Thursday Throwback - Reed Johnson

Sometimes, moves just don't pan out like they ought to. That was the case of the 2012 midseason trade that sent Reed Johnson, along with Paul Maholm, to the Braves. The trade was born out of a move that didn't happen and ultimately, failed to deliver despite looking like a good deal on paper for Frank Wren. Even when Wren made the right move, it just didn't seem to work.

But long before that trade, Reed Johnson was born a few weeks before Christmas in 1976. A product of Riverside, California, Johnson was a star in both baseball and soccer in high school. His success there landed him a coveted scholarship opportunity with Cal-State Fullerton, where he was an Academic All-American and posted strong offensive numbers as a catalyst for the Titans' offense. Undrafted out of high school, Johnson played well enough during his college years to move into the 17th round of the draft, which is where the Blue Jays took him. The '99 draft wasn't very good for the Jays. They took Alex Rios with their first round pick and he did develop into a decent player, but only three other players made it to the majors, including Johnson, the second-best player taken that year by Toronto.

After a summer of adjusting to pro ball, Johnson became an overnight prospect in 2000. He spent the year at two different A-ball stops and slashed .298/.420/.479, flashing plus-plus plate discipline and enough power and speed to be a very intriguing prospect. In 2001, this time at Double-A, Johnson became a name to watch. Spending the year with the Tennessee Smokies, Johnson slashed .314/.384/.451. The walk total was a bit of a letdown, but Johnson filled out his baseball card with 29 doubles, four triples, 13 homers, and 42 steals. The Southern League All-Star looked like he was a great late-round find for the Blue Jays and a player that could help them very soon.

After missing most of 2002 with injury, Johnson worked his way into the picture for the big league club in 2003. After opening the year in the minors, Johnson would soon establish himself as a major league performer with a strong summer. In 114 games in the majors, Johnson hit .294 with 10 homers and a .353 on-base percentage. The Jays had opened the year with super sub Frank Catalanotto in right field, but an injury to Shannon Stewart opened left for Catalanotto and allowed Johnson to slide into right field. Bobby Kielty would later join the team, cutting into Johnson's playing time, but Johnson proved his worth by being the Blue Jays' most used leadoff hitter.

For the next two years, Johnson was the regular left fielder for the Jays and was unspectacular in his job before a breakout 2006 campaign saw Johnson hit .319/.390/.479 with 12 homers. He led the AL in getting hit by a pitch that season as well. However, his success was short-lived. During an injury-marred 2007 season, he hit just .236 over 79 games. Johnson struggled the next spring as well and with the Jays feeling a roster crush, Toronto surprisingly released Johnson as spring training was nearing its end. The five-year pro would not remain available for long as he landed with the Cubs. A bench bat and platoon player, Johnson was a perfect fit in Chicago. He OPS'd .778 his first season with the Cubbies before slashing .255/.330/.412 during an injury-shortened 2009 season.

Johnson took his talents out west and played for the Dodgers in 2010, which wasn't much of a trip from the city he was born (Riverside). He struggled with in Los Angeles, though, and lasted just one year before returning to the Cubs in 2011. Like he had never left, his success returned.

That brings us to the 2012 season. The Cubs were in the first year of their rebuild under Theo Epstein. The former Red Sox mastermind had just hired Jed Hoyer to be their General Manager. That season, the Cubs were breaking in young Anthony Rizzo at first base (who, interestingly enough, Hoyer had dealt to the Cubs as the Padres' GM) and Chicago was trying to add young talent to the mix to build what eventually would become a winner. Meanwhile, the Atlanta Braves were trying to get back to the playoffs after their 2011 collapse during then-manager Fredi Gonzalez's first year at the helm. The Cubs and Braves seemed like a perfect match and a week before the trading deadline, a deal seemed imminent. However, neither Johnson, nor lefthander Paul Maholm, were part of it.

Atlanta was desperate to add a starter to their team that they could count on. With Jair Jurrjens looking like a lost cause, the Braves had turned to Ben Sheets. 25 year-old Tommy Hanson was struggling and Brandon Beachy, also 25, had made just 13 starts before going down with injury. They still had Tim Hudson while Mike Minor was improving, as a team with playoff aspirations, Atlanta did not have the kind of rotation that would be able to compete against the big boys of the National League. Atlanta thought they had found their man in Ryan Dempster. The former closer had been excellent to begin 2012 with a 2.11 ERA through his first 15 starts. While Dempster wasn't an ace, he was the kind of bulldog starter that gave his manager and general manager a bit more confidence than hoping Sheets could make it through the summer or that Hanson could turn the corner.

Wren and Hoyer found the right mix of players that would make the deal happen. Atlanta would send young Randall Delgado to the Cubs, which would finally separate the four pitchers of the future (Minor, Delgado, Julio Teheran, and Arodys Vizcaino). Another prospect would head to Chicago as well and the Braves would get Dempster. One little problem, though. With over 14 years of experience, including eight full seasons with the Cubs, Dempster qualified as a 10-5 player and could nix any deal. Dempster was open to a trade, but preferred to head out west where he could join his good buddy Ted Lilly and the Dodgers. While Dempster weighed his options - and definitely held out hope for a move to the Dodgers - the Braves grew agitated. All the perimeters were agreed upon and the deal had been leaked out to the public. Wren set a deadline for Dempster, but the right-hander refused to make a decision as he held out hope Los Angeles would step up. Atlanta ultimately took themselves out of the process rather than watch Dempster play the part of the girl with a date to the Prom all lined up, but is still hoping to go with the high school quarterback rather than the dude that actually wants to be with her. Not that I know anything about that...

The Braves still wanted a pitcher, but could not find a Dempster-like arm on the trade market. Instead, they called Hoyer up and asked about Maholm. A long time Pirate, Maholm had joined the Cubs the previous offseason and he was also having a good season. Not a great one like Dempster, but would give the Braves a serviceable left-hand arm for their rotation. Meanwhile, the Braves did find their front-of-the-rotation arm by moving Kris Medlen into the rotation.  Coming along for the ride with Maholm and some bags of cash was Johnson. The Braves were stacked in the outfield with rookie Jason Heyward joining Michael Bourn and Martin Prado, but the prospect of adding a right-handed bat like Johnson to pair with Eric Hinske coming off the bench was a great fit. The Braves still broke up their four previously untouchable arms by sending Arodys Vizcaino to the Cubs in the deal along with reliever Jaye Chapman. Vizcaino was on the mend after having Tommy John surgery that spring.

Johnson got into 43 games down the stretch for the Braves and hit .270. He would get fairly regular time with Prado moving all over the field and helped to give the Braves their first real backup option to Bourn during the 2012 season. Both Prado and Bourn would be gone the next winter and would be replaced by Justin and Melvin "B.J" Upton Jr. Johnson, a free agent, liked Atlanta enough to return for a second year. He missed all of August with Achilles tendinitis, but missed even more time because Johnson was not a regular in the mix for the Braves even with the failures of the elder Upton. Instead, Johnson took a back seat to Jordan Schafer, who had returned after being claimed on waivers, and rookie Evan Gattis, who occasionally played left field to get his bat into the lineup more often. Johnson received five fewer plate appearances than Gerald Laird during the 2013 season and Johnson struggled to connect the bat to the ball with any authority.

During his year-and-a-half with the Braves, Johnson hit .256/.308/.332 with one homer, a pinch-hit two-run shot off former Braves farmhand Todd Redmond - then a member of Johnson's first team, the Jays. Johnson would struggle during a 2014 season spent as a reserve in Miami and continued his tour through the NL East with a stop in Washington next. A torn tendon in his left calf limited him to just 17 games with the Nats. He returned to DC the following year, but failed to make the roster coming out of camp last spring. I do not know if he's given up the dream of playing baseball again or not, but at 40 years-old, it seems unlikely that he'll continue his career.

His time with the Braves was short and ultimately uneventful. In the end, like many of Wren's deals, it just never worked like it should have. Of course, the Braves ended up re-acquiring Arodys Vizcaino from this deal so it cost precious little for Atlanta - even if it wasn't the deal they wanted.

Previous Throwbacks...
Mike Mordecai (1994-97)
David Ross (2009-12)
Ryan Langerhans (2002-03, 2005-07)

...or view ALL of them.

Braves Saturday Stats Pack - Markakis, Teheran, Vizzy

This article used to be a staple of my time at AtlantaBraves.About.com, but with my contract with the company ending - and their sports department being blown up - I'll continue the series here.

Homers < Wins

Over the history of baseball, winning more games than you homer is not a grand accomplishment. After all, before the introduction of smaller ballparks, expansion, and the realization that chicks dig the long ball, homeruns were not celebrated like they are now. Since Babe Ruth changed the face of baseball, less and less teams have been able to win more games than their team's total output of homeruns. Almost none of them also contended for a playoff birth.

When Freddie Freeman hit his sixth homerun last week, it gave the team nine homeruns compared to just eight wins. That's the thinnest of margins and considering 66.67% of the remaining team homeruns have been shipped out with the banishment of Adonis Garcia and release of Drew Stubbs, could the Braves do something that just never happens in the modern game? Could the Braves homer fewer times than they win games?

I can't answer that, but I can say that if they did, they would be the first team in over 20 years to do so. The last team to win more games than they sent dingers flying into the seats was the 1992 Milwaukee Brewers. It was really the perfect storm for the Brew Crew that year to pull this off. Two years before, they had waved goodbye to "swing hard in case you hit it" Rob Deer. Without his steady source of power, Milwaukee needed nice homerun numbers from a pre-Coors Dante Bichette while also requiring their Hall of Fame combo of Robin Yount and Paul Molitor to not remember that they were hitting their upper 30's. None of those things happened and in 1992, Milwaukee hit just 82 homeruns, the second worst mark in the American League. Yet, they won 92 games and their 20 September wins had the Brewers just two games behind the Blue Jays with two to go. They would lose their final two games and the Jays would win the AL East, the AL Title, and...you know the rest.

By Keith Allison on Flickr
[CC BY-SA 2.0], via Wikimedia Commons

Nick Markakis' Power Outage

In the first 832 plate appearances of a four-year, $44 million contract, Braves right-fielder Nick Markakis has nearly matched his Baltimore batting average (one point higher as a Brave) and also has maintained a statistically insignificant advantage over his OBP as an Oriole (11 points higher). In many ways, Markakis has shown no let-up when it comes to his offensive game.

Except for power, of course. No one thought Markakis would come to the Braves and hit 20 homers yearly after only doing that twice in his career (2007-08), but the expectation of more dongs was definitely higher than what the Braves have received thus far. In case you weren't aware, Markakis has homered three times as a Brave. While his gain in OBP may not be significant, his loss in slugging certainly is. As an Oriole, his ISO was .145. As a Brave, it's just .082. Now, one could argue the Braves should have seen this coming since his ISO over his final two years with the Orioles was .098, but even that would be an improvement. To bring perspective to his total of homers as a Brave, of the 51 players who have amassed 500 PA since 2000 as a Brave, only one player (Gregor Blanco) homered fewer times than Markakis. Blanco hit just one, by the way. Only one other player has three homeruns like Markakis - Tim Hudson in 250 fewer PA. None-power hitters like Melky Cabrera, Jordan Schafer, and Quilvio Veras look like Barry Bonds compared to Markakis.

He's had long homerun droughts as a Brave. His first homerun didn't come until plate appearance #396. His most recent one isn't quite as stark, but over his last 179 plate appearances dating back to when he led off September 25, 2015's game with a homerun, Markakis has just a dozen extra base hits in that time frame. All are doubles. Markakis has been productive as a Brave (105 wRC+), but it's a stretch to think he's been $44M productive.

Julio Teheran's Durability

With Bud Norris banished to the bullpen and Jhoulys Chacin traded to the Angels, Julio Teheran becomes the rotation's oldest and most experienced starter. Teheran has been amazingly durable as a professional pitcher and that has only continued as a major leaguer. Since the beginning of 2013, only six pitchers have made more starts than Teheran, who has taken the ball 104 times.

This is Teheran's Age-25 year. That's a simple way of saying what his age will be on June 30th of the season. If he picks up 22 more starts this season, he'll reach the 30 start plateau for the fourth consecutive year. Since 1990, only 16 players have done that before they turned 26. Just five reached five years of 30 GS or more by the age of 25. Only one - Felix Hernandez - had a half-dozen years of 30 GS before his 26th birthday.

Arodys Vizcaino's cFIP is Very Impressive

It's difficult for Vizcaino to find work as the Braves' closer. With so few opportunities, he has logged a lot of innings trying to keep a game tied or give the team a good inning to keep them close. He's been dominant when used - which you know if you've watched him pitch. A deep dive into his performance with Baseball Prospectus shows that he's been nearly as effective as the former Braves closer, Craig Kimbrel. So far this year, Vizzy has a cFIP, of FIP in context, of 74. That not only matches (in many less innings) Stephen Strasburg, it's not too far removed from Kimbrel's 71. DRA, or Deserved Run Average, also paints a picture of outstanding performance. When compared to their peers with 100 as league average, Vizzy has a 83 DRA-. Kimbrel's? 82. I definitely recommend further reading into both stats, but suffice it to say, each number tells us that - to this point - Vizzy has been every bit the performer the Braves traded right before the 2015 season starter. Vizzy's doing it for many millions less, by the way.

Slightly low on the number of stats for this week's stat pack, but I hope you found the ones I touched on interesting. Later this afternoon, I'll hopefully have the minor league portion of this series. (edit, here's the link.)

Random Former Prospect Sunday - Matt Harrison

During the season, Sundays are set aside to take a look at a prospect at random, but with the minor league season over, I wasn't sure what to do for my Sunday article until this nugget of an idea came my way. How about we look at players who ranked in Baseball America's Top 100 while part of the Braves' organization, yet never appeared for the Braves? Over the next few months, I'll take a look at the prospects that were traded or simply faded away and just to keep up with my theme, I randomized the players.

Elsa/Getty Images

Not only have we reached the end of this series, it concludes perfectly with one of the four uber-prospects the Texas Rangers acquired in exchange for Mark Teixeira and Ron Mahay. You have to wonder if Mahay ever gets upset that nobody mentions that the Braves got him as well. It's always the Teix deal, not the Teix/Mahay deal. Poor guy.

The 2003 draft was eventful for the Braves. They didn't pick until 35th overall and selected Luis Atilano and Jarrod Saltalamacchia back-to-back. They also selected Jo-Jo Reyes, Jamie Romak, Brandon Jones, and in the 30th round, they grabbed Jonny Venters out of Lake Brantley High School (Florida). Venters has had the second best bWAR from that draft for the Braves. The top bWAR came from the guy the Braves picked 900 picks earlier - Harrison. He was Atlanta's sixth pick in the Top 100.

Before Atlanta selected him, Harrison was a lefty out of South Granville High School (go Vikings!). The school had only produced one major leaguer - the generically named Jeff Johnson, who pitched parts of three seasons with the Yankees with a 6.52 ERA. Harrison had a scholarship offer to attend North Carolina State, but gave it up to ink a contract with the Atlanta Braves. Just 17 years-old, Harrison headed to the Gulf Coast League for his first taste of professional ball. He showed a solid ability to throw strikes, which is sometimes difficult for teenage pitchers, and after two years at rookie ball, Harrison headed to Rome to begin 2005. It was a nice season from the tall lefty as he finished with a 3.23 ERA over 167 innings. He maintained a 3.9 K/BB rate and while the homerun rate wasn't excellent, it was still a solid year.

It did not, however, get him in the Top 100 prospects. The next season would change that. Splitting the season between Myrtle Beach and Mississippi, Harrison finished with a 3.35 ERA and pretty similar rates overall. While certainly not an ace, he was a productive prospect with a chance to contribute as a left-handed starter - something that often comes with a high degree of value. Baseball America ranked him as the #90th best prospect in baseball while Baseball Prospectus was even higher on him, placing him #79th.

2007 looked like it might be the year for Harrison, who had already logged a dozen starts in Double-A. However, something was a little off. His K/BB rate, which had never been under 3.45, was sitting at 2.29 by late July. He had always given up his share of hits, but Harrison's calling card was his ability to not hurt himself with walks. Now, compared to many of his peers, a 2.6 BB/9 is hardly a bad thing, but it was a half-a-walk higher than any other season. What the Braves, and the league, didn't know is that Harrison was hurt. Shortly before the end of July, he was placed on the disabled list.

That threw a wrench into a negotiation currently under way. John Schuerholz was desperate to avoid a second consecutive year out of the playoffs after 14 straight division titles. Despite clear issues in the rotation, Schuerholz zeroed in on the possibility of out-slugging everyone with the young and powerful Teixeira. The Rangers saw a chance to maximize Teix's value before he hit free agency after the 2008 season. They wanted Saltalamacchia, Elvis Andrus, and Neftali Feliz - a dynamic package with three Top 100 talents. They also wanted Harrison, but his injury concerned them. To smooth things over, the Braves added lefty Beau Jones, who they had taken with the 41st pick of the 2005 draft. Jones was an interesting arm, but the Braves saw him as a bullpen prospect so they weren't very attached. The Rangers agreed to the five-prospect package and Harrison headed to Texas. He would be shut down for the remainder of the minor league season, but did made seven starts in the Arizona Fall League.

It didn't take long for Harrison to get to the majors after that. He made 15 starts with the Rangers in the summer of '08, but it wasn't until 2011 that he established himself. He made a full 30 start season for the Rangers, brought his walks down, and did a better job at keeping the ball in the yard. The results was a 185.2 ING campaign in which he had a 3.39 ERA and 3.52 FIP. He even made a start in Turner Field on June 18. He was in line for the win until Darren Oliver blew it. Texas scored off Scott Proctor in the ninth because using Scott Proctor in a tied extra inning game only works when Jerry Meals is behind the plate. Felix came in and got the save with K's of Jordan Schafer and Jason Heyward.

Harrison was even better the next year. He lowered his ERA to 3.29, picked up his first 200-inning season, was an All-Star, and even picked up a Cy Young vote or two. Knowing they had a potential workhorse on their hands, the Rangers gave Harrison a $55M extension to buy out his final two years of arbitration and first three years of free agency. He would be team-controlled through at least his Age-31 season with an option for 2018.

But...that didn't work out so well. In the three years that have transpired since signing the extension, Harrison has made just 9 starts. His back injuries led him to eventually succumb to lumbar spinal disc fusion surgery in June of 2014. He - well, his contract - was also traded to the Phillies last July in the big Cole Hamels trade.

As 2016 is just around the corner, things have not change for Harrison. His back remains an issue and the Phillies don't expect him to contribute "anytime soon, if at all." It's unfortunate news for the lefty has been stuck in a bystander role just after reaching the heights of his career. Will he ever throw another meaningful pitch? That remains to be seen. You have to hope he does because never pitching again because of a back injury is a tough way to go out. Still, it's not looking good for the first pitcher of the Teix trade to get to the majors.

And that concludes the Former Baseball America's Top 100 Prospects as a Brave who Never Actually Played in Atlanta. Oh, that explains why I shortened the title. To go back through the list, you can either click any of the links below or just click here to run through them in reverse chronological order.

Previous Random Former Prospects...
Brett Evert
Rob Bell
Jose Peraza
Tom Redington
Dennis Burlingame
J.R. Graham
Elvis Andrus
Bobby Smith
Bubba Nelson
Neftali Feliz
Gorkys Hernandez
Matt Belisle
Matt McClendon

Random Former Prospect Sunday - Gorkys Hernandez

During the season, Sundays are set aside to take a look at a prospect at random, but with the minor league season over, I wasn't sure what to do for my Sunday article until this nugget of an idea came my way. How about we look at players who ranked in Baseball America's Top 100 while part of the Braves' organization, yet never appeared for the Braves? Over the next few months, I'll take a look at the prospects that were traded or simply faded away and just to keep up with my theme, I randomized the players.

Hernandez in 2014
Getty Images

He played in just 152 games in the Braves' minor league system between being involved in a couple of high profile trades, but that didn't stop Gorkys Hernandez from being ranked twice by Baseball America in the Top 100. He also was ranked as many times by Baseball Prospectus in its Top 100. Hernandez would soon become a journeyman speedster with an ever-increasing collection of jerseys rather than major league hits.

Signed out of Venezuela by the Tigers in 2005, Hernandez was a right-hand hitting teenager with speed and natural instincts in the outfield. He made his debut a year later by hitting .327 in the Gulf Coast League with 5 HR and 20 steals over 50 games. The interesting thing about the homer total was that it would be his personal high until 2013 when he hit six. Regardless of the flukish power, Hernandez was moved up the ladder the next year to West Michigan, where he hit .293 with 54 steals. He didn't walk a lot, but 19 year-olds generally don't light up the Midwest League.

During a winter league run with Caribas after the season, Hernandez became one of the first players sought by new general manager Frank Wren. The Tigers had made a hectic (but failed) run at getting back to the playoffs one year after losing in five games to the Cardinals. Incumbent shortstop Carlos Guillen had been very responsible for the success with 21 HR and an .859 OPS in 2007, but his defense, which was never that good, had gotten worse after turning 30 in '06. Meanwhile, the Braves were blessed with a glut of shortstops. Edgar Renteria had just finished up his second season of a Braves run where he slashed .310/.374/.451. He had missed some action in '07 and rookie Yunel Escobar had filled in superbly, hitting .326. The Braves also had Brent Lillibridge and Elvis Andrus on the farm. What they didn't have was much starting pitching, especially young pitching, to help support the Tim Hudson/John Smoltz-led staff.

Discussions between Dave Dombrowski and Wren centered on Jair Jurrjens, the young righty who had made his debut with the Tigers in '07. However, surrendering an established star like Renteria seemed like too big of a leap for a youngster with just 30.2 ING above AA ball (though all came with the Tigers). Hernandez was added to the deal and shortly after the 2007 playoffs ended, the deal was announced as Wren's first big move, though John Schuerholz certainly played a role.

While Jurrjens would go on to win a spot in the rotation and play a significant role for the 2008 Braves, Hernandez was assigned to Myrtle Beach after ranking #92 in Baseball America's Top 100. He would go to hit .264 with the Pelicans with 20 steals in 100 games. His OPS was only one point lower than his West Michigan's OPS the previous year, but the severe drop in steals was a sign of what was to come. After a 54-steal season, Hernandez has never stole more than 25 bases in a single season since. Still, for a 20 year-old playing in the Carolina League, plus spending half of his games in a stadium that can be impossible to drive the ball in depending on the wind, it was a successful season.

After improving his BA Top 100 ranking to #62 entering 2009, Hernandez got off to a fast start with Mississippi. Through 52 games, Hernandez was hitting .316 with a .748 OPS. But something was beginning to take shape in Atlanta...

The Atlanta Braves offense was meh in general during the 2009 season, but it was criminally awful in the outfield. In left field, the Braves had given someone named Garret Anderson the job. I'm told Anderson was formerly an All-Star for the Angels, but that wasn't the guy who played for the Braves. In right field, the Braves were still trotting out Jeff Francoeur on the regular. While Matt Diaz hid Anderson from lefties, the typical set of Anderson and Francoeur was rough, though you could say that at least they weren't Jordan Schafer-bad. Tasked with manning centerfield, Schafer had homered twice during the first weekend, including taking Brett Myers deep in his first plate appearance in the bigs. He remained productive through April, but things went to hell after that. He would later inform the Braves he had been playing hurt, but that didn't make the suckage any less acceptable.

With that in mind, the Braves sought an improvement in center and found it with Nate McLouth. The Pirates CF had just signed a long-term extension after going to an All-Star Game, winning a Gold Glove (undeserved), and leading the NL with 46 doubles in '08, but the Pirates were still willing to move him and the Braves were desperate. Packaging Hernandez with a pair of young starters, Charlie Morton and Jeff Locke, the Braves waved goodbye to the outfielder.

Once traded, Hernandez saw his numbers tail off with Altoona in the Eastern League. He would only OPS .652 after the trade, earning him a return trip to Altoona in 2010. His numbers remained poor and he missed a chunk of the season to injury. Needing to move him up, Hernandez made his AAA debut in 2011 and while he had lost his top prospect status following his poor finish to the 2009 season, Hernandez at least showed there was a chance he could return to form by hitting .283/.348/.392 with 21 steals with the Indianapolis Indians.

He got off to a meh-start to open 2012, but was promoted to the bigs in late May and appeared in 25 games for the Pirates, though received only 26 PA. He walked once, was hit by a pitch once, and managed two singles in the other 24 at-bats. The 2012 Pirates were actually not too far away from competing for a playoff spot so they tried to improve their team by sending Hernandez and a competitive draft selection to the Marlins for Gaby Sanchez. With the Marlins to finish the 2012 season, Hernandez played regularly and hit .212/.288/.341 with 5 steals.

After failing to make the Marlins roster in 2013, Hernandez headed back to AAA. His numbers remained underwhelming and less than a year after acquiring him, the Marlins traded Hernandez to the Royals for minor leaguer Alex McClure. While Dayton Moore made a practice of grabbing any ex-Braves prospect back then, Moore wasn't with the Braves when they had acquired Hernandez. Hernandez finished the year with a .633 OPS while playing for Omaha.

2014 would see Hernandez remain out of the picture. He returned to the Royals, but was purchased by the White Sox a few weeks into the season. Hernandez lasted just two months after that before being cut. He hit just .233/.291/.286 in 51 games overall. He headed down to Mexico to finish the year and hit wonderfully down there.

The Pirates came calling in 2015, giving Hernandez a second shot with the organization he had made his debut with back in 2012. He didn't make the roster coming out of spring, but did hit .288/.365/.406 in his return to Indianapolis. On June 28, the Pirates were playing a visiting Atlanta Braves club. The previous day, Andrew McCutchen had been hit by a pitch and was removed for precautionary reasons. The Pirates grew tired, yet again, of Jose Tabata and wanted a look at Hernandez along with adding depth. Hernandez would start in right field vs. the Braves and go 0-for-3. He would play seven more games and received two at-bats, though he remained hitless. In July, he was DL'd for shoulder discomfort and when healthy, he was outrighted to Indianapolis, where he would finish the season.

Hernandez just turned 28 and has hit .186/.260/.292 during his 78 games in the majors. He'll look for a good situation this winter while continuing his yearly return to Caribes in the Venezela Winter League.

See ya, Todd Cunningham!

It was a bit of an odd development on Friday to learn that Todd Cunningham had been waived by the Atlanta Braves - let alone lost on waivers to the Angels. After all, it was kind of those moves that the Braves didn't have to make, chose to make, and it makes zero sense from the outside. It's like deciding to throw away the milk a week before its expiration date. Sure, you bought new milk to replace it and yeah, you opened the new milk when you were half-asleep and making cereal, but you could have found some use for the old milk, no? The Braves certainly have replacements for Cunningham. He was unlikely to be in the mix for 2015, would have been out of options, and if the Braves wish to have a fourth outfielder around, I'm sure Dian Toscano will eventually work out (totally not kidding). But to lose Cunningham now? A confusing move.

G Fiume | Getty Images

Cunningham wasn't the only guy the Braves outrighted after the year was over. Joining him were Ryan Kelly, Ryan Lavarnway, and Sugar Ray Marimon. It didn't seem like the Braves needed the 40-man room.

But in the end, Cunningham is gone. He was a second round choice in 2010 out of Jacksonville State. The 2010 draft will always have good value because it includes Andrelton Simmons, but of the first five players selected by the Braves, only Simmons and Cunningham have made it to the majors. Cunningham represented the old Braves way of high-floor guys with limited upside. For what it's worth, Gondeee made the contention recently that the Braves selected players like Cunningham so high because the draft was supposed to yield depth talent to help the major league club. In that way, they were successful, but they failed to produce a lot of impact talent. Cunningham was on the list of decent enough talent, but a limited ceiling. At his best, he would have been an okayish outfielder with decent enough on-base skills, little pop, and good enough base-stealing ability to threaten 20 steals in a season. That player has value, but typically won't be good enough to be a starter on a team with much hope of competing.

Cunningham skipped rookie ball after his 2010 selection and went to Rome. He was a mature and smart player so that made sense. He OPS'd .679, the first of three seasons (out of six) that he would fail to OPS .700. After the season, he would head to Lynchburg and though Cunningham missed time, he was part of Hillcats roster that started several future Braves (Joey Terdoslavich at first, Philip Gosselin at second, Simmons at short, Christian Bethancourt eventually at catcher). Cunningham played in 87 games and had a .701 OPS with 4 HR and 14 steals. After the year, the Braves sent him to the Arizona Fall League with Bethancourt, Terdo, and other Braves to play on the Surprise Saguaros with Wil Myers and Mike Olt. The latter hit 13 homers in 27 games. That's crazy.

After a pretty unspectacular AFL, Cunningham played in Mississippi during 2012 and had his best season. He hit .309 with a .364 OBP while adding 23 doubles, 6 triples, and three homers to go with his personal-best of 24 steals. With Michael Bourn heading to free agency, Cunningham had a little buzz as a possible replacement in center field, but that was shattered by the free agent signing of B.J. Melvin Upton Jr. Cunningham went to Gwinnett to open 2013 and struggled. His OBP of .342 was fine, but it's hard to get excited about any player whose SLG is lower than his OBP, especially when Cunningham didn't have enough speed to make up for it. He did get his first trip to the majors and went 2-for-8.

2014 would be a trying season for Cunningham. He had the second-best year of his career and hit a solid .287 with a career-best eight homeruns, but couldn't get a look in the big leagues. Upton Jr. started 135 games in center while Emilio Bonifacio and Jordan Schafer started the rest of the games. Hardly the best collection of talent, yet Cunningham received no look. Not even a callup. Even when the season went to hell in the second half, the Braves didn't think Cunningham was deserving of a callup despite rosters expanding and being on the 40-man roster. It was a curious decision.

This season, Cunningham had a pretty ugly season with Gwinnett. His .663 OPS ranks as his worst minor league OPS and his full season mark is made worse by his major league numbers, but there was a time this year when Cunningham looked like he was deserving of an extended look. After Kelly Johnson hit the DL in mid-May, Cunningham was called up and his first four games went like this:

3-for-4, 2 RS, 2B, RBI, SB
3-for-4, 1 RS
2-for-4, 1 RS
1-for-3, 1 RS, 2B

It was a great, unsustainable, surprising start for Cunningham. Over his next 22 games, including 12 starts, Cunningham slashed .143/.226/.179 before being banished back to the minors. He was called up briefly in August for a game before returning to the Braves in September, but received just two starts the rest of the way, including a single to lead off the seventh in the season's final game. He scored on a Bourn hit and it was the final at-bat of his Braves career.

Overall, Cunningham hit .221 in 86 at-bats this year and has a major league slash of .223/.277/.266 in 101 PA. Losing him seems weird because it didn't seem like the Braves had to lose him right this second, but it doesn't look like much of a loss. That's not to say Cunningham can't occasionally have a season like Darren Bragg had in 2002 for the Braves when the failed prospect hit .269/.347/.401 with 3 HR in 240 PA. Cunningham seems like a well-liked guy so I kind of hope that he does, but the Braves were probably going to have to shuffle him off the 40-man roster at some point anyway.

You can keep up with Cunningham by following his Twitter.

Once a Brave, Always a Brave - AL Central

It's another Tuesday which means it's another look around the league at former Braves and how they are doing. The quirky thing about this week's article is twice I have had to edit because of a retirement of a player that was mentioned. I'm going to get this thing posted before more players from this cursed list retire. As usual, this list should not be considered exhaustive as I am sure I am missing players - both ex-farmhands and ex-major leaguers - so if you notice a guy that should be on here, feel free to drop a comment below telling me I'm stupid.

Chicago White Sox
P Jairo Asencio (AAA)...Remember when he was Luis Valdez? He looked like a possible 2010 option before VISA issues held him back. All in all, he pitched in nine forgettable games for the Braves in 2009 and 2010 and has since played for the Indians, Cubs, and O's and spent some time in Korea.

C Tyler Flowers...In 345 games in the majors, Flowers has a .662 OPS. There was a time where we worried about the Braves giving up a good catching prospect for Javier Vazquez.

1B Adam LaRoche...Old Sleepy's getting a lot of work as a DH considering the ChiSox have a pretty good first baseman. He's hit four homers and walked a lot so far. Doesn't seem like that long ago that LaRoche was a Brave, but this marks an half-dozen years.

OF Melky Cabrera...I rarely wish for a player to fail, but when Melky's OPSing .620, I am pretty pleased.

UT Emilio Bonifacio...Boner Face is hitting a robust .222/263/.222 with zero steals so far and the White Sox are paying him $4M. Hard to believe that there were people who wondered what the Braves were thinking letting him go.

Cleveland Indians
P Bruce Chen...Actually, Bruce Chen announced his retirement yesterday after two super ugly starts in Cleveland. Chen pitched in 400 games while playing in eleven different cities. He even pitched in Montreal.

P Gavin Floyd...So much potential for a good story in back-to-back errors derailed by one horrifying elbow injury and now surgery on the same elbow. He'll miss 2015 and it's questionable whether Floyd will ever play in the majors again.

OF Michael Bourn...For all of the crap we gave Melvin Upton Jr., Bourn sucked balls after leaving the Braves so at least we didn't have to watch him excel. In 269 games with the Indians, Bourn has slashed a miserable .257/.315/.354 with 35 steals (or seven fewer than his one full season in Atlanta).

Detroit Tigers
1B Mike Hessman (AAA)...He's now 37 years old and hasn't played in the majors since 2010, but he's still plugging along. He's belted four homers on the season, giving him 421 in his minor league career. He's 63 homers short of the overall minor league number, though he already set the International League record last season.

Kansas City Royals
P Kris Medlen (DL)...Though he hasn't yet thrown a pitch this season, Medlen looks on pace for a return to the mound for live action shortly. The 29 year-old will only add to what is already one of the AL's best teams.

P Benino Pruneda (AA)...There was a time where Pruneda was mentioned as maybe the next great reliever coming through the system after Craig Kimbrel arrived, but arm injuries derailed him. After saving 11 games with a 9.9 K/9 in Mississippi in 2011, Pruneda missed the next two seasons before appearing in 31 games with Lynchburg last year. He was part of the back-to-back no-hitters, but was released before this season and is now in AA after five more games in the Carolina League to begin the year.

C J.C. Boscan (AAA)...Boscan began his career in the Gulf Coast League for the Braves back in 1997. Thirteen years later, he made it to the majors for a game. He walked and scored. Over the next three years, he played in the majors for the Braves and Cubs for 16 more games. He went 7-for-28. He played last season with the Dodgers' AA team and is now with Omaha for the Royals. 19 years in the minors for Boscan.

1B Casey Kotchman (AAA)...It's not Kotchy's fault he was all the Braves could get for two months of Mark Teixeira. Once one of the best prospects in baseball, Kotchy never hit more than 14 homers in a season and last got serious action in the majors with the Indians in 2012.

2B Rafael Furcal (AA)...Furcal is 37 years-old which is making some of us that vividly recall him jumping from A-ball to the majors in the spring of 2000 feel pretty old. He was in the middle of a rehab assignment as he tried to get back to the majors, but decided today that he, like Chen, was ready to call it quits.

2B Omar Infante...A 2010 All-Star when he became the best super utility dude in baseball, Infante has slashed .277/.309/.394 since the Braves traded him for Dan Uggla. Good, but not the .321/.359/.416 numbers that made him an All-Star while playing five positions.

Minnesota Twins
P Blaine Boyer...Not only does he have a kitchen appliance name, he also has a second chance in the majors and so far, so good for Boyer. One of the Baby Braves, arm injuries and bad pitching ended his run in Atlanta early in 2009. He pitched for the Cards, D'Backs, and Mets to pretty poor results before coming back to the game in 2013 with a run in the minors for Omaha where he looked good. He parlayed that into a season with the Padres where he pitched 32 times in the majors. He's appeared in 18 early-season games with the Twins and though his K rate is ugly, he's done a solid job keeping the ball in the park and not walking batters.

P J.R. Graham...Though he depends on groundball outs, Graham has been hurt badly by the homer ball. Three long flies in 14.1 ING is unacceptable. He's been coddled and used largely in garbage time which has allowed him to finish nine of the 12 games he's been called upon to pitch in. So far, so ugly. But things could change.

OF Wilkin Ramirez (AAA)...The Braves picked him up from the Tigers in 2010 and he got a twenty-game look with the big league club in 2011.

OF Jordan Schafer...True story. Had a guy on Twitter last year tell me that the Braves would basically rue the day they let Schafer go. He had a nice little run down the stretch, but sucked before getting hurt this year.

Recently profiled in Once a Brave, Always a Brave...
AL East
Japan and Korea
Independent Leagues

Random Ex-Brave: Nate McLouth

One of the strange things to hurt Frank Wren as general manager was the inexplicable fall from grace by several players that he either traded for or signed as a free agent. Melvin Upton Jr. and Dan Uggla might stand out the most, but Nate McLouth can't be overlooked. He was supposed to be the guy who brought stability to center field - where there was none. He was supposed to provide some production at the top of the lineup, which was lacking in the wake of Kelly Johnson struggling. McLouth, at worst, was supposed to be decent. And he was...in 2009 right after the trade. The two years that followed, though? Woof.

Hey, look! The Ineptitude
Otto Gruele Jr | Getty Images

McLouth was a 25th rounder by the Pirates out of Whitehall High School in Michigan. Born three days before Halloween in 1981, McLouth was a late signee. One thing I find interesting is that McLouth, who did sign late and missed all of the 2000's minor league season, never played rookie ball. He went straight to Hickory in the SALLY League in 2001 as a 19 year-old and posted an .836 OPS with 12 HR and 21 steals. Not surprisingly, he moved up the next year to Lynchburg and this is where I remind people that Lynchburg was once a Pirates farmhand for over ten years. It took two years for McLouth to produce with the 'Cats, but he made up for a lack of power with his best stolen base season of his career in '03. In 44 stolen base attempts, he was caught four times. McLouth moved up to AA in 2004 and was very solid before another good year in 2005, though he never approached the 12 homers he hit in his first year. However, 2005's minor league season was cut short by a promotion to the majors.

Never a big prospect, McLouth was originally a fourth outfielder with enough speed and pop to be interesting. He started to break out in 2007 when he posted a .351 OBP, 13 homers, and 22 steals in less than 400 PA. Finally, the Pirates felt he was ready to assume a full season's worth of starting and when the Braves acquired him, they were looking at these 2008 stats as a hint of what was to come. He slashed .276/.356/.497. Those are good numbers for a corner outfielder - stellar for a center fielder. He added his first and only 20/20 season of his career with 26 HR and 23 steals. McLouth also led the league with 46 doubles, which helped him come three total bases short of 300. For you baseball card people, he filled out the counting stats with 113 runs scored and 94 RBI. Naturally, he was an All-Star and despite average defense in center, he was awarded the Gold Glove (largely because hitting stats nonsensically affect who is named the Gold Glove winner).

After the season, McLouth was arbitration-eligible for the first time, but the Pirates and McLouth agreed on a three year, $15.75M extension that looked like a smart deal for a front office that was often criticized for its poor ones. The deal included an option year for $10.65M, which was a reasonable sum for a CF with McLouth's profile. At the time. Possibly trying to live up to his contract, McLouth hit .219 in the first three series of the years, but found himself a bit against the Braves with a big home series. That may have helped endear him to Wren, who by June, had grown sick of watching Jordan Schafer in center. In a pre-deadline deal, the Braves sent a trio of players to the Pirates to get McLouth. Gone were Charlie Morton, who was a borderline prospect at the time, and Gorkys Hernandez, who notably joined the Braves as part of Wren's first move as the Braves GM. Also going to the Pirates was Jeff Locke, who would help the 2009 Lynchburg Hillcats win the Carolina League. Oh, did I mention I am a big 'Cats fan?

Because of how awful McLouth would play over his final two seasons in Atlanta, we forget that he was pretty good after the trade. Not great - not by any means great - but when a center fielder slashes .257/.354/.419 with 11 HR and 12 steals, you don't really complain even if McLouth probably should have been playing left field to hide his range issues. Still, heading into 2010, there was a lot to like about McLouth. His three-year sample was a solid .265/.353/.467 with an average of 20 HR and 25 steals. If anyone tells you Wren should have known McLouth would fail, they're lying. If they tell you THEY KNEW McLouth would fail, they think you're very gullible.

It started in spring. McLouth had always been a pretty good spring training hitter, but with the Braves in March of 2010, he simply looked like a guy who forgot how to hit. In 51 AB's that spring, he reached base via a hit just six times. He had ten total bases. He struck out 16 times. He was a miserable player whose OPS of .413 made Braves pitchers sympathize with him. Everyone wrote it up as a terrible spring and he'll be alright. He'll shake it off.

He didn't. Not even a little. In Jason Heyward's debut game, McLouth batted 8th and did contribute a single and two walks as part of the 16-5 win. A single two days later kept his average over .200. On April 10, it fell under. It would take over a month to climb back over and after three games, it fell back under - this time for good. It's not that McLouth didn't have any positive moments in 2010. On April 20, with an OPS under .500, he led off the tenth inning of a 3-3 tie with a walk-off homer off Jose Contreras, which led to a notable home-run non-celebration. Between May 14 and May 17, he had a four game hit streak. So, there was that. But by June 6, the Braves had began to finally get the hint. This was not the season that everyone expected McLouth capable of. Four days later, he collided with Heyward and the Melky Cabrera Plays Center Field Experiment was on. It was as awful as you can imagine. McLouth briefly returned a little more than a month later, but was demoted shortly there after and the Braves added Rick Ankiel to fill the void (and spare us the miserable sight of Melky in center).

To McLouth's credit, he never stopped working and when he returned right before rosters expanded, he seemed to find himself a bit. Over his final 68 PA, he slashed .263/.358/.509 with 3 HR and 3 steals. He increased his .168 average to .190 by season's end and added about 80 points to his OPS. This led to him making the postseason roster and appearing in the NLDS with the Braves. While Ankiel had the biggest hit of the series for Atlanta, McLouth added a base hit in one of his two total PA. Either way, with Ankiel a free agent - plus the release of Melky - things looked up for McLouth. The Braves only threat to his playing time was the disgraced Schafer and minor league free agent Jose Constanza. It looked inevitable that McLouth would reclaim his spot.

A torrid spring training where McLouth hit .290 with 10 walks to just three strikeouts certainly helped cement McLouth as a Comeback Player of the Year candidate. The scene was set. But McLouth started slowly and by April 26, he was down to a slash of .233/.313/.302. Hits in six of his next seven games, including four multi hit games, briefly got his OPS over .801, but the return to form was brief. His numbers continued to nosedive and even as Fredi Gonzalez bounced him around the order, it didn't appear McLouth would ever be the guy the Braves thought he would be. An oblique strain that cost McLouth three weeks between May and mid-June also didn't help McLouth much, especially when the Braves were reminded that Schafer wasn't an option either. McLouth would return to finish off June and was the regular starter in July, but hit the DL on July 29 with a lower abdominal strain and was later diagnosed with a sports hernia. His last at-bat with the Braves came on July 28 against his former friends on the Pirates with his final at-bat being a popfly. A year to the date of acquiring Ankiel to replace McLouth, the Braves acquired Michael Bourn to do the same task.

Unsurprisingly, the Braves declined McLouth's option for 2012. He would return to Pittsburgh on a minor league deal and looked great in spring training, which helped him secure a spot on their roster. That lasted two months before the Pirates cut McLouth for hitting a buck-forty. Shortly thereafter, the Orioles would pick him up and he would experience a bit of a resurgence. In 55 games with the O's down the stretch, McLouth helped propel Baltimore to the playoffs with a .777 OPS and 12 steals. Both parties were happy to try their luck at a return in 2013 and McLouth slashed .258/.329/.399 while getting nearly 600 trips to the plate for the first time since 2009. He homered 12 times and stole a career-high 30 bases. But overall, it was a less than thrilling campaign.

Still, the Nats are going to Nat and they inked McLouth to a two-year, $11.5M contract to be their fourth outfielder. It was a confusing move for the organization and it has yet to pay off. In 162 PA in 2014, McLouth hit just .174 with one homer. He hurt his shoulder this spring and missed the start of the year. He was recently cleared to start throwing.

McLouth should have been, at worst, a good offensive player with overrated defensive ability that the Braves sacrificed little to acquire. But Wren had some awful luck with guys who simply forgot how to hit. McLouth's three-year stats with the Braves looks better than it ought to be considering how disastrous he was in his two "full" years. Ignoring his .773 OPS after the trade in 2009, McLouth slashed .210/.322/.328 in his final 609 PA as a Brave. He was bad in every facet of his game. McLouth is a pretty efficient basestealer with an 85% success rate. That rate would increase tremendously if he wasn't successful in just 70% of his stolen base attempts as a Brave.

As much as Wren probably regrets this deal, I wonder how much McLouth wishes he had stayed in Pittsburgh. Maybe things would have been different if the Pirates had kept him. Maybe things would have turned out better. Maybe. But they didn't and Wren was forced to make two more deals just to try to replace McLouth.

Once a Brave, Always a Brave: Opening Day Rosters

This series keeps tabs on how former Braves are doing in the league. Typically, I will focus on one division or even one team in isolated situations, but there's not a lot to report right now so I will focus more on which former Braves made opening day rosters in other cities. If I counted correctly, there are 62 former Braves (or Braves farmhands) who either were on the opening day roster or the DL. Only four teams are currently without a Brave, which is probably why they will fail in 2015.

Arizona
Nick Ahmed
Randall Delgado
Gerald Laird

Baltimore
None surprisingly enough

Boston
Anthony Varvaro

Chicago Cubs
David Ross
Tommy La Stella

Chicago White Sox
Emilio Bonifacio
Melky Cabrera
Tyler Flowers
Adam LaRoche

Cincinnati
J.J. Hoover
Jason Marquis (seriously?)
Brayan Pena

Cleveland
Michael Bourn

Colorado
David Hale (DL)
Boone Logan

Detroit
None

Houston
Evan Gattis
Brett Oberholtzer (DL, minor league Brave)

Kansas City
Omar Infante
Kris Medlen (DL)

Los Angeles Angels in the Outfield
Cory Rasmus (DL)

Los Angeles Dodgers
Brandon Beachy (DL)

Miami
Jeff Baker (do you remember that?)
Mike Dunn
Martin Prado
Jarrod Saltalamacchia

Minnesota
Blaine Boyer
J.R. Graham (sob)
Ervin Santana (suspended)
Jordan Schafer

Milwaukee
None

New York Mets
Buddy Carlyle
Sean Gilmartin (why have you forsaken us, Ryan Doumit?)

New York Yankees
David Carpenter
Garrett Jones (he played in the minors for the Braves)
Brian McCann
Chasen Shreve
Mark Teixeira

Pittsburgh
Jeff Locke
Charlie Morton (DL)

Philadelphia
Jeff Francoeur
Aaron Harang

Oakland
Jesse Chavez
Eric O'Flaherty

San Diego
Craig Kimbrel
Justin Upton
Melvin Upton Jr.(DL)

San Francisco
Erik Cordier (DL)
Gregor Blanco
Tim Hudson

Seattle
Jesus Sucre

St. Louis
Matt Belisle
Jason Heyward (fresh wounds)
Adam Wainwright (old wounds)
Jordan Walden

Tampa Bay
None

Texas
Elvis Andrus
Neftali Feliz
Matt Harrison (DL...shocker)

Toronto
Todd Redmond (four days with the Braves, never played)

Washington
Yunel Escobar
Nate McLouth (DL)
Reed Johnson
Dan Uggla (excusing Reed, this list of players should make us root against the Nats all the more)