BRAVES NEWS
Braves Trade Heyward To Cardinals
The Braves hit a cannonball dive into the pool of rebuilding yesterday, as they decided to utilize one of their big trade chips. That chip was Jason Heyward, and the local boy from nearby McDonough will be packing his bags and moving to the land of the Arch in St. Louis as the newest member of the Cardinals. Joining him will be reliever Jordan Walden, as apparently the pot wasn't sweet enough for St. Louis with just Heyward. In return, the Braves will be getting Shelby Miller (a young pitcher with great potential and some nice upside, but is coming off of a pretty bad 2014) and minor league pitching prospect Tyrell Jenkins. John Hart wanted pitching, and he's got it in the form of 2 projects. It's clear: The rebuild is here.
More reactions from the rest of the baseball world:
- Ian's Analysis of the Deal
- A Closer Look At The 2 New Braves
- Our Friends At Viva El Birdos React To The Trade
- What Can The Cardinals Expect From Heyward?
- ESPN's Sweetspot Blog Sees The Braves Being Really Bad Next Season
- Fangraphs Loves This Trade For Both Teams
- Our Friends At Beyond The Box Score Say The Braves Had To Make This Deal
- They Also Say That The Cardinals Are Going All In With This Deal
That's not all of the Heyward Trade news that's out on the ol' interwebz, but it's some of the best work out there that makes this trade make sense from a Braves perspective. Of course, I'm still livid that one of my favorite Braves will now be playing for the Final Boss of the National League, but I feel a lot better about the deal than I did yesterday.
It'd be a folly to not expect there to be more trades, with Justin Upton and Evan Gattis being the main ones on the block, while WSBTV's Zach Klein is reporting that the only players who are NOT on the block are the top 3 pitchers in the rotation, Craig Kimbrel, Freddie Freeman, and Andrelton Simmons. I don't get why Kimbrel's safe since the last thing you need in a rebuild is a shutdown closer, but whatever. The point is that the Braves are far from done.
J-Up To Mariners Talk Heats Up
Here's proof that the Braves are far from done: Justin Upton-to-Seattle rumors are back in the forefront. ESPN Sweetspot thinks that an Upton-for-Taijuan Walker deal would be perfect for the Braves (and I'd be a fan of that deal, personally), and here's how they'd do it:
Two offseasons ago, the Seattle Mariners and Arizona Diamondbacks had agreed to a trade built around Upton and pitching prospect Taijuan Walker, only to have Upton veto the trade when he invoked his limited no-trade clause...
...The Braves need a second baseman. The Mariners happen to have two shortstops in Brad Miller and Chris Taylor but are rumored to be interested in Hanley Ramirez. So here's an idea: Walker and one of the shortstops for Upton and Evan Gattis (the Mariners also need a designated hitter).
That's honestly not a bad deal, and if the Braves do anything close to that, I'll be satisfied. Not happy, but satisfied.
MLB NEWS
Marlins Ink Stanton To Largest Contract In Baseball History
We heard rumors during the weekend that this deal was going to happen, but considering the numbers and clauses behind the deal (13 years, $325 MM, a no-trade clause, and no opt-out until 2020), many fans took a "I'll believe it when the ink hits the paper" stance on this one. Well, the ink's now dry. The Marlins have essentially locked down Giancarlo Stanton for the better part of his career. Our friends at Fish Stripes think that Stanton's well worth the money:
Sit back and think about this. Aside from Pujols, Trout, and Rodriguez, is there anyone who is clearly better than Stanton at a younger age in recent baseball history? What is the value of signing a generational talent at the plate at such a young age? The Marlins signed Stanton to such a ridiculous contract because the value of players who play this well this early is often through the roof. Andruw Jones hit .251/.345/.506 from age 25 to age 30 and accumulated 30 to 35 wins in that time. Pujols hit .330/.434/.625, picked up three MVP awards, and racked up 48 to 52 wins.
Now, enjoy this video of Stanton nearly hitting a ball out of Marlins Park on a rare day where the windows were open. May as well get used to it since we'll be seeing him a lot over the next 13 years (Also, ponder the fact that we now live in a world where the Braves are having to trade good players due to financial restraints and the Marlins just handed out one of the richest contracts in North American sports history. Life is full of swift transitions.).