The Braves claimed Joe Mather off of waivers from St. Louis, according to the Cardinals' Twitter account. Atlanta has had interest in Mather for a while, reportedly offering Rafael Soriano for him two winters ago and discussing a different trade involving Blaine Boyer.
Mather, 28, has a .233/.287/.415 line in 211 career plate appearances. He can play all three outfield positions, so he gives the Braves some depth in case they don't retain non-tender candidate Matt Diaz and free agent Eric Hinske.
Interesting…I’ll say interesting…I’d actually really like to see Mather back up the Braves three OF’s…Much better than Matt Diaz at this point.
I don’t know about that, unless you’re speaking in terms of dollars. Statistically though, Diaz had his worst season — .250/.302/.438 — and it’s still better than Mather’s career line.
Financially though, yeah. Diaz around $2.75M-$3M isn’t a good investment.
I’ll be honest I didn’t mean it financially. But you’re right.
Mather has the ability to play CF or 3B or 1B, something that Diaz can’t do.
Offensively he’s probably more like Rick Ankiel though, unfortunately.
Thing is Diaz said he would play for Klondike bars as long as he got to play for the braves, he said he would take anything reasonable, and i think last year was a fluke i mean he almost had to get his finger amputated and he kept getting put up against Pitchers such as hamels and santana and sanchez. I wouldn’t expect him to get any more than 2 mil, and to be honest he’s the heart of the team i would love to have him and all he brings for 2 mil.
Boom! Done. No more moves needed…Championship!
I know that people find these comments unoriginal and not funny, but I love them.
What the hell!!! Atlanta offered you Rafael Soriano for Joey Bum Squad and you turned it down? Now is the time not to have him float out there when his wrist is finally healed. Morons.
Soriano was also coming off a season in which he only threw 14 innings, marking the third season of his career in which he’d thrown 14 innings or fewer due to injuries. At age 28 only. I’m sure there was no doubt in Soriano’s ability… just in his chances of actually staying healthy long enough to use that ability.
Mather was actually a decent prospect at the time too. When he first came up he was showing flashes of power and is still very athletic. I’m a big Cards fan but I don’t mind letting him go. We need the roster space anyways for some of our other prospects that are coming up and we really don’t have much of a place for him.
Hey, at least he’s cheap.
Great move Atlanta. Mather played mostly Center this year and also pitched in the mets, cards 20 inning game this year. But he has a bit of power and has some speed. He just needs a full MLB season. I like him alot honestly
Just like Corey A said Mather is a a great pick up, as a Cards fan I hate to see him go. He was a bit of a lat bloomer but will make a great bench player. He is faster and has more power than you would expect and can play all over. He came up an infielder and spent alot of time at third and took his fair share of spring training grounders threre as well in hopes of being more of a hot corner option for the Birds. But he looks better as an outfielder who is not a slob in center. I hope his wrists heal up well in ATL and he gets a shot to deliver.
After hearing this news …. I see The Braves in the next World Series. Wise Move Atlanta .. St Louis will feel & regret the loss.
And the Braves stockpiling of 4th and 5th outfielders continues.
Not a bad move depth is always great just not sure he has the ability to bring to the table as Matt Diaz.
Fan favorite (Joey Bombs will be missed) in St. Louis, but not bad for the Cardinals. He was passed by Jay, Craig, and Stavinoha in the depth chart and would have to compete with faster, better defenders in Robinson, Rapoport, Chambers, Henley, Luna, Pham, and the raw talent of Daryl Jones passing him this season as a 4th or 5th OF/future RF.
Really? did you just name Shane Robinson? All 5’4″ of him?
As a 4th or 5th OF? Yes. Great speed, range, and defense. I’d love to have him as the utility OF over Stavinoha…
Let me fix this:
I’d love to have (him as the utility OF) ANYONE over Stavinoha…
No, I’d actually like to have Robinson. The Cardinals lack pure speed outside of Rasmus and Jay, and Robison could give them that. Pujols, Holliday, and Molina all steal decent ammounts of bases, but that is off of jumps and reads only.
Actually, said it in jest, but Robinson’s speed is essentially useless to the Cardinals, as they don’t steal bases that often. TLR just doesn’t employ that type of offense.
He’s just not a good enough hitter to justify bringing him on. Our OF is stacked.
Speed also comes into play with going 1st to 3rd, 1st to home, 2nd to home, etc…the Cardinals wont play Whiteyball with Pujols in the lineup…but they could certainly be more aggressive and run better.
Categories:Atlanta Braves, St. Louis Cardinals, Transactions
This has Colby Rasmus rumors written all over it. :p
I was hoping the Braves would try not wasting roster space on career minor leaguers for once.
I don’t think teams like the Braves fully understand what it would take to acquire a guy like Rasmus. He has power, defense, speed, athleticism, etc. He’s also very very cheap for quite awhile longer. The Cards aren’t just going to trade him because there were some rumors flying around during the summer that he was having problems in the clubhouse. Logic would indicate that those problems are worth resolving to keep a guys like Rasmus.
My guess is that it’s going to take a high-ceiling, almost major league ready prospect plus maybe one or two more mid level prospects to hand him over. You just don’t see too many teams that have that VALUABLE of a player on their roster.
I think you mean Braves fans, because I’m sure Frank Wren knows the cost. It’s his job.
I was joking. I’m sorry if i didn’t come off like that. There have been it seems like at least 3 threads in the last 2 months with people proposing trades left and right and cardinals fans pretty much rejecting all of them, some of them reaching 200+ comments.
I agree that it would to a massive haul for Rasmus to be moved, and I can’t see the Cardinals getting good enough value in return for any offer to seriously be considered.
I’d do Randall Delgado and the mid spec
And the offseason transactions officially begin for the Braves. Mather is a cheap right-handed power bat off the bench as well as adds to the Braves versatility. Now either Infante or Mather can play third if Chipper’s out, or McLouth could platoon with him in either left or center.
Some depth won’t hurt. He can’t be much worse than Melky, and we’re not going to be paying him as much. Bring him to ST and see if he can’t grab a roster spot.
I hope this is just a depth signing. Because the last thing the Braves need is another guy who can’t walk and hits for just moderate power.
Re: Rasmus:
Delgado/Vizcaino, Jurrjens, and Infante or a low B-level prospect. Braves have pitching prospects in excess, Jurrjens is about to get very expensive very quickly, and Infante is a bench bat that had a career year helped along by a ridiculous BABIP.
“Jurrjens is about to get very expensive very quickly, and Infante is a bench bat that had a career year helped along by a ridiculous BABIP.”
Not much of a salesman, eh?
How about this scenario…
Colby Rasmus, Brendan Ryan and Lance Lynn for Jayson Heyward
All of you Braves fans thinking “There’s no way we would trade Heyward!” Well duh! How do you think we feel about trading Rasmus?
well at least Heyward likes Atl and hasnt demanded a trade either
I don’t think “demanded” and “asked” are the same thing. If Colby was refusing to play until he was traded to another team, then you might have something. However, he asked for a trade in July, and has since worked out his issues with the team and TLR.
Either way he doesn’t want to play for the Cards anymore, I personally don’t think the Cards are not going to get what they want in any deal. They should just keep him and let him play out his contract but it could turn ugly in the clubhouse though if he’s really adamant about not playing in St. Louis.
“Either way he doesn’t want to play for the Cards anymore”
I love how one rumor that a player asked for a trade leads people to believe that the player doesn’t want to play for that club anymore. It’s ridiculous! I’m willing to bet that all he really wants is playing time, which he’ll most likely be getting next year. After seeing all of the commotion go on last season I don’t see LaRussa benching him as much as he did, even if he’s slumping.
Colby Rasmus will be the starting center fielder for the Cardinals next year and for years to come. If he’s not, then it’ll be because they got a Jayson Hewyard or a Gordon Beckham in a very lop-sided deal that went the Cards way.
Good move I suppose since we will no longer have Melky, Ankiel, and possibly Diaz or McLouth. We have no one in the minors who can be serviceable at this point.
I’d love to see Daryl Jones with the big league club this year. Same for Shane Robinson.
Mather is a better basket ball player than baseball 🙂