JUNE 20: The Braves have released Cahill, according to the MLB.com transactions page. They are still on the hook for the remainder of the $5.5MM in salary they assumed when they acquired Cahill from the Diamondbacks.
JUNE 11: The Braves announced (via Twitter) that they have designated right-hander Trevor Cahill for assignment and selected the contract of lefty Dana Eveland from Triple-A Gwinnett. Atlanta recently signed Eveland to a minor league deal after he opted out of a minors pact with the Red Sox.
Cahill totaled just 26 1/3 innings for the Braves this season, allowing 22 earned runs with 14 strikeouts against 12 walks. He did see his ground-ball rate recover from last year’s dip, posting an outstanding mark of 63.5 percent. However, that did little to help Cahill overcome an increasingly hittable repertoire of pitches and sub-par control.
Acquired late in Spring Training in a trade that sent minor league outfielder Josh Elander to the Diamondbacks (Elander has since been released), Cahill struggled through three starts with the Braves before losing his spot in the rotation and shifting to the bullpen. The Diamondbacks agreed to pay about $6.5MM of Cahill’s guaranteed $12MM, leaving Atlanta with about a $5.5MM gamble on the still-27-year-old righty.
The real value for the Braves, however, was likely in a technically separate but still-connected trade that was announced a couple of days after the Cahill swap. On Opening Day, the Braves traded minor league outfielder Victor Reyes to the D-Backs in exchange for their Round B Competitive Balance draft pick — the 75th overall selection in the 2015 draft. Comp Balance picks are tradeable, but not in the offseason. As such, a separate deal after the start of the regular season was used as a loophole, though reports at the time of the trade immediately linked that swap to the Cahill trade.
The Braves essentially paid $5.5MM to gamble on a rebound from Cahill and to acquire a reasonably strong draft pick, which they used to select left-hander A.J. Minter, who very well could have been selected a good deal higher had he not undergone Tommy John surgery in the spring.
Bless them.
Lol, Cahill.
They could’ve given the pitching opportunity to a random fan and would’ve had better success than when they went to Cahill.
LOL!!! Too bad, but is the truth since Cahill never regain his Oakland form… As a dback fan, first two year wash acceptable (not goo though) but last was totally a bust…
Life is grand! It’s truly been painful watching Cahill struggle on the mound. Wish the kid all the best in the world just far, far from the ATL
Cahill being shown the door in favor of Eveland.
That has to be humbling.
As an A’s fan who remembers the ’09 season where Eveland was terrible and Cahill was a future star, it’s downright stunning.
Hart’s Jedi mind tricks will pay off, eventually. I hope.
Like revamping the farm system and creating an extra $50M over the next 3 years (thanks Melvin Upton II & Padres)?
That’s what I mean. Let’s hope the people evaluating talent do their part.
will the Braves release him if he clears waivers or will they stash him at AAA? I can’t see someone wanting to pay the remainder of the contract but if he is released I can see some team signing a minor league deal to try and “fix” him, like every pitching coach thinks they can do.
White Sox would probably be all over that on a minor league deal
As a Braves fan, I am beginning to wonder if we are the team for rehabilitation. I keep seeing reports of pitchers recovering from Tommy John, some new guy has been out with back surgery…. Are all our hopes for the near future are pinned on recovering athletes? Trading the best closer in baseball, a three time golden glove winner in Jason Heyward and putting hope in recovering athletes. Strange decisions.
They traded Heyward and Walden (on the DL) for Shelby Miller and Jenkins. Not sure what that has to do with recovering athletes.
Not only that, you’d have to be nuts to complain about the Heyward-Miller trade right now.
The Heyward trade kinda reminds me of when the Braves got JD Drew.
Beachy and Medlen don’t think so. They were released instead of rehabbing.
All arm chair GM’s need to wait at least a year before they start griping. Nick Markakis, Shelby Miller, Jenkins etc are making them look foolish yet again
Well maybin has worked out pretty well. Beyond that Winkler cost next to nothing and freid was a nice buy low piece. If you buy low on players and they recover, you come out successful and looking genius, I don’t know what the issue is here
Knucklehead decisions!!
Why?
The trades made a lot of sense when they were made, and make even more sense now with how well players acquired through the trades have performed.
Phillies could offer him a MLB contract once he is released and then DFA Williams… Cahill is still young enough to take a flyer on for the Phillies…
He’s too young for the Phillies…..