Braves Acquire Nate McLouth

Pretty in depth article. Rumor is Hanson could be involved.

WOW!

@ E K

Fail. http://blogs.ajc.com/atlanta-braves-blog/2009/06/03/will-braves-build-off-thrilling-win/comment-page-6/#comment-121557

It says Hanson is not involved.

No way ATL traded Hanson for McLouth with Rotoworld saying PIT will get 3 prospects.

I'm anxious to see what all ATL gave. I hope it wasn't but so much since he's already 27.

Andrew McCutchen time!!!!!!!!!!! I'm not even a Pirates fan haha

Does this mean its time to add McCutchen to the fantasy team?

Posted by: FamousGrouse | June 03, 2009 at 06:15 PM

I know I just did.

No way Hanson is included. Mclouth isn't even having a good year.

If Frank Wren traded Hanson he should be tarred and feathered and hanged. This is from a Wren fan. Atleast the Mets won't have to deal with McClouth tomorrow.

It's not Hanson, Hanson was called up and is starting on Saturday.

All I can say is that I did not see that coming...

Wow, didnt see this one coming, but what a nice move for the Braves. The Pirates minus Littlefield continue to do dumb things, but thats why they are the Pirates. I guess McCutchen will be in Pitt very shortly, but I still dont get moving there best player who is still relatiely cheap. Good move for the Braves though.

It Gorky Hernandez, Charlie Morton, and Jeff Locke for McLouth

Seriously, everyone should know Hanson and Heyward are completely off-limits.

Huge move for the Braves. McLouth is good all-around ball player. Good glove, good OBP, some power, some speed, really what ATL needed. Or at least a start...

This is why the Pittsburgh Pirates are the Pittsburgh Pirates.

"This is why the Pittsburgh Pirates are the Pittsburgh Pirates."

Echo that thought.

Nice pickup by the Braves and a good move, should anchor the Braves OF for a few seasons and give NICE protection for Jones in the middle of the batting order.

YYYYYYYYYYYYEEEEEEEEESSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS!!!!

I don't believe that package was enough to acquire Mclouth. It makes you wonder how much the economy is affecting some smaller market teams.

stupid pirates

WooooHoooo....what a great day to be a Braves fan. This team just got competitive in the NL East.

Strange deal, coming on the heels of McLouth signing a pretty reasonable deal to buy out his arb years.

I think McLouth is overrated, personally, but I still dislike the Pirates trend of going for quantity of prospects in their deals rather than picking up anyone who projects as a star.

Not impressed, McLouth is an overrated player. He won a gold glove last eyar but the stats say he didn't deserve it. He's a career .261 hitter. I'm sruprised the Braves didn't wait for a better player to become available.

He is signed thru 2011, with a 2012 option for $10.65M (with a $1.25M buy-out).

Great move by both teams really, McLouth was EXTREMELY expendable due to the bucs' outfield mess, and they got some great pieces in return.

The Braves didn't give up either of their 2 untouchables, and recieved a top 5-10 CFer.

Pirates have given away Jason Bay, Marte, Nagy and now McClouth over the last 1 year.

Question? When is it time to start cleaning out the front office?

coop, I agree that McLouth is overrated, but he's a pretty good offensive player. He has a career OPS above .800 and one of the best stolen base percentages in baseball. Even having a subpar offensive season to date, he's still putting up an OPS over .800 and 9 for 9 in steals. Yes, he's a poor defender in CF (ranked 35th in the league last season by +/-) but the bat should play in a corner spot when Schafer is ready. And with McLouth in his age 27 year, he should perform at his peak for the duration of his contract.

He's as good a player as the Braves could possibly hope to obtain for that package. I don't think it is enough to put the Braves into the playoff picture with the Mets and Phils, but it certainly should improve the team.

"I call 2013 as the year McCutcheon gets traded for prospects as part of the Pirates' ongoing "youth movement"."

LOL

3 scrubs for 1 scrub.

I agree with the economy comment

However I don't see this as too too one sided. Not as bad as the Bay trade, for example

Morton is a valuable, if not overly exciting, commodity

Hernandez is intriguing

McClouth was a -40 CF last year, although he did put up good offense for the position obviously

OMG!!!!!! Move over Raul Ibañez and Carlos Beltran, here come McLouth and the Braves!

Posted by: Peavo | June 03, 2009 at 06:29 PM

haha. i know you're giddy and all about McLouth but you really didn't compare him to those two did you? they're not even close.

"Does this mean its time to add McCutchen to the fantasy team?"

Already on it, on all five of my teams.

Good trade for both sides. The Braves get a good hitter for a miserable offensive outfield and someone who isn't just a rental, the Pirates get three good prospects including one who is major league ready.

And the Braves are something like 23-5 when scoring four or more runs so if the offense starts giving a bit more to the fantastic pitching (which now includes Tommy Hanson), then this is a legit contender for the playoffs. Should be a good race in the NL East all year.

Braves Perspective:

McLouth is not THEE guy that I thought they needed BUT he is a very good start and an obvious improvement over what they have already.

Pirates Perspective:

Makes room for a cheaper CF option in McCutchen and you add to young arms to the mix.

Pirates Fan Perspective:

Same crap, different year. It's like the FO is saying "We suck and will do so for the next 3 years, so let's dump salary and get younger". McClouth is relatively young (27) and under control for 3 years at a reasonable price.

I really like this trade for the Pirates. It's an even deal, but you do realize that MOST trades are not going to be insanely lopsided.

I think the first thing you have to say is that Nate McLouth is a corner outfielder, not a centerfielder. He's awful defensively in CF. A corner outfielder with a career OPS of .801 suddenly becomes that much less impressive.

And, McLouth is not the player you keep around.

Morton- First of all, he's dominated the minors. Second of all, he's only had a 74 inning sample size in MLB. If we gave up on pitchers after 74 MLB IP, that's just stupid.

Locke- He's actually pitching better than his ERA shows. He hasn't had an FIP above 3.64 at any level of the minors so far. That's good.

Gorkys- Young, toolsy CF prospect.

I am going nuts! This is a great trade. We have him for 3-4 more yrs.

How's X doin this season? Marte?
Yeah the Bucs got hosed there.

As for the Bay trade, Laroche is hitting .300. Moss is hitting mid .260's...and these guys weren't the center piece of this trade. Both are solid MLB players and will be for 5 more years in Pittsburgh

This is not as good a trade for the Braves as they think it is. A lot of McLouth's value come from hitting at the short RF at PNC. Check out the tasty .180 McLouth is hitting away from PNC.

As for the players the Pirates are receiving, Hernandez is the Braves #4 propsect per BA. He projects as a plus defensive LF that can play a plus defensive CF.
He'll hit leadoff in a year or two.

Locke and Morton are more valuable the the Bucs than the Braves.

The Braves get the nod now, but this one will turn into a win for the Bucs.

Hanson wasn't traded for Peavy last year. I don't understand why every team's fans believe their decent player is worth Hanson, Heyward or both.

do you guys think mclouth will lead off?

McLouth is not nearly as bad a defensive player as you all are making him out to be. His UZR/150 in center this year stands at -1 and last year was -14. Yes he's below average but he's not a mediocre defensive player. He's much better suited to play left field and that's where he'll likely end up in atlanta after this year. He puts up a .350 OBP and will OPS between .820-.850. His BABIP this year is 23 points below his career average so he should improve from here on out. I don't think the Braves "won" this trade but they clearly needed to make a move and got a very good player without giving up something irreplaceable. Hernandez is under Schafer, Morton would never have made the ML staff, and Locke is not even our best low-level lefty (cole rohrbough).

@ PL-

I wouldn't give up on raking the Braves' farm system just yet.

Anderson-McLouth-Frenchy is a f'n JOKE of an OF defensively. And 2/3 OFers still can't hit, unless its a LHP and Diaz is playing.

And there's always the Mets. You think their division rival trading for a bat and having a vastly superior pitching staff to them hasn't busted Omar Minaya's chops yet. Especially if Delgado doesn't come back healthy and effective. He's really old so its unlikely.

And players on other teams, of course, get hurt.

I think McClouth will lead off. Its one of our biggest holes and I believe he fills it. Does anyone have the numbers for McClouth of his lead off stats vs his other spots? It would be best to have the number of at bats per spot.

personally if i was a braves fan I'd be more excited to see hanson come up and not hang onto Glavine. that took some guts on Wren's part to sign off on a HOF'er like that for a #1 pitching prospect. I'll be watching that Milwaukee game on mlb.com

Good trade for both teams.

Obviously the two clubs are going in a different direction. The Pirates of today cannot compete. Holding on to McLouth was costing the club money without making them remotely competitive.

By moving him now, the Pirates add pieces for the future. They might suffer an extra few losses in 09 but nothing dramatic. Now, if they can ship of LaRoche, Wilson, and Sanchez they would really be cooking.

For the Braves they trade away excess and land a good OF for the next few years. Solves both a short and long-term problem.

goldenglove,

haha. that's hysterical. tell me will anyone not "CONTINUE TO GET BETTER" or maintain where they are? Not one player will get worse? Good luck with that one. I know you're excited as you should be but let's be a little realistic please.

I love irony...for days now the debate on MLBTR has been is Morton worth headlining a deal for Luke Scott and now he is the 3rd piece of the deal for Nate McLouth. Don't get me wrong I love McLouth and I hope the best for him and the Braves. But he is pretty bad in center and much better suited for the corner as some else mentioned. In the corner though he becomes very similar to Scott and while he has a speed advantage Scott def. out hits him. Now I don't think Scott would have cost this much but I do find it interesting that Braves fans are happy about this deal when they gave up ALOT more than Morton but were so adamant against a Scott deal.

It's a solid trade for both teams, Braves def. fill a need and they don't give up their top guys. Pirates get a back of the rotation starter. And two young high upside guys at prime positions.

all u get for a gold glover OF with great defence is two pitchers nobody heard of an sum guy named gorky???? epic FAIL

"all u get for a gold glover OF with great defence is two pitchers nobody heard of an sum guy named gorky???? epic FAIL"

Gorkys and Jeff are both top prospects for 2009, and Morton isn't a prospect anymore, but everyone has been talking about him for about a week on here.

i am very excited to see that Hanson is finally coming up i must say it is about time.

and as for the trade i think it was a good one. i think having mclouth is a great bat to add in an OF that doesnt have a lot of power right now.

i just hope the braves can add another power bat and i will be happy.

The reason I put all of those "betters" next to alot of the players is that those truely have not hit their prime. It's not that I think they will get better, it's that they should be expected to get better.

And I'm a homer, so I didn't really feel like putting anything next to the players who will get worse, but yes, some guys like Chipper and Lowe will inevitably decrease in value as they age.

"the Braves acquired Nate McLouth from the Pirates today"

Omar Minaya picks up the phone..........