The Athletics have announced that the team has acquired righty Cody Martin from the Braves. In return, Atlanta will receive the 53rd overall international signing slot, which carries a bonus allocation of $388,400. To create roster space for Martin, Oakland has designated first baseman Nate Freiman for assignment.
Martin, 25, gives the A’s a Major League ready bullpen option that has logged 21 2/3 innings in the Braves’ bullpen this season. He’s struggled to a 5.40 ERA in the Majors, but Martin has excelled in the minors, working to a 2.10 ERA with 8.7 K/9 and 2.4 BB/9 in 34 1/3 innings — six starts and one relief appearance.
Freiman, 28, was a Rule 5 pick of the Athletics out of the Astros’ organization in 2013. He batted .256/.309/.408 between 2013-14 with the A’s, playing primarily against left-handed pitching, but he’s struggled to this point of the season at Triple-A. In 35 games with Nashville this year, Freiman has batted just .171/.225/.188 in 129 plate appearances.
Yet another nice move by GM John Hart.
I expect ATL will dovetail this trade with another as they’re looking for a return of about $600K in bonus money so as to avoid penalization. Since Hart and Coppolella came to the Braves the team’s in a better place to make such a deal. Maybe it’ll be with team like the Yankees that won’t be in the mix for any of the top 50 international prospects.
Make a few more trades to get intl money for no penalty, and then we can dive in next year when every other big market club can’t sign anybody!
Fantastic trade on both ends. A’s get a young depth arm for money they weren’t going to spend. Braves get closer to avoiding penalties and can afford to give up an arm, as they have plenty, and as Martin isn’t really a big name by any means. Win-win, makes perfect sense for each club.