Braves' Middle Infield in Flux?

We cannot afford to part with both of them, but I’ll be very surprised if we end up keeping both of them.

I just don’t understand why people are so eager to break up a middle infield that is effective, cheap, young, and under team control for 3 more years. Do you know how many teams would kill to be in that position? Kelly’s just about average as a fielder, and well above average offensively for the position. Escobar’s a great fielder, and is above average offensively for his position as well. That’s something you build around, not trade away. Unless they get a package that completely blows them away, I see no reason to consider trading either.

Trading Escobar would be a monumental mistake. We have him under team control for five more seasons and he’s shown himself to be a top ten or better ML shortstop. He’s exactly the sort of player that is most valuable in baseball. Trading him now impedes our ability to compete in the next five years.

Now Johnson, he’s a decent player, but he’s only under team control for three seasons and he’s going to be making decent salaries now that he’s hitting arbitration. I’d like to package him with a few A-ball prospects for Peavy. Is Prado a replacement, no, but he’s cheap for 2009, and we can figure out whether he’s merely a good infield reserve/pinch hitter or whether he can actually play second base for us. Long term we still have Lillibridge available to shift over if need be.

I’m growing wearing of the trade Kelly / keep Prado sentiment often expressed here.

Hitting near the top of the order, the perennially high OBP Kelly Johnson tires out pitchers (just before they face Chipper) with his keen eye. And when Chipper is out, Kelly has enough punch to fill in at the #3 spot in the batting order. His streak at the end of the season shows that Johnson is just beginning to hit his prime. And under Hubbard’s tutelage he has become an adequate 2B. There’s not a very long list of lefty hitting second basemen with power in baseball history. We’re lucky to have KJ.

Prado makes too many errors at 2B and he’s not quick to the ball. Unlike Infante, he simply doesn’t have the range to even fill in at short. Prado is best suited to a subsitute role at 3B, backing up Chipper’s frequent absences, and pinch-hitting. His hitting has been so consistent that he should be a useful piece in a trade. Long term our only reason to keep him is if his hitting improves to the point where he becomes the succession plan for Chipper at 3B. But I doubt he’ll ever have Kelly Johnson’s power, or be able to run up the pitch count of the opposition the way Johnson does.