The Braves have made yet another trade to help bolster their farm, but this time it's probably not as big as the moves that sent our 2 former corner outfielders and catcher out of town. Instead, this is a move that is focused on young players for both teams, as the Braves have traded pitchers David Hale and Gus Schlosser to the Colorado Rockies for Jose Briceno and Chris O'Dowd.
The #Braves announced they have traded David Hale and Gus Schlosser to the Rockies for two catchers Jose Briceno and Chris O’Dowd
— Mark Bowman (@mlbbowman) January 30, 2015
Our friends who cover the Rockies at Purple Row are pretty high on Briceno; Going so far as to rank him as the #24 prospect in their system. Here's part of what they had to say about Briceno:
Briceno, a 22-year-old catcher who repeated for Low-A Asheville after playing there at the end of 2013, made the most of his second tour with the Tourists. In 350 plate appearances, he hit .283/.336/.476 (125 wRC+) while throwing out 44 percent of baserunners from behind the plate. That came after putting up a .333/.356/.614 line (137 wRC+) in Grand Junction the previous season.
While Briceno is still in the early stages of his path to the Majors, Chris O'Dowd (son of former Rockies GM Dan O'Dowd) made 39 appearances at the AA level last season, so that's probably where he'll end up in the Braves system.
Meanwhile, we've reached the end of the Atlanta road for David Hale and Gus Schlosser. With the bullpen additions that the Braves have made this offseason, Schlosser more than likely wasn't going to play a huge role in the bullpen for this upcoming season at the Major League level, while David Hale's ceiling wasn't particularly high as well. Hale did a decent enough job of filling in as a spot starter and bullpen hand; I say "decent enough" because the fact that he was able to net the Braves a decent prospect in Briceno is pretty impressive.
Overall, the Braves probably won't miss Hale or Schlosser too much, and now we have 2 more new prospects to follow. It'll definitely be worth keeping a close eye on Jose Briceno and his future, as well.