scouting reports aren't high on him, he's had solid metrics and has impressively gunned down half of the 106 baserunners that attempted to steal on him. He also played a little third and had a three-inning cameo in right field, though that was likely more for emergencies.

With the depth behind Morales, he'll be pushed up to Florida in the spring and will need a bounceback season. Obviously, by the fact I ranked him so high, I think he's capable of it. While I don't think his ceiling is nearly as high as other catchers in the system, he is part of a much-improved catching depth that was non-existent two years ago.

41. Steve Janas, RHP, 25 years-old, Grade: C 

Holy groundballs! Janas has maintained a groundball rate in the minors of over 55% during his young career. In nearly 300 innings, he's given up just 14 homers. However, what holds back Janas is that he lacks a true pair of plus pitches or the velocity to push him higher on prospect lists. Nevertheless, this is a results-driven business and the results aren't too shabby for Janas.

Though he won't blow you away with heat, he can hit mid-90's. The downside of doing so is that it makes his fastball straight and easy to both see and pound. As a result, he'll sit in the low-90's with his sinker and cutter. He also has a plus changeup and an inconsistent breaking curveball. Janas was a starter until last season when he got pushed to the bullpen. 

His control and ability to generate groundballs will get him looks and his fearlessness on the mound makes him a wild card. However, the lack the stuff and strikeout ability may limit him to Quad-A filler/organizational depth similar to one of his most common comparable pitchers according to Clay Davenport's projection system - Zeke Spruill. Strangely, both righties went to high school in Marietta. Janas will get a look this spring, but with Josh Collmenter already on the team, Janas is likely going to provide long relief/swingman depth behind a talented Gwinnett rotation.

40. Chad Sobotka, RHP, 23 years-old, Grade: C 

Similar to A.J. Minter, the Braves drafted Sobotka in 2014 knowing that he wouldn't pitch until the next season. As opposed to Tommy John surgery like Minter had, Sobotka was coming back from a stress fracture in his back, which put an ugly end to his collegiate career with the University of South Carolina-Upstate.

His 2015 season was limited to just 37 innings and they were rarely good, but the 6'7" righty bounced back in 2016. His numbers with Rome look poor (4.26 ERA, more hits than innings pitched), but the Braves still liked what they were seeing and promoted him to Carolina. In 13 games there, Sobotka finally started to perform with a 2.04 ERA/1.51 FIP over 17.2 innings. He struck out 24 and walked just three - a far cry from the dozen he walked in just 19 innings with Rome to begin the year. By season's end, he had joined Minter in Mississippi for two appearances.

Sobotka's velocity is good, though not great. However, he gets great movement and his two-seamer can get a good number of grounders. His slider has plus-potential and while he has a changeup, he will mostly work off his fastball/slider. Sobotka could be in the majors sometime in 2017, though with just 75.2 innings as a professional, Atlanta might go slow with him. Either way, Sobotka looks like he has a shot to be a solid righty with high-leverage potential.



39. William Contreras, Catcher, 19 years-old, Grade: C+

Over two seasons, Contreras has shown that he could be capable of being a big sleeper in a system with rapidly improving catcher depth. Just 19 years-old, Contreras signed out of Venezuela and made his debut with the 2015 Dominican Summer League team. His triple slash of .314/.370/.413 was solid enough before you consider his age (17) and position.

Contreras moved up to the Gulf Coast League this year, where he shared time with Ricardo Rodriguez (acquired in the Christian Bethancourt trade) and 26th rounder Alan Crowley. His numbers took a bit of a dive to .264/.346/.375. He displays a quick bat and there is some power projection.

Scouts rave about Contreras's defensive ability behind the plate and how he handles pitchers. I like his offensive potential as well. He's the type of player who could easily have a breakout campaign and jump up this list quickly. While he'll be ticketed for a stop in Danville for 2017, I do hope he plays his way up to Rome, which would further cement his prospect potential.

38. Bradley Roney, RHP, 24 years-old, Grade: C+

For three years, Roney has both excited Braves fans with big K numbers and frustrated Braves management because he often doesn't know where his pitches are going. In 67.2 innings last year in the high levels of the minor leagues, Roney struck out 88 - the most strikeouts by a Braves reliever and tied for 15th in the entire system. That strikeout rate was actually down a tad from 2015. Unfortunately, his walk rate continues to be his Achilles' heel.

In 2016, Roney issued 54 unintentional walks - a rate of about seven every nine innings. His strike percentage was about 6% below the league average. You can't survive for long doing that no matter how good his curve is - and it's really good. It's a major league quality pitch, but without pitching ahead in the count more frequently, hitters can let the curve dart below the strikezone.

Last year at this time, we looked at Mauricio Cabrera in much the same way as Roney. Sure, Cabrera had 100 mph heat and some good secondary stuff, but will he throw strikes? Cabrera was a higher rated talent, but Roney can have a similar impact on the major league roster if he can only throw strikes. No better time than 2017 to start.



37. Thomas Burrows, LHP, 22 years-old, Grade: C+

Acquired last week in the Mallex Smith trade, Burrows was the #117 pick of the 2016 draft. Before that, he became the all-time saves leader at the University of Alabama. It's easy to look over Burrows when the Braves also acquired Luiz Gohara in this deal, but Burrows has a good chance to get to the majors - and soon.

Burrows pitched in the short-season Northwest League after he was drafted and blitzed the circuit with 37 strikeouts in 24.2 innings. That comes out to a third of all batters he faced. He gave up a lot of hits, though a .367 BABIP will do that to you. The walk rate wasn't good, but competent enough to help Burrows earn a 2.88 FIP.

Burrows gets good sinking movement from his low-to-mid 90's heater and his slider improved dramatically in 2016. Lefties have a very difficult time even picking up the ball and that will likely continue to be an asset for the southpaw. Whether he can be a full-inning reliever and high-leverage asset will be something to watch as he moves up the ladder.

36. Connor Lien, OF, 23 years-old, Grade: C+

It was not the season many had hoped for Lien in 2016 - least of all the outfielder himself. In 2015, Lien burst onto the scene with a .285/.347/.415 clip in the pitching-friendly Carolina League with 36 extra-base hits and 34 steals. The season was awarded with a trip to the Arizona Fall League, which is where the video below came from

However, an early season hand injury put Lien on the shelf for over two months in 2016. The 22-year-old also struggled when he was in the field, slashing just .233/.320/.408 with a 33% strikeout rate. On the bright side, he continued to display tremendous defense in center field.

Lien possesses good pop and his defense includes an elite arm and great instincts and range. However, his bat still needs a bit more refining. The plus side is that even with his negatives last year, the .175 ISO and 9% walk rate help to put an optimistic spin on the season. He'll likely repeat Mississippi to begin 2017 and try to trend positive once again.

35. Jesse Biddle, LHP, 25 years-old, Grade: C+

After a lost year to Tommy John surgery, Biddle will be given the chance to return and flourish in 2017. A former top prospect for the Phillies who the Braves acquired from the Pirates after the latter tried to sneak him through waivers. 

I recently wrote a scouting report about Biddle so I would rather not spend too much time rehashing it here so here are the highlights. Biddle is a former Top 100 Prospect who struggles with his release point. If he can find more consistency with it, he can get over his fastball and let the pitch work for him. His curveball has exceptional bite and is his best pitch. 

Biddle will have a shot to compete for a spot in the bigs this spring, but I imagine the Braves see 2017 as a year for Biddle to work on things rather than pressure himself with a big league assignment. A decent spring and a bill of health will allow him to begin the year in Gwinnett. If not, he could start a level lower. Regardless, Biddle could be a sneaky-good move by the Braves front office if he's able to rebound.

34. Caleb Dirks, RHP, 23 years-old, Grade: C+

After a year in the Dodgers' system, Dirks returned last year to the organization that spent a 15th round pick on him back in 2014. Not that it has mattered much to Dirks - he continues to dominate opposing hitters every step of the way.

In 143.1 innings, Dirks has a beautiful 1.32 ERA and an FIP under 3.00. He won't put up ridiculous strikeout numbers - especially for this system, but he's been close to a 30% K-rate regardless. What makes Dirk especially good is his control. He had about a 20% difference between his strikeouts and walks - an elite number worth celebrating.

Dirks doesn't have the best stuff and his velocity won't wow anyone, but he knows how to throw his pitches and hits his spots. Last year, that was especially true because about 43% of his pitches came with Dirks ahead in the count. The average is roughly 6-7% lower. Dirks may lack the ceiling of some relieving prospects the Braves have, but as long as he continues to pitch like he has, he'll have his opportunity to impress.

33. Ricardo Sanchez, LHP, 20 years-old, Grade: C+

Year 2 of Ricardo's time with the Braves was much healthier than his 10-start 2015 campaign, but the results remained underwhelming for the teenager who won't turn 20 until April 11. The last fact gives the Braves hope that 2017 will be the year Sanchez begins to scratch the surface of his talent.

Talent and stuff-wise, Sanchez can excite you on a good day with low 90's heat and a very good curveball. His delivery is smooth and he adds a developing changeup that often can make or break him on any given day depending on his feel for the pitch.

Sanchez is trying to put it all together. He's prone to a big inning and can sometimes lose focus. Undersized, Sanchez can resemble a bulldog when in trouble as he tries to get out of jams. He's a competitor and a strong worker - he just needs to be more consistent. It's hard to get noticed in this system if you weren't a #1 pick, but Sanchez has the stuff to be a sleeper in 2017.




32. Lucas Herbert, Catcher, 20 years-old, Grade: C+

Kolby Allard's catcher in high school, Herbert was picked in the second round of the 2015 draft. Many assumed the Braves were hedging their bets in order to keep Allard from going to college rather than signing. However, I thought the Braves really liked what Herbert brought to the table and felt he was worth the pick. To this point, we haven't seen the results to support that contention.

It's early, yes, and Herbert was aggressively moved to Low-A Rome probably before he was ready. As a result, only 12 of the 367 PA he logged last year came against pitchers younger than him. Herbert struggled last year to find the right stance, the right setup with his hands, the right amount of batting gloves. He seems to me like a batter that really needs to rework much of what he does at the plate. If he can find consistency at the plate, his plus power will be a weapon and could be the difference between a starting and backup role in the majors should he get there.

Defensively, Herbert is a tremendous force behind the plate. He's incredibly athletic and shows great footwork along with great instincts at reading the ball. These skills will give him a chance to stick around even if his bat is still lagging behind, but I do hope the Braves show a bit more patience with him. He clearly did not appear ready for Rome and could use a return assignment. However, with so many catchers now in the system, finding at-bats for all of them is becoming a bit more difficult. Still, Herbert's power and defense are worth an extended look.


31. Ray-Patrick Didder, Outfield, 22 years-old, Grade: C+

The converted infielder had spent three years at rookie ball showing a good idea of the strikezone, but not much else. That changed in 2016 when the now center fielder settled into the position with Rome. In nearly 600 plate appearances, Didder posted a .361 wOBA with the aid of a .387 OBP. He added a .107 ISO to go with 37 steals.

One thing that stands out quickly about Didder is that he trusts his hands enough to crowd the plate. Last year, he was hit 39 times, the most in minor league baseball. While he has great speed, he's still developing an eye for when to steal. Defensively, he's a surprisingly rather good there despite being a middle infielder only a few years ago. He has the range to play center with a strong and accurate arm.

Up until this point, Didder has been about league average in age each year. That might change this year as a strong start with the Fire Frogs could get the 22-year-old promoted to Mississippi by summer. Such a move would cement his place as a strong outfield prospect. Either way, if Didder keeps developing like he did last year, the Braves will be very pleased with the Arubian native.

2017 Walk-Off Walk Top 50 Prospects*
5 Looking In (Honorable Mentions)
#52-43

The Walk-Off Walk Top 52 Prospects (to recap)
52. Jon Kennedy
51. Isranel Wilson
50. Yoeli Lopez
49. Carlos Castro
48. Dilmer Mejia
47. Anfernee Seymour
46. Bryse Wilson
45. Kade Scivicque
44. Yunior Severino
43. Abrahan Gutierrez
42. Jonathan Morales
41. Steve Janas
40. Chad Sobotka
39. William Contreras
38. Bradley Roney
37. Thomas Burrows
36. Connor Lien
35. Jesse Biddle
34. Caleb Dirks
33. Ricardo Sanchez
32. Lucas Herbert
31. Ray-Patrick Didder

*Top 50 was increased to Top 52 after a trade.

Yangervis Solarte: Possible Braves Target?

By Keith Allison on Flickr (Originally posted to Flickr as
"San Diego Padres") [CC BY-SA 2.0], via Wikimedia Commons

Fox Sports reporter Ken Rosenthal is reporting that the San Diego Padres "continues to aggressively shop third baseman Yangervis Solarte." If so, you have to imagine that Braves general manager John Coppolella has reached out. And if he hasn't, Coppy, you better get on it.

A three-year veteran, Solarte was a bit of a late bloomer in a sense, but it's also surprising that nobody seemed to understand what they had with him. The Twins let him leave via minor league free agency after 2011 despite hitting .329/.367/.466 at Double-A. They were using him at second-base and in left-field. He caught on with the Rangers and over the next years, excelled at Triple-A, hitting .290/.340/.419. But again, the Rangers said "see ya" after believing Solarte was just a nice Triple-A utility guy. Just 26 years-old, Solarte landed with the Yankees organization and finally, someone thought to give Solarte a shot in the show.

He was brought to the majors in 2014 and hit .254/.337/.381 over 75 games for the Yankees, often at third base. He was part of the July 22, 2014 deal that sent Chase Headley to the Bronx with Solarte replacing him in San Diego. Since that point, he has slashed .275/.330/.428 over 317 games while playing half of his games in a stadium that isn't too fun to play in for hitters. Along the way, he's belted 33 homers and played five positions.

His primary position since coming to the majors has been  third base. The one thing I can say is that he won't win a Gold Glove, nor will he be a glaring defensive weakness. He has a -0.9 UZR/150 in nearly 2400 innings at third base with -7 DRS. He'll make most plays (96.3% of routine plays according to Inside Edge Fielding), but won't make the Web Gems.

Solarte has a bit of flexibility as he has played 390.2 innings at second base (-2.5 UZR/150), 237 innings at first base (-8.3 UZR/150), and a statistically insignificant amount of innings at shortstop and in left field, though he hasn't played the latter two since 2014.

A switch-hitter, Solarte makes his money at the plate. He has increased his ISO from .109 to .158 to .180 since arriving in the majors and while he won't walk much, he does a good job at reaching base enough (.332 OBP in the majors) to excuse that. He doesn't strike out a lot and his wOBA has increased each season from .317 to .324 to .346 last season. Solarte is a bit swing-happy, but has a significantly higher-than-average contact rate and with a career average of about 30% hard-hit rate, that's plenty acceptable.

There does exist some degree of difference between right-side and left-side, as we see in nearly all switch-hitters. When hitting righties, Solarte has a .331 wOBA and 111 wRC+. It's .320 and 104 respectably against lefties. That's not significant, but if the Braves want to find some additional playing time for Sean Rodriguez, they can get him some at-bats against southpaws at third base.

Contract-wise, Solarte is arbitration-eligible for the first time. MLB Trade Rumors suggests he'll earn around $2.7 million in 2017. The Braves would retain control on Solarte through the 2019 season.

The big question remaining is how much Solarte would cost. Even though I am praising him, he is a 29 year-old third baseman who just had his first season of a 2 fWAR or higher. The Padres are trying to trade him, which only works in Atlanta's favor as a team desperately trying to get rid of a player tends to lead to deals advantageous to the team acquiring the player (think Kevin Millwood/Johnny Estrada). The Braves will have to give up a prospect or two here - maybe Rio Ruiz and Akeel Morris or Anfernee Seymour.

The other big question might be is Solarte + whatever he costs in a trade so much better than going with incumbent Adonis Garcia? I believe the answer there is an affirmative. While Garcia did exceed expectations after returning from Gwinnett, Solarte is simply better and I can't imagine Solarte costing the Braves top prospects. If he does, the Braves will likely pass.

Also working in Atlanta's favor is the relationship Coppy and Padres general manager A.J. Preller have had. Since Frank Wren's ousting and Coppy's promotion to John Hart's right-hand man and then General Manager, the Braves and Padres have finalized four trades from the blockbuster (Justin Upton, Craig Kimbrel) to the bland (Christian Bethancourt) to the "do me this favor, will ya?" (Hector Olivera/Matt Kemp). Both are outside-the-box thinkers and both could find a way to make this trade work.

Obviously, Solarte is not a home-run acquisition. But in this week's winter meetings, he could be a nice addition to an offseason where the Braves are seeking incremental improvements while avoiding long-term commitments.

Braves Searching for Catcher Help, but Options are Thin

Tyler Flowers (By Editosaurus (Own work) [CC0],
via Wikimedia Commons)

For so many years, the Braves were absolutely loaded at catcher. Javy Lopez arrived in 1994 and for a dozen years, he was one of the best catchers in baseball. After a brief intermission where Johnny Estrada looked alright, the Braves handed the reigns over to Brian McCann for nine years. Behind the plate, the Braves made other teams green with envy as they tried desperately to find a franchise cornerstone.

It has been another story since McCann's defection to the Bronx after the 2013 season. The Braves handed the job to Evan Gattis, but after a year, Atlanta was ready to move on to a more defensively capable backstop. They went with Christian Bethancourt, but the latter's issues at the plate and work ethic quickly put him in the dog house. Fortunately, A.J. Pierzynski found the fountain of youth to provide some stability at catcher in 2015 after Bethancourt fell on his face. Last year, Atlanta moved on from Bethancourt and added Tyler Flowers. While Pierzynski would stumble, Flowers had his best offensive year. To do so, he apparently sold his soul to do more at the plate because he couldn't throw out anyone trying to steal on Braves' pitchers.

As we pivot toward 2017, the Braves are hopeful to improve this position, but will need to go outside the organization to do so - and even if they do, there's no guarantee they actually will improve.

Before we get there, let's take a look at the farm. The Braves do have some prospects behind the plate and they ought to after using early-round picks on Lucas Herbert and Brett Cumberland the last two years. That doesn't include Jonathan Morales, who was picked nearly 700 picks after Herbert in 2015, and displayed some timely hitting and better-than-advertised defense at times in 2016. Atlanta also acquired Kade Scivicque last season in the Erick Aybar trade and the former 2015 fourth rounder is the closest to the majors. Unfortunately, he's only played three games at Double-A to this point and carries his fair share of questions.

More over, none of the four catchers I just mentioned are better than a C+ grade prospect at this point. Each have potential to be a starter behind the plate in the majors, but none seem too close to realizing that.

So, what do the Braves do? Well, like I said, they do have Flowers for at least another year (plus an affordable option for 2018). They also have a pair of journeyman options on the 40-man roster in Anthony Recker and Tuffy Gosewisch. I touched on Recker during my Player Reviews section. Suffice it to say, I have considerable doubts that he'll slash .278/.394/.433 again. Gosewisch was recently picked off waivers and has a career .199/.237/.286 slash with some average pitch-framing metrics. Recker and Gosewisch are a worst case scenario - what the Braves would be left with if they don't add a better option.

But does that option exist on the free agent market and do they reasonably fit into the picture for the Braves? The market is pretty bare, but there are a few names that could be a possibility.

Jason Castro
Possibly the most desired catcher on the market, Castro has a half-dozen teams after him and the Braves appear to be one of the most interested. The amount of interest says more about how little is available than it does about Castro's playing ability. Outside of one big season in 2013, you aren't getting much offense. His triple slash over the last three years is a paltry .215/.291/.369. It should be said that, as a left-handed hitter, Castro does have traditional splits that can be navigated with the right-hand hitting Flowers. Against lefties over the last three years, Castro has a .197/.252/.291 split. While his marks against righties aren't be too exciting (.221/.305/.398), we are talking about a difference in wOBA of 65 points. Also, while we are talking about possible highlights of Castro's game, his defense is outstanding. During the same time frame I just brought up, Castro has the 19th best catcher fWAR almost entirely due to his defense. He also calls a great game and "steals" strikes (catcher RAA of 9, 12.9, 12.8 last three years). That last number ranked fifth last year - right behind Flowers.

There is an issue, however. Remember those handful of teams also chasing Castro? That has a tendency to inflate his salary. How much do you want to pay a guy with a three-year fWAR of 4.2? If you want a reference, Flowers had a three-year fWAR of 2.0 when he hit free agency last winter and the Braves promised at least $5.3M over two years with additional incentives and an option year that could increase the value of the deal (without incentives) to $9M. I'd like to tell you that you could simply double that and promise a third year (3 years, $18M), but that seems difficult to imagine. MLB Trade Rumors predicted, while heading to the White Sox, that Castro would get 2 years, $15M. Let's say the market demands that Castro receive at least 3 years and $22M. Is that too much? How about $28M? Where do the Braves put a cut-off line where adding Castro no longer makes financial sense, even if he does provide considerable value? Castro and Flowers are a fine tandem of catchers who both had a 1.1 fWAR last year. If you put the two together, you get a Salvador Perez (2.2 fWAR) from this year. That's not too shabby provided the price is right.

Nick Hundley
He's a veteran of 746 major league games and I still want to call him Todd. Because Nick's offensive numbers improved a good deal once he came to Coors Field, you might be tempted to pass Hundley off as a product of location and there is some validity to that, but he actually sported better numbers on the road than at home last year (110 wRC+ compared to 55).

A bigger question for me is how Hundley makes sense. Another right-handed catcher, Hundley has a better track record at the plate than Flowers, but not enough to be significantly more valuable. Further, his pitch framing metrics are poor and he only caught 9-of-68 people trying to steal last year. Hundley received $6.2M over two years to head to Denver. Seems unlikely he'll receive less to come to Atlanta and that's a hefty price for a guy who probably shouldn't play over Flowers.

Chris Iannetta
Need a one year option? Consider Iannetta. His game has fallen off the cliff over the last two years, he'll be 34 a week into the season next year, he doesn't have good pitch framing metrics, is a right-handed batter, and...

Actually, you know what. Best not to consider Iannetta too much at this point. He does have good walk numbers and is just two years removed from a .252/.373/.392 slash with a 3 fWAR. Of course, at his age, two years ago for a catcher could be a big deal.

Wilson Ramos
Few options are as boom or bust as Ramos. He was in the midst of a breakout season for the nationals before tearing his ACL. It was his first plus year offensively and was worth slightly more fWAR than the previous three years combined. Before we consider the injury, can he repeat that success? While a 21.4 HR/FB is suspect, Ramos has always carried some high HR/FB numbers as a product of a very high groundball rate. One thing that he did more of last year was to pull the ball more and hit it harder - two very repeatable things. He also showed maturity as a hitter and swung less at pitches out of the zone (along with swinging less in general). This made him less likely to swing himself into bad counts. It should also be said that while Ramos was a rookie back in 2011, he lost significant parts of the next three years due to injury so his development was delayed.

But that's the thing. Last year was the second time in his career that he reached 500 PA. This is actually an issue that has plagued him going back to his minor league days. Can the Braves really go all in on a guy who, while the youngest option on the market, might also be the riskiest? He might be able to play by early summer so that's a plus and while not a gifted pitch framer, he's adequate and if he repeats his offense, his pitch framing numbers aren't quite as important. Personally, I would pass unless his demands came down and he was willing to agree to a contract that protected the team from getting burned by future occurrences of injuries.

Wilin Rosario
Desperate for an option and unwilling to spend big money? Consider Rosario, who hit .321/.367/.593 in Korea last year. Of course, Korea is like a video game on steroids as far as offensive numbers go. There is another issue - he might not be a catcher anymore and might demand a major league deal to leave Asia, where his power is a big deal.

Worth a shot, right? No bad one-year deals, right?

Jarrod Saltalamacchia
Actually, no. If he was a plus defensively, sure, but he's not really that either. Salty has just one season of a 2 or better fWAR and that was in 2013. He hasn't rated positively in pitch framing since 2012. Historically, Saltalamacchia resembles a league average bar against righties, which could make him a platoon option. However, his three-year sample shows a disappearance of a platoon split. At this point, Salty is unlikely to be better than Recker or Gosewisch - just more expensive.

Matt Wieters
Okay, so we all know this story by now. After starring at Georgia Tech, Wieters was the fifth overall pick of the 2007 draft and destined for big things. He was well on his way, though his bat never really looked like much more than league average when injuries wiped out most of his 2014 and 2015 seasons. He returned for 124 games last year and slashed .243/.302/.409. His defense remains a mixed bag. While still good, it's no longer elite and his pitch framing, which was never great, has been below average since 2013.

Unlike last year, the Orioles passed on extending Wieters a qualifying offer, which makes his pathway to Atlanta a little easier to see. MLB Trade Rumors even predicted that Wieters would land with the Braves at an average annual value of $13M a season over three years. Are the Braves that interested? According to Mark Bowman, probably not, but you have to imagine that if Castro's asking price gets too high or he signs elsewhere, they will re-evaluate their position with the remaining top free agent catchers. I find Wieters to be fairly underwhelming, but if his price tag falls, I could be interested.

That's the free agent market - such as it is. Of course, there is also a trade market that could be tempting to try out.

Oakland's Stephen Vogt will likely be discussed and he definitely is an interesting option after finishing off a three-year run where he posted a 5.5 fWAR for the A's. The two-time All-Star is arbitration-eligible for the first time and just turned 32. The Braves could call Arizona about Welington Castillo or Chicago about Miguel Montero, though each would be in their walk year and in Montero's case, $14M is a hefty price for a 33 year-old catcher who hit .216/.327/.357 last year.

There are no real great choices. You can stand pat and hope that Flowers, who posted a wOBA 35 points higher than his career average, was a late bloomer. You can try to catch lightening in a bottle with a one year pact or trade for a 2017 free agent like Montero. You can spend possibly too much money on a multi-year deal for a catcher with clear flaws that are unlikely to go away.

If it were me, Castro would be the only real target (short of the A's selling Vogt short). If Castro gets too expensive, I would stay in contact with Wieters and Ramos and hope that a shallow market brings their price tag down. Either way, it might be best to get used to the idea that Tyler Flowers has a good shot of starting behind the plate when the Braves open the 2017 season in Flushing on April 3.

2016 Player Reviews: Jim Johnson, Casey Kelly, Matt Kemp

The Braves have already signed their first free agent, which means it's a good time to unveil this year's minor league free agent portal. As I did last year, I will try to track down all offseason minor league free agent signings and, in many cases, provide some analysis. Last year's crop of players included Jhoulys Chacin, Chase d'Arnaud, and even Blake Lalli - who rejoined the Braves yesterday after briefly becoming a free agent. One new thing for this year's list is that I will try to add in those players that have left the system.

Let's get to today's player reviews. Did you miss the last edition? I got your back. Want to catch up on all of the series? I have you covered as well.

*Ages reflect the player's age on opening day, 2017

By Keith Allison on Flickr (Original version) UCinternational
(Crop) [CC BY-SA 2.0], via Wikimedia Commons

Jim Johnson, RHP, 33 years-old

2016 Review: For all the criticisms that rightly and unjustly have been attributed to Roger McDowell, one thing that cannot be ignored is the magic he could do with veterans like Johnson. After returning to the Braves, where he looked effective in 2015 before a midseason move to the Dodgers, Johnson arguably had his best season. Granted, 20 saves doesn't look as fancy as back-to-back 50-save years, but he set new career-best totals for strikeout percentage (26%) and FIP (2.71). He also lowered his HR/FB rate under 10% for the first time in four years. He continued to practically scrap his changeup in favor of a four-seamer to keep batters off-balance from keying in on his sinker. One big change in pitch-selection this year was that he began to use his curveball nearly 25% of the time, an increase of about 10% over his career. None of his pitches generate more whiffs per swing, which is a big reason for such an increase in strikeouts.

2017 Projection: Can he repeat his success without McDowell? The Braves put a $10 million bet on that happening when they extended his contract through 2018 and why not? He has been given a base from which to excel regardless of the pitching coach. 2017 and 2018 will be his Age-34 and Age-35 years so regression is certainly possible - though Johnson has been remarkably durable with 60 or more games in five-of-the-last-six seasons with only one trip to the DL since 2011 (non-arm related). The Braves have done well to keep Johnson in the fold and Johnson surely has enjoyed his career resurgence in Atlanta.

Casey Kelly, RHP, 27 years-old

2016 Review: Acquired last December for Christian Bethancourt, Kelly was part of a trio of pitchers - along with Ryan Weber and John Gant - who seemed to handle the role of long-man out of the pen. Once they threw a few innings in a game, they'd cycle back to Gwinnett in exchange for a fresher arm and rinse-and-repeat. Kelly was optioned to the minors four different times during the season While in the minors, he received the first extended look at Triple-A during his eight-year career. It was fairly meh (stats term) as far as results go. His 3.53 ERA was helped by a .266 BABIP. His major league results over 21.2 innings were pretty ugly as his inability to get many swings-and-misses becomes a real problem against major league batters.

2017 Projection: It's been three years since Kelly last showed up on Top 100 prospect lists and at his age, he won't again be in contention for a spot. Kelly's problem is that after a 2013 Tommy John surgery, his strikeout numbers have never rebounded and his control has gone from merely good rather than impeccable as it was when he climbed the minor league ladder. That's not to say all hope is lost, but Kelly is a guy who throws 90 mph, gets a decent amount of groundballs, and doesn't have the stuff to bear down and get strikeouts when needed. Those type of pitchers are a dime a dozen. While Kelly still has an option left and provides depth, he needs to develop an out-pitch and quickly to start ascending the depth chart rather than get passed by higher-ceiling prospects as they mature.

Matt Kemp, LF, 32 years-old

2016 Review: While the trade of Hector Olivera to the Padres in exchange for Kemp was all about saving face, it turned into a game-changer for an offense without much power. Despite playing for the Braves for just two months, Kemp finished fourth on the team in homeruns with a dozen dingers. The big finish gave him 35 homeruns overall - his best single-season total since 39 to lead the NL in 2011. All in all, he hit .280/.336/.519 as a Brave. Included in this offensive improvement was a 5% increase in walk rate from his time with the Padres. While it's a far cry from the Dodger All-Star years, a 120 wRC+ and .354 wOBA as a Brave is nothing to scoff at.

2017 Projection: At just 32, Kemp likely has some more productive years left in him. We'll get to his issues in a second, but dive into his ratios at the plate and you see one positive common theme - nothing he did during two months with the Braves was out-of-character for him compared to other times in his career. That's not to say he can sustain that production over a full season, but he was essentially playing to his career averages in wRC+ and wOBA. That's promising and if he's able to get in better shape, as both the team and Kemp have indicated he needs to do, there is a pretty good chance that Kemp can be an asset at the plate. In the field, that's another question. The Padres moved him away from center field - which badly needed to happen - and now the Braves are counting on him in left. Despite a less physically taxing position, the results were miserable and you would be hard pressed to find an outfielder with worse defensive metrics than Kemp since 2014. In fact, it's not even close. Kemp owns a -20.5 UZR/150 over the last three years. Dayan Viciedo (who hasn't played in the majors for two years) and Shin-Soo Choo are the only outfielders with more than -9 UZR/150 and neither come close to Kemp. This a real problem and not just a stat nerd one. If Kemp cannot improve his defense from epically bad to fairly bad (yes, that's the scale I'm using here), his value is considerably muted. You can't hide a player like Kemp in the NL and that's why the Braves traded Evan Gattis. For the time being, they are saddled with Kemp moving forward. Here's hoping his defense improves just a bit more because the bat has a chance to be a big asset for a Braves team that could make some noise for a playoff spot in 2017.

Full Analysis on the Braves Cuts Today

Saturday appears to be cut day for the Atlanta Braves. Last Saturday, the big takeaways were David Carpenter and Ryan Kelly being released from the organization. Today, a few releases and a number of players being optioned or reassigned. If you are unsure about the difference, if a player is on the 40-man roster, he must be optioned to the minors. Reassigned is the technical number for minor league free agents that are being sent to the minor league camp. Where they ultimately start the season will be decided later. All told, 14 players were cut from the major league camp and 49 players remain from the 70 that opened camp.

Released:
Kyle Kendrick - Many of us groaned when Kendrick's signing was announced last New Year's Eve. He was coming off an ugly season with the Rockies and had been average or worse during his entire career. Adding another sinker baller who gives up too many homeruns was not exactly awe-inspiring. Fortunately, Kendrick looked awful in two starts to open his camp run. Meanwhile, Jhoulys Chacin, who was signed shortly before Kendrick, has looked pretty good. Kendrick's release doesn't make Chacin a lock to make the roster, but it certainly helped his case.

Chris Volstad - Signed shortly after the 2015 season concluded for the Braves, Volstad was a long shot even before the additions of Kendrick and Chacin (let alone the other players acquired this offseason). He looked destined for a trip to AAA, but he pitched just as poorly as Kendrick. Actually, he was worse considering Kendrick was starting the games so he was facing more major league regulars. With so many pitchers in-house, Volstad pitched his way out of the organization.

Optioned to Gwinnett:
Danny Burawa - One of the ex-Yanks acquired by the organization after adding Gordon Blakely in October of 2014, Burawa appeared in a dozen games with the Braves (and one awful one with the Yankees) last season. He had decent control at the beginning of his career, but it has regressed since injuries wiped out nearly his entire 2012 season. He has flashed strikeout potential, though his numbers fell a bit last season. Already 27, his window is rapidly closing.

Daniel Castro - Unlike the three names I've gone over so far, Castro actually looked decent this spring, but the numbers were against him. He stole some time at second base last year against lefties to shield the struggling Jace Peterson, but offseason acquisitions made him an afterthought. He'll remain in the "first person up" slot until better prospects overtake him for that, too. Castro's best chance at getting back to the majors in the short-term future is an injury/trade of Erick Aybar. He's fairly smooth in the field, but just doesn't have the bat to stick.

Tyrell Jenkins - About the time Jenkins was optioned, he tweeted, "trust the process, embrace the struggle, and keep pushing!" Jenkins was a bit of an early camp name as he impressed the coaches with some mechanical adjustments. He only helped his stock in camp, but he started below a lot of names and just didn't have the time to push his way up the depth chart. He pitched well last year and will have a shot to build on his success. If he can improve his K/BB numbers, he'll be in the majors very soon. He won't turn 24 until July.

Casey Kelly - Acquired in the Christian Bethancourt trade, Kelly has logged 40.1 innings in the majors since 2012 with little success. As recently as 2013, he was a perennial Top 100 prospect, but injuries and poor play have limited him to 196 innings since the end of 2011. Braves are taking a chance on Kelly and despite making his debut in 2012, this is only his second option year. What will be interesting to see as the Gwinnett season opens is if Kelly will be used as a starter or reliever. San Diego began to convert him to the latter last year.

Optioned to Mississippi:
Mauricio Cabrera - He's been the "talk of the camp" in back-to-back springs with his triple-digit velocity, but the same old story remains. Can he throw his pitches for strikes? Five years into his minor league career, we have rarely seen him do that. This is only his Age-22 season and the Braves made the wise decision to shift him to the pen full time last year. As always, he'll be fun to watch, but until the results begin to even come close to the potential, he'll be stuck in neutral.

Reassigned:
Chase d'Arnaud - When he signed around Thanksgiving, the chances of making the Braves were much better, but free agent signings since then have killed whatever hope d'Arnaud had of making this roster. He'll now try to hang on at AAA and hope some bad luck for others gets him back to the majors, where he holds a career .225 wOBA in 175 PA with a -0.6 fWAR.

Chris Ellis - Considered a bit more polished that the higher ranked prospect he was acquired with in the Andrelton Simmons trade, Ellis looked solid in A+ ball last year, but fell apart after a midseason promotion to AA-Arkansas. While Ellis has a more polish in that he shows a decent idea on how to get the ball into the strikezone, he seems to struggle with keeping his mechanics straight on the mound along with just having a feel for the moment. If he is able do that, he could max out as a bottom-of-the-rotation arm or decent reliever.

Nate Freiman - A Rule 5 guy in 2013, Freiman showed a decent hit tool that season with little power. He followed that up by showing decent power, but no hit tool in '14. Last year, he was stuck in AAA and continued to decline across the board. Freiman flashed some good power and on-base skills back in the day, but he's an AAAA bat at this point and maybe not even that. With few players pushing for time at first base in AAA, Freiman looks like he'll get some good playing time if he hits at all.

David Holmberg - He's been in the majors each of the last three years and this is the progression of his FIP - 5.48, 7.57, 8.60. In his defense, that only comes out to 62 total innings, but that's still damn awful. He's been used as a starter primarily and could be in line for that at Gwinnett, though it wouldn't surprise me to see him in AA for depth reasons.

Sean Newcomb - Often ranked as high as #2 in the Braves system, Newcomb has all the potential in the world to be a frontline starter. He could fail to reach that and still become a dynamite reliever. His velocity comes from a low-energy delivery which could bold well for his future. But he can't depend on his heater as he advances and needs his secondary pitches to become better. How much advancement comes with those pitches will decide just how good Newcomb becomes.

Rio Ruiz - Other prospects had a better spring so far, but Ruiz showed off a confident swing and caught some eyes. That's important for a player that took a step backwards in 2015 after his wOBA fell 50 points. Ruiz definitely has a fan in the organization in the form of Kiley McDaniel, who ranked him #43rd in his Top 100 heading into 2015, and has since taken a position with the Braves. Ruiz has the skillset to stay at third base and if his bat rounds into his form, he could develop into a Kyle Seager type who trades a little of the power for better walk rates. While much of the Third Baseman of the Future hype is attached to Austin Riley - and deservedly so - Ruiz is closer and can take the position if he turns the corner.

Madison Younginer - He was brought in for depth and has been pretty decent-to-average during his minor league career. He's only throw 3.2 innings above AA so a decent run at AAA is needed for the 25 year-old first. He has very good sinking movement on his pitches and can be tough to elevate the ball against. If he can find success at AAA, he'll be in the same camp as some of the guys who got bullpen looks for the Braves last year. If he gets a look, he'll have to take advantage of it, though.

Returning Minor League Players

Most of these are old signings, but I'm just now getting around to it. Here is a list of players that were re-signed to minor league contracts for 2016.

Matt Kennelly - An Aussie who has been a fixture in the offseason with the Perth Heat of the Australian Baseball League with brothers Tim and Sam, Matt has been in the system since 2007 save for a few months when the Reds picked him up in 2013. Along the way, he has served as a backup for both Evan Gattis and Christian Bethancourt, but has appeared in 41 games at AAA. Like many catchers, Kennelly has turned into a well-liked organizational guy who gets looks each spring as the team needs more catchers for spring training. Last year, Kennelly hit .217/.306/.252 while mostly playing for Mississippi, a team he first played for back in 2011.

Sean Kazmar - Over the last three years, Kazmar has been a decent enough bat for Gwinnett who is capable of playing all over the infield. Last year, he hit .280 with 3 HR and a .314 OBP. A veteran of 12 minor league seasons since the Padres picked him in the 5th round of the '04 draft, Kazmar spent 19 games in the majors with San Diego in 2008, but has not made it back since. He's simply a veteran who provides depth until younger, more impressive players push him out of a job.

Emerson Landoni - A member of the system since 2012, Landoni actually made his debut with the shared squad of the Tigers and Marlins in 2006 and spent four more years in the Yankees organization before coming to the Braves. He's played for Mississippi in each of the last four years, but is coming off his best season at .297/.339/.380. He has spent most of his career up the middle between 2B and SS, but has also played 1B, 3B, and a little LF. Like Kazmar, Landoni's value appears rooted in defense, flexibility, and being a good organizational guy. Depending on how the roster looks, Landoni might be stuck at Mississippi yet again.

Ryan Lavarnway - Unlike everyone else on this list, Lavarnway spent a chunk of 2015 in the majors and has appeared in 134 games over the last five years in the bigs. He was a decent prospect in the Red Sox organization after being plucked from Yale in 2008, but has never shaken the perception that he doesn't have the glove behind the plate to be more than an adequate backup at best. After Boston let him go following 2014, the O's got first crack at him, but cut him in May. The Braves quickly swooped in and after a couple of weeks raking at Gwinnett, he was called up to replace Bethancourt. He really didn't get much of a look, starting just 17 games in the majors, including just three games after Bethancourt rejoined the Braves for September. Overall, he hit .227/.311/.394 with the Braves with 2 HR. Right now, he seems like the top target to fill in if either A.J. Pierzynski or Tyler Flowers gets hurt this spring. Barring that, he seems set for a trip to Gwinnett pending any kind of opt-out as part of his deal.

Andy Otero - The southpaw is the youngest player of this group at 23. It took him a long time just to get to A ball after spending five years in rookie ball. One season was completely lost to injury and two others were almost complete losses (14 innings combined). Finally, in 2014, Otero moved up to Rome and pitched 55 innings out of the pen with over a K an inning. Last year, he upped that total to 59.1 ING with 2 starts, a 1.25 WHIP, and 8 K/9 compared to 2.4 BB/9. He gets downward movement on his pitches, which keeps the ball in the yard, and has solid control. The downside is that he gives up a lot of hits. Has reverse splits so far so his totals look better against righties than lefties.

Braeden Schlehuber - A waste of a 4th round pick, Schlehuber has still remained a part of the picture for the Atlanta Braves since 2008. A career .218 hitter, Schlehuber is known for his defense and finally got to AAA last year for 39 games. His situation is not too dissimilar to Kennelly - catchers who have a good rapport with the pitchers of the organization and are brought to spring training each year before a demotion to the minor league camp. Unless another catcher is added, Schlehuber and Kennelly will likely compete to join Lavarnway in Gwinnett to begin 2016, but the two are completely interchangeable.

And that's all for this list. Outside of Lavarnway, none of the names will likely be in the mixture for major league at-bats in 2016 and Lavarnway needs injury to even get into the discussion. However, in most cases, it tells us how well-liked these players are by minor league personal for what intangibles they bring to the clubhouse. It shouldn't surprise any to see a guy like Kennelly or Schlehuber transition into a coaching position once their careers come to a close.

For more on minor league free agents signed by the Braves for 2016, click here.

Reviewing Hart's Trades: Hale for Briceno

The Braves have been active in John Hart's first season at the helm to the tune of SIXTEEN TRADES! Sixteen deals involving major league talent going one direction or in both. Sixteen deals that include over 50 different players, a few draft picks, lots of cash, and two Uptons. It's been friggin unreal to see what the Braves have done.

With most of the season in our rear view, it's time to start reviewing each one of these trades. This series is going take a little while to get through, but hey, it gives me something to write about.

Trades Already Reviewed
La Stella for Vizcaino
Heyward/Walden for Miller/Jenkins
Varvaro for Kurcz
J. Upton for Jace Peterson and prospects
Carp/Shreve for Banulos
Kubitza/Hyatt for Sanchez
Gattis for Foltynewicz and Ruiz

The Trade
David Hale and Gus Schlosser to the Rockies for Jose Briceno and Chris O'Dowd. I discussed this deal here at WalkOffWalk.net and here at About.com.

The Rationale

Mitchell Layton | Getty

Was my hatred of David Hale rational? Absolutely not. It wasn't even Hale's fault - it was Twitter. Several people wanted more and more of Hale, and forgive me, but hell no. He was a non prospect who had a couple of good starts, but very little else. He wasn't the next Kris Medlen or Brandon Beachy - pitchers who came out of nowhere and became productive Braves. He was just a guy who wasn't terrible, but not good. He was decently able in the Cristhian Martinez role to handle long relief so he had some value. Well, not much according to Fangraphs who graded his 2014 production as a -0.1 WAR season. But hey, it's difficult to get much saber love when you carry a 1.3% strikeout-to-walk percentage.

The Braves saw an opportunity to smartly cash in on Hale's 3.30 ERA. He wasn't likely to maintain it beyond 2014. After all, 1.47 WHIPs typically don't pave the road for a pitcher to be successful.

Schlosser had a fun 2014. A 17th rounder in 2011, Schlosser rocketed to the majors because his 3/4's delivery helped him keep the ball down. After being a surprise in spring training, Schlosser appeared in the first game of 2014 and pitched a perfect 1.2 ING despite only facing four batters (a double play wiped out an inherited runner). He wasn't very good for the remainder of April, though he did have an eventful 4/20. Not in that way. I don't think. Anyway, after Hale had given up three runs in six innings, the Braves and Mets played into the 11th when Schlosser came on. In the 14th inning, he singled in his first and, to this date, only plate appearance. He was forced out on a double play. The following inning, a walk, bunt, intentional walk, and wild pitch set up Curtis Granderson to bring home the walk-off runner via a sacrifice fly. Schlosser would be demoted after two more appearances. He appeared in a double header on June 28, but otherwise, was kept in Gwinnett for most of 2014 until a September callup. He was cut after the season, but re-signed.

Hardly a pair of hot prospects, but the Rockies always need able arms and both had major league experience and in Hale's case, he wasn't terrible. Meanwhile, as a common theme, the Braves were willing to surrender major league depth in exchange for a higher end prospect. That came in the form of Jose Briceno. Colorado was rich in catching prospects with Tom Murphy rounding back into form after missing most of 2014. On his heels was Dom Nunez, a guy the Rockies moved to catcher in '14. If that wasn't enough, Ryan Casteel had just come off a 16-HR campaign in AA. Briceno was an interesting prospect, but hardly a big loss for this system. His value to the Braves was much higher as they looked for options while hoping Christian Bethancourt excelled.

Adding a heady player like Chris O'Dowd was both smart and a favor to the Rockies. O'Dowd was much like Kyle Wren - a son of the team's former GM. He wasn't much of a prospect, though he had great speed for a catcher and had made it to AA in 2014. He was organizational filler, but catchers are always needed.

Short-Term Results
The trade, much like the Ricardo Sanchez trade I profiled, is a Mulligan for both sides. For the Rockies, Schlosser washed out and was eventually released. He would later sign with the Somerset Patriots in the Atlantic League and finished the year with 19 innings and a weak 1.42 WHIP for them, though it was an improvement over his AA numbers in the Eastern League.

Meanwhile, Hale missed the early part of the year with injury before making sporadic starts in late May and June for the Rockies. He split time between the rotation and bullpen after that to odd results. After being Groundball McSqueezy who couldn't strikeout anyone with the Braves, he upped his K rate to 7 per nine and his GB% saw a 9% decline. The latter led to 9 more homers in 2015 than he gave up in 2014 despite pitching 9 innings less. Lots of 9's in this comparison. Of course, Turner Field's a bit more forgiving than Coors Field.

As for the Braves, they hardly got much out of the deal this season either. Briceno came to the Braves after hitting .278 during 110 games with Asheville between 2013-14 with 13 HR and a .780 OPS. While still raw behind the plate, scouts raved over his arm and bat. If his receiving skills increased, he could be a B-grade prospect and a potential alternative to Bethancourt. It didn't work that way as Briceno struggled from Day 1. His .183/.215/.267 slash over 327 plate appearances was woeful. When you add the 11 double plays, Briceno was responsible for 268 outs. That comes out to about three a game. Jeff Francoeur thinks that's bad.

Meanwhile, O'Dowd had a strong month-plus sharing time with minor league Rule 5 pick Steve Rodriguez before being busted in June for PEDs. He had been hitting .304 with a .429 OBP before being placed on the inactive list pending his eventual suspension. He would miss the remainder of the season and by my math, still has a couple of games left on his suspension before being cleared to begin the 2016 season.

Long-Term Outlook
Still, despite the O'Dowd suspension and Briceno's struggles, I remain convinced that this was a good move. At the end of it all, getting the higher end prospect for depth guys is always the way to go. Neither Hale nor Schlosser are guys you need to keep unless you need some help with your investments (here's more on that). Briceno has the best shot to be a productive major league player so you take a chance.

With that said, Briceno is only the top catching prospect in the Braves' system because there are so few alternatives as I discussed in my recent look at the Evan Gattis trade. After a likely return to Carolina, Briceno will need to produce in a hurry to solidify his claim as the top catching prospect.

As for Hale and Schlosser. Well, the later was released. Hale remains with the Rockies, but the Rockies have some interesting righties like Jon Gray and Eddie Butler who have a much better chance of playing a role for future Rockies' clubs. Hale, like he was for the Braves, is depth for both the rotation and pen. He gives you an option that wasn't as good as his 3.30 ERA with the Braves in 2014, but also not as bad as his 6.09 ERA last season. That's not enough to keep him in your plans, but you can always do worse.

Hey, look at that. I ended on a compliment.