Braves Rumors

Minor MLB Transactions: 6/16/16

By Steve Adams | June 16, 2016 at 8:30pm CDT

Some minor moves from around the game…

Righty Brandon Gomes has been released by the Cubs, as Baseball America’s Matt Eddy recently reported. The 31-year-old had thrown 167 relief innings over the last five years with the Rays, working to a 4.20 ERA with 7.8 K/9 against 3.3 BB/9. He had struggled with command this year at Triple-A in the Chicago organization, however. In his 22 2/3 frames, Gomes allowed ten earned runs on 14 hits and 14 walks while striking out twenty.
The Orioles have re-signed lefty Andy Oliver, Roch Kubatko of MASNsports.com reports on Twitter. Oliver, 28, had recently opted out of his minor league pact with Baltimore, but evidently did not find a better opportunity elsewhere. He owns a nice 2.08 ERA over 34 2/3 Triple-A frames on the year, with 8.8 K/9 against 2.6 BB/9.
Veteran catcher Gerald Laird has signed a contract with the Mexican League’s Tijuana Toros, MLBTR has learned. The 36-year-old Laird signed the with D-backs prior to the 2015 season but appeared in just one game before a back injury sidelined him into late August, at which point he was designated for assignment and released. Laird enjoyed a productive season with the Braves back in 2013, when he batted .281/.367/.372 in 141 plate appearances. In parts of 13 Major League seasons, Laird is a career .243/.305/.353 hitter. He’s spent time with the Rangers, Tigers and Cardinals in addition to Arizona and Atlanta.
The Angels announced that lefty David Huff has cleared waivers and been sent outright to Triple-A Salt Lake. The 31-year-old made a pair of spot starts for the Halos this season but struggled in each and ultimately yielded seven earned runs on 13 hits and two walks in 5 1/3 innings. He’ll have the right to reject the outright assignment in favor of free agency, though he could very well accept due to the fact that the injury-riddled state of the Angels’ pitching staff could afford him another crack at the Majors later this summer.
Former Major League right-hander Robert Coello has been waived by the Nexen Heroes of the Korea Baseball Organization, as Jeeho Yoo of the Yonhap News Agency writes. In his place, the Heroes will sign right-hander Scott McGregor, who had been pitching for the Somerset Patriots of the independent Atlantic League (Mike Ashmore of MyCentralJersey.com reported the McGregor news earlier this week). The 31-year-old Coello hasn’t appeared in the Majors since 2013, when he posted a 3.71 ERA in 17 innings for the Angels. He had a 3.77 ERA in 62 innings out of the Heroes’ rotation this season, but Yoo notes that control problems (42 walks in those 62 innings) led him to be waived. McGregor, a longtime Cardinals farmhand, has a career 4.78 ERA at the Triple-A level and was throwing well for Somerset this season, having posted a 3.36 ERA with a 31-to-6 K/BB ratio in 59 innings.

Heyman’s Latest: Teheran, Ventura, CarGo, Lucroy, Myers, Turner

By Steve Adams | June 16, 2016 at 6:42pm CDT

Writing at todaysknuckleball.com, Jon Heyman breaks down the woes of the Dodgers and Angels. Both teams face difficult decisions over the summer. The Dodgers, at least, still seem positioned to contend and could play an interesting role on the trade market.

Here are more notes from the column:

Amidst the considerable amount of Julio Teheran chatter, one Braves source tells Heyman, “I don’t see the Braves trading Teheran.” That’s a less-definitive statement than the one Heyman received regarding Freddie Freeman, as a source told him the first baseman is “totally off limits,” which lines up with GM John Coppolella’s offseason comments. Heyman adds that the Braves have “tried to dangle” Erick Aybar in trade talks, but he has no value at this point and could simply end up being released, creating an opportunity for one of Atlanta’s top-tier shortstop prospects (Dansby Swanson and Ozhaino Albies).
Robin Ventura is on the hot seat with the White Sox, Heyman writes (adding more detail here). A team source tells him that there’s a feeling that “patience has been shown” and a change could benefit the team. Bench coach Rick Renteria, who formerly managed the Cubs, could succeed Ventura. Not that it’s particularly surprising, but Heyman adds that former skipper Ozzie Guillen wouldn’t be a candidate to return to his old post.
The Rockies haven’t yet started receiving calls asking about Carlos Gonzalez, but they’re expected to listen to offers despite hovering around .500 to this point of the season. GM Jeff Bridich tells Heyman that his current focus is on winning and adds that prized righty Jeff Hoffman, who headlined the prospects acquired in last July’s Troy Tulowitzki blockbuster, is “closer than he is far away.”
While Jonathan Lucroy is perhaps the most-cited trade candidate in baseball, GM David Stearns tells Heyman that an extension can’t be entirely ruled out. Heyman notes that if the Brewers are able to move Ryan Braun, they could look to reallocate some of those funds to locking up Lucroy, who is more open to an extension now that the Brewers are performing better than most pundits expected. There could, of course, be some level of gamesmanship there, as it would make sense for any team official to downplay a prime trade target’s availability.
The Padres are “open” to trading Wil Myers in the right scenario, says Heyman, but it still seems unlikely that’ll come to fruition. San Diego has received hits on Jon Jay and Derek Norris, though, and presumably the organization is more willing to part with those players.
There was talk of the Tigers pursuing Chris Davis over the winter, and Heyman says that was indeed the case. The club was considering an offer in the $180MM range for the slugger, per the report. Owner Mike Ilitch also pushed for Yoenis Cespedes over Justin Upton, but the club elected to grab the younger player. That choice is certainly up for debate after their respective starts.
The Phillies are obvious sellers, but most of their marketable assets reside on the pitching side of the equation. But the club sees infielder Andres Blanco as a plausible piece, with Freddy Galvis also potentially on the block. Blanco isn’t quite repeating his surprising 2015 season, but is hitting at around the league average rate and could be a useful utility piece.
With continued uncertainty surrounding Felix Hernandez, the Mariners are likely to explore the rotation market this summer. The club has received a nice boost from James Paxton of late, but many of its starters have long-term injury questions so it isn’t surprising to hear that the club is readying for an addition in that area.
Heyman also floats the idea that the Nationals could dangle top position player prospect Trea Turner in trade talks this summer. He wonders whether he could be the chip that lands a top-end reliever, citing Yankees hurler Andrew Miller and Aroldis Chapman. From my perspective, that would be rather surprising: Turner has shown himself ready for a full crack at the big leagues and is widely considered one of the game’s twenty best prospects. Even if the Nats don’t make him the starter in 2016, he’s a critical part of the team’s middle infield depth right now and an important future piece.
Veteran outfielder Shane Victorino has rejected several opportunities to join teams on minor-league deals, says Heyman. Victorino is holding out for a shot to join a big league roster.

Injury Notes: Parra, Hill, Simmons, Billingsley

By Steve Adams | June 16, 2016 at 9:00am CDT

The Rockies have placed outfielder Gerardo Parra on the 15-day disabled list due to a high ankle sprain, reports MLB.com’s Thomas Harding (via Twitter). Parra will be in a walking boot for the next week, but there’s no word beyond that on the length of time the first-year Rox outfielder will miss. Parra, 29, is hitting .263 and showing solid pop (.160 ISO), but he’s drawn just four walks this season (one intentional), which has resulted in a 274 OBP — the ninth-lowest in baseball among qualified hitters. A corresponding move for Parra’s absence hasn’t been announced, but the Rockies have Brandon Barnes, Rafael Ynoa and Raimel Tapia as minor league outfield options on the 40-man roster.

A few more injury situations worth monitoring…

Athletics lefty Rich Hill is still about a week away from throwing off a mound, tweets Susan Slusser of the San Francisco Chronicle. With his last outing having come on May 29, it seems likely that Hill will need to make at least one minor league rehab start, which could push his return back into late June or early July depending on the exact timing of his ability to throw off a mound.
MLB.com’s Mark Bowman writes that Braves right-hander Shae Simmons, who is recovering from 2015 Tommy John surgery, still doesn’t have a target date to return to the Atlanta bullpen after a pair of setbacks in his rehab. Simmons has had two bouts of shoulder discomfort, and while an MRI has revealed that the shoulder is structurally sound, he’s been diagnosed with tendinitis in his right lat muscle. The 25-year-old Simmons last pitched for the Braves in 2014 when he logged a 2.91 ERA with a 23-to-11 K/BB ratio in 21 2/3 innings.
Right-hander Chad Billingsley acknowledged yesterday in an interview with Bruce Hefflinger of the Crescent-News that his elbow injuries may have brought his career to an end. Per Billingsley, doctors told him at the end of the season to rest his arm for seven months, but that time frame has passed and he’s still unable to throw a ball at more than 50 to 60 percent. The concern with ramping up his intensity would be that it could lead to a torn flexor tendon. “If a tendon tore it would be total reconstruction surgery,” Billingsley explained. “If that happens you start flirting with everyday life. But I’ve not totally given up. Most likely it’s career ending. The doctors don’t know anybody that has come back from it. If I do come back, it will most likely be out of the bullpen in some kind of short relief.” Billingsley pitched 37 innings for the Phillies last season but had his season cut short by a flexor strain. He also had Tommy John surgery in 2013 and a second elbow operation in 2014.

Quick Hits: July 2 Market, Giants, Dodgers, Ubaldo

By Mark Polishuk | June 12, 2016 at 10:59pm CDT

Some news from around baseball as we wrap up the weekend…

With the next international signing window opening on July 2, Baseball America’s Ben Badler profiles (in two separate pieces) 10 youngsters likely to receive seven-figure bonuses. Kevin Maitan is perhaps the mostly highly-touted player of the entire 2016-17 class, as the 16-year-old Venezuelan shortstop is rumored to be in line for a bonus north of $4MM, most likely from the Braves. “Nobody is a can’t miss but it’s hard to see him missing,” one scout says of Maitan. As always, it’s well worth getting a BA subscription to read the full scouting reports and news, including how the Braves, Padres and A’s are connected to two players each, with others rumored to be signing with the Nationals, Astros, Rockies and Mariners.
The Giants and Dodgers both pursued some major free agent arms last winter, and the results of that hunt are being seen this season, Bill Shaikin of the Los Angeles Times writes. After missing out on Zack Greinke, the Giants pivoted to Johnny Cueto and Jeff Samardzija, who have both been workhorses for the club. The Dodgers weren’t interested in either Cueto or Samardzija at the price of their respective contracts with the Giants, and according to Cueto via an interpreter, the Dodgers never offered him a contract at all. “They were telling me to wait,” Cueto said. After missing out on Greinke, L.A. made two less-expensive signings in Kenta Maeda and Scott Kazmir, though as Shaikin notes, the Dodgers’ main issue this season has been a lack of offense.
Ubaldo Jimenez was rocked for five runs in just a third of an inning today, the shortest start of his Major League career. Jimenez now has a 6.89 ERA over 62 2/3 IP this season, leading Eduardo A. Encina of the Baltimore Sun to wonder just how much longer the Orioles can continue using him in the rotation. Jimenez can’t be sent with the minors without his permission, and releasing him isn’t likely with roughly $21MM owed to him through the 2017 season.
If the Orioles do replace Jimenez in the rotation, Dylan Bundy won’t be a candidate, as Encina details in another Baltimore Sun piece that the O’s are focusing on slowly rebuilding Bundy’s arm strength with an eye towards having him contend for a starting spot next spring. Buck Showalter said the aim is to have Bundy throw 60-75 innings out of the bullpen this season. Bundy, the fourth overall pick of the 2011 draft, has had his career delayed by several injuries, including Tommy John surgery.
Robinson Cano’s decision to sign with the Mariners after the 2013 season led to shockwaves throughout the second base market that could still be felt in some of this past offseason’s moves, the New York Post’s Joel Sherman writes. Of the six teams (the Cubs, Nationals, Mariners, Pirates, Mets and Yankees) Sherman ranks as the most impacted by Cano’s signing, the Yankees are ranked last, as it is still unclear as to whether Starlin Castro is the club’s long-term answer at the keystone.

Cafardo’s Latest: Brewers, Teheran, Kemp, Hudson

By Connor Byrne | June 12, 2016 at 4:45pm CDT

In regards to Brewers left fielder Ryan Braun’s potential availability this summer, one American League executive told Nick Cafardo of the Boston Globe, “That’s the name I’m waiting for.” Braun is in the first season of a five-year, $105MM extension, and both the money he’s owed and his PED history are roadblocks standing in the way of a possible deal, reports Cafardo. The writer adds that the quality of return in a hypothetical Braun trade will come down to how much of his contract Milwaukee eats. The 32-year-old has dealt with injuries this season, but he has still slashed an outstanding .316/.378/.541 with 11 home runs through 217 plate appearances.

Braves Release Dale Thayer

By Connor Byrne | June 11, 2016 at 6:59pm CDT

Less than two weeks after signing reliever Dale Thayer to a minor league contract, the Braves have announced the release of the right-hander. Prior to his brief stint in the Braves organization, Thayer spent a month with the Dodgers’ Double-A affiliate before opting out of his deal with Los Angeles on May 3. He’ll now look for work again after totaling just 1 1/3 innings with the Braves’ Triple-A team.

In his latest taste of big league action, the 35-year-old logged 37 2/3 innings with a 4.06 ERA, 5.97 K/9 and 3.58 BB/9 as a member of the Padres last season. That was Thayer’s fourth year with the Friars, whom he joined in 2012. He previously racked up major league experience with the Rays and Mets. All told, Thayer has pitched to a respectable 3.47 ERA, with a 7.62 K/9 and 2.36 BB/9, in 251 1/2 major league innings.

With just over four years of MLB service time on his ledger, Thayer will still be controllable through arbitration if he lands elsewhere.

MLBTR Roundtable: Trading Julio Teheran

By Steve Adams | June 10, 2016 at 6:34pm CDT

Earlier today, I laid out a high-level overview of the cases both for and against the Braves trading Julio Teheran. While there are certainly some gray areas in making a decision — every player, no matter how good, becomes tradeable once the value received in exchange reaches a certain point — we’ve asked the entire staff at MLBTR to offer its thoughts on whether the Braves should be open to making a move or should hang onto their best starting pitcher.

You can read the above-linked post for more info on the 25-year-old righty. Or, skip right ahead to the opinions of the MLBTR team:

Tim Dierkes: As the saying goes, “Better the devil you know than the devil you don’t.” Teheran has been in the Braves’ organization for nearly a decade, and they know him better than anyone. It was that familiarity that led them to sign him to a deal guaranteeing $32.4MM back in 2014, a fairly aggressive extension for a pitcher with less than two years of Major League service time. Research from Matt Swartz has shown that it is hard to avoid lemons when signing away free agent pitchers from other teams. The Braves may have good money to spend this winter in advance of their new stadium opening, but in addition to the issue of the “Other People’s Players” premium Swartz discovered, the free agent market for starting pitching looks historically bad. Even with Teheran, the Braves will need to add significant starting pitching if they hope to contend in 2017. Verdict: Retain him.

Steve Adams: There’s virtually no scenario in which trading Teheran makes the Braves better in 2016, and they’d be hard-pressed to find a deal that makes them definitively better in 2017 — the year in which they supposedly aim to contend in a new stadium. The Braves have stocked their farm with pitching depth, but Teheran is their best pitcher in the Majors right now, and his $32.4MM contract has enough surplus value that the asking price could (and should) reasonably rival the Shelby Miller haul. A return of that magnitude strikes me as extremely unlikely, and given the backlash they’ve had from fans in John Coppolella’s first season as general manager, moving the team’s clear top starter for more young pieces wouldn’t sit well with their audience. Verdict: Retain him.

Jeff Todd: As things stand, Teheran has had great results in three of his four full seasons in the majors. He’s young, he racks up innings, and he has an appealing contract. On the other hand, he doesn’t have elite swinging strike rates, isn’t much of a groundball pitcher, and has always outperformed ERA estimators — yes, even in 2015 — which have recently viewed him as a ~4.00 (and change) performer. In large part, then, his value is dependent upon whether one believes that’s sustainable. He’s still a nice piece regardless, and at worst he provides Atlanta with a sturdy mid-rotation piece as it exposes its top prospects to the majors, but I’m actually in favor of looking to sell while the gettin’ is good. Teheran’s value is up, especially with a mediocre set of fellow trade targets and a seemingly barren free agent starter crop coming this winter, and frankly I’m not bullish on Atlanta’s 2017 outlook. Too many things need to go right, and the lackluster overall free agent class may not be conducive to building out a competitive roster for a reasonable price. PR considerations aside, a deal that includes at least a high-quality, advanced position-player prospect makes sense to me, even if a truly premium youngster can’t be had. Verdict: Shop him.

Mark Polishuk: The Braves’ long-stated plan was to return to contention when their new ballpark opens in April 2017. While that timeline may have been pushed back a bit thanks to their terrible record this season, the organization obviously still wants to be competitive sooner rather than later. Even if they wait until 2018 to make a push, that’s still well within the life of Teheran’s contract and the prime of his career. If I’m the Braves, I hang onto Teheran now (barring a Godfather offer from another team, of course) since I’d find myself looking for a Teheran-type of pitcher within a year or two anyway. Verdict: Retain him.

Charlie Wilmoth: Not to straddle the fence, but I think the Braves should strongly consider trading Teheran but keep him if they don’t get a return they like. A rebuilding team should consider trading any veteran starter in the midst of a good year. You never know when a pitcher might lose velocity, get hurt, or decline for other reasons, so keeping Teheran to pitch for a bad team is risky asset management. Teheran and Shelby Miller are different types of pitchers, but Miller’s case demonstrates that principle. Even leaving aside the terrific return the Braves wouldn’t have received if they hadn’t dealt Miller, how bad would it have been for Atlanta if the Braves had kept him and then he had a 2016 season like the one he’s having now with the Diamondbacks? On the other hand, Teheran is only 25 and is under control and cheap through 2020, so he could easily be part of the next good Braves team. Add in that the Braves would surely like to play well next season for the opening of their new ballpark, and there are compelling reasons to keep Teheran around. I’d try to deal him, but if the offers are underwhelming, holding on is reasonable too. Verdict: Hung jury!

Connor Byrne: The crop of starters who are expected to be available prior to the trade deadline looks mostly unappealing, as does the upcoming class of free agents, so the rebuilding Braves should at least shop Teheran. The next several months could serve as the perfect time frame for the Braves to get more for Teheran than he’s worth. If they put Teheran on the block and don’t get a palatable enough offer, then keeping him wouldn’t be the worst thing in the world. With his team-friendly contract, Teheran won’t have to perform like much more than a back-end starter to provide value over the next few years, meaning the Braves won’t be in a negative position if they retain him. However, by no means should John Coppolella be so intent on acquiring a young, established major league hitter in return for Teheran that he summarily spurns other offers. Teheran’s only a year removed from a 4.00 ERA season with a below-average 2.34 K/BB ratio. We’re not talking about a Jose Fernandez-esque superstar here; rather, Teheran’s contract and durability are arguably the two best things he has going for him. The Braves shouldn’t need to be “overwhelmed” to trade him, then, even though Coppolella said otherwise last month. Verdict: Shop him.

That’s where we stand, but we’ll also open this one up to our readers with a poll (Link to poll for Trade Rumors mobile app users):

The Cases For And Against A Julio Teheran Trade

By Steve Adams | June 10, 2016 at 8:55am CDT

We’re firing up another new series here at MLBTR in which we’ll take one oft-discussed topic each week and present the high-level cases both for and against the move in question. Following that, we’ll present a roundtable of opinions from the MLBTR staff in a separate post and ask our reader base to weigh in on the matter with a poll.

With the Braves in full rebuild mode and their stated willingness to listen to offers for anyone not named Freddie Freeman, it’s only natural that Julio Teheran’s name has come up frequently early in the summer. Last week, MLBTR’s Connor Byrne examined the difficulties in identifying a trade partner that had both the need to add Teheran and the ability to part with the MLB-ready types of young talent which Atlanta is said to covet in a theoretical deal.

Teheran is off to an incredible start to his 2016 season, having pitched to a 2.85 ERA with 8.5 K/9, 2.5 BB/9 and a 42.5 percent ground-ball rate in 82 innings out of the Atlanta rotation. He also looks to be well on his way to a third straight season of 200+ innings in just his age-25 season. He’s benefited from some good fortune in terms of BABIP (.228) and strand rate (83 percent), but Teheran has posted a BABIP lower than the league average throughout his career and also posted strand rates that are above the league norm, so while some regression can be expected, it probably shouldn’t be assumed that those numbers will trend all the way back to the league averages.

We’re a good seven and a half weeks away from this year’s non-waiver trade deadline, and Teheran is pitching brilliantly for a last-place club in the midst of a rebuild, expect to hear his name floated with some degree of regularity between now and Aug. 1. However, does the very fact that he’s an appealing asset on a rebuilding club mean that Teheran should be traded? Let’s look at both sides of the coin.

The case for trading Julio Teheran

The case for the Braves to trade any player on their big league roster always starts at the same place: they’re a team that wasn’t good in 2015 and has been significantly worse in 2016. Atlanta is currently on a course for the No. 1 overall pick in the 2017 draft, and they’ll be among the few teams that are definitive sellers leading up to the Aug. 1 non-waiver trading deadline. The Braves will probably field calls on any and all pieces that could help a contending club, and Teheran, as noted above, more than fits that bill.

Given his strong start to the season, his highly affordable contract and the utter dearth of impact arms not only on the summer trade market but also on the upcoming free-agent market, there’s a chance that the Braves could coerce a team into parting with a potentially exorbitant package of young talent to pry Teheran from their hands. Atlanta reached that nexus of frenzied demand and willingness to surrender elite talent in the offseason’s Shelby Miller blockbuster, and there’s a case to be made that Teheran could, or at least should, be worth more. The D-backs, after all, were acquiring three years of Miller at arbitration prices, whereas a team dealing for Teheran would be taking on the remainder of this season’s salary ($2.06MM as of this writing) and three more years at $26.3MM. That’s three and a half years of Teheran for roughly $28.14MM plus a club option for $12MM in 2020 — his age-29 season. Last summer, the Rangers surrendered a package of Jerad Eickhoff, Jake Thompson, Jorge Alfaro, Nick Williams and Alec Asher in the Cole Hamels/Jake Diekman trade. Teheran’s entire contract is worth barely more than a season of Hamels, financially speaking.

Moving Teheran this summer could net the Braves an MLB-ready asset (as Eickhoff gave the Phillies or as Ender Inciarte and Aaron Blair gave the Braves in the Miller deal) as well as multiple high-ceiling, top 100 range prospects. The 2016 product is bad, and moving Teheran right now could net them two or more pieces that would help in 2017, when more of their vaunted farm system is at the Major League level.

The case against trading Julio Teheran

On the flip side, the Braves are aiming to contend in 2017, and Teheran helps them tremendously in that vein. Matt Wisler’s solid start to the season aside, Teheran is the Braves’ best pitcher. He misses more bats, generates more grounders and has displayed better control over the course of his career than Wisler has in his. Trading Teheran almost certainly makes the Braves a worse team in 2016, and there’s a very real chance that doing so would make them worse in 2017 as well. Acquiring MLB-ready assets is always a plus, but prospects aren’t guaranteed, no matter how highly regarded they may be. Teheran is performing well in the Majors right now and has done so since 2013, posting a cumulative 3.30 ERA in 689 1/3 innings.

The contract, as mentioned above, gives the Braves the best years of a pitcher that may not be a definitive ace but can clearly pitch near the top of a Major League rotation at an exceptionally affordable rate. Teheran is in his fourth season of big league service and would’ve been arbitration-eligible for the second time this coming winter. He’s earning salaries of $3.3MM, $6.3MM and $8MM for his arbitration seasons and can be controlled for just $23MM total for his first two would-be free-agent seasons. His arb years are cheaper than the likes of Wade Miley and Lance Lynn, and Teheran’s free-agent seasons are priced somewhere in the range of 50 to 75 percent of what they’d command on the open market (as is the case with most pre-arbitration extensions). There’s an enormous amount of value to the Braves themselves in that deal.

Beyond the on-field and financial reasons for keeping Teheran, the Braves have been aggressively working to fight the notion that they’re “tanking” in order to continue to build up the farm through the draft. General manager John Coppolella has repeatedly stressed that his hope for the 2016 season was an improvement over 2015’s record and strides toward a competitive product in 2017 — the opening season of the Braves’ new stadium, Sun Trust Park. Trading away their best pitcher for even more young, controllable pieces would only further fuel the tanking narrative, even if the return brought the potential for multiple contributors to the 2016-17 roster. The Braves would also face continued backlash from a fanbase that has been particularly vocal about its thoughts on the current rebuild, and while fan reaction shouldn’t be the deciding factor in a move, it’s certainly something of which the Braves’ brass must be mindful as it approaches the Aug. 1 non-waiver trade deadline.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

NL East Notes: Braves, Draft, Johnson, Mets, Bourjos

By Steve Adams | June 9, 2016 at 1:40pm CDT

Multiple draft outlets have noted the possibility that the Braves could cut a deal with high school right-hander Ian Anderson at No. 3 overall in tonight’s draft with an eye toward over-spending on the No. 40 selection. ESPN’s Keith Law noted as much in this morning’s final mock draft (subscription required and recommended), and Eric Longenhagen or ESPN and Fangraphs tweets that the team could do so with an eye on getting former No. 1 overall candidate Jason Groome at No. 40, though their willingness to do so is dependent on who comes off the board with the first and second selections. D1Baseball.com’s Frankie Piliere tweeted earlier today that Groome’s asking price is extremely high and connected him to the Braves while adding that he’s in a somewhat of a “freefall” as a result of his price tag. Jim Callis and Jonathan Mayo of MLB.com wrote in today’s draft buzz column wrote that Groome has floated an asking price of $4MM, which could cause some teams to shy away from him. Notably, the MLB.com pair also adds that Groome has now committed to Chipola Junior College in Florida after having previously been committed to Vanderbilt. In doing so, Groome would allow himself to be eligible for next year’s draft if he elects not to sign.

Mets Acquire Kelly Johnson

By Jeff Todd | June 8, 2016 at 4:38pm CDT

4:38pm: The Braves sent about $450K to the Mets in the trade as well, tweets the New York Post’s Ken Davidoff. That will help offset the remaining $1.268MM on Johnson’s 2016 contract. The Braves, then, are saving about $818K in the trade.

10:56am: The Mets have officially struck a deal to acquire utilityman Kelly Johnson from the Braves, as Adam Rubin of ESPNNewYork.com first reported on Twitter. Minor league righty Akeel Morris heading back in return.

New York and Atlanta are division rivals, but that didn’t stop them from linking up last summer on a deal that brought Johnson and fellow veteran Juan Uribe to the Mets. Johnson returned to Atlanta after playing a limited but important role for the eventual National League champs, only to be sent north once again.

The contending Mets have seen some holes open up this year due to injuries. In particular, first baseman Lucas Duda, third baseman David Wright, and catcher Travis d’Arnaud are in various stages of lengthy absences, while outfielder Juan Lagares is limited by a thumb injury.

Johnson, 34, figures to provide a stopgap at any number of positions. Over 11 years with eight organizations, he’s lined up at second base, all four corner infield and outfield spots, and even shortstop (albeit only for one game). The left-handed-hitting Johnson looks like a particularly good fit at third base, where he could share time with Wilmer Flores, though it’s fair to note that Johnson has never carried much of a platoon split.

At his best, Johnson is a reasonably solid defender and an average or better hitter with some pop. The question is how much is left in the bat. Over 132 plate appearances this year, he’s slashed a meager .215/.273/.289 with a single home run. That’s a good ways off of his lifetime .250/.330/.420 slash and double-digit annual long ball output.

In Morris, the Braves are getting a 23-year-old reliever who has just a single MLB appearance under his belt. Heading into 2016, he had posted three straight seasons of sparkling results while steadily climbing the ladder. Over his first 25 1/3 innings this year, all coming at the Double-A level, Morris has surrendered 13 earned runs and issued 16 free passes — though he’s also allowed only 19 hits while racking up 36 strikeouts.

Jon Morosi of FOX Sports first reported that a trade between the teams was close (Twitter link).

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