The Braves are adding to their outfield, announcing agreement with the Tigers on a deal that brings in Robbie Grossman. Minor league pitcher Kris Anglin is headed back to Detroit.
It’s a familiar situation for Braves president of baseball operations Alex Anthopoulos and his staff. Atlanta famously picked up a handful of lower-cost outfielders at last season’s deadline, then reaped the rewards with excellent second halves from players like Eddie Rosario and Jorge Soler. They’d of course love if Grossman could offer anything resembling that kind of production, but the veteran outfielder is amidst a rough 2022 campaign.
Through 320 plate appearances, Grossman has a .205/.313/.282 line with just two home runs. He’s still drawing walks at a strong 11.9% clip, but that’s down from last year’s elite 14.6% mark. More concerning has been the lack of power coupled with an uptick in strikeouts to a worrisome 28.1% rate. Nevertheless, the Braves are betting on his more solid track record.
Grossman was one of Detroit’s more productive hitters last season, tallying 671 plate appearances across 156 contests. He hit .239/.357/.415 with a career-best 23 longballs. That came on the heels of an excellent showing in a limited sample with the A’s during the shortened 2020 campaign. Grossman’s batted ball quality plummeted this season, but he’s continued to demonstrate a patient approach and showcase solid bat-to-ball skills.
Atlanta recently lost Adam Duvall to a season-ending injury, leaving them on the hunt for corner outfield assistance. Grossman adds a depth bat to a left field/designated hitter mix that also includes Rosario and Marcell Ozuna. Both players have below-average offensive numbers this season themselves, leading the Braves to look for additional options for manager Brian Snitker. Grossman’s a short-term pickup, as he’s set to hit free agency at the end of the season. He’s playing this season on a $5MM salary, around $1.75MM of which is yet to be paid.
In return, the Tigers pick up a young hurler whom the Braves selected in the 16th round last season. A product of Howard College, the 21-year-old Anglin has spent most of the season in Low-A. Through 12 appearances (seven starts), he’s worked 30 1/3 innings of 5.93 ERA ball. Anglin has punched out a solid 25.2% of opposing hitters, but he’s walking batters at an elevated 13.3% clip.
Chris McCosky of the Detroit News was first to report the Tigers were trading Grossman. Joel Sherman of the New York Post reported the Braves were the acquiring club. Cody Stavenhagen of the Athletic reported Anglin’s inclusion.
Image courtesy of USA Today Sports.
I said the same thing when the Braves got Rosario and Soler, but I’ll say it again…….c’mon really? That’s the best you can do?!
Guess Ian Happ dream is gone.
Drury…way better option!
Happ plays second, can play the outfield, + switch hits. He is everything the Braves need.
While he can play second, he doesn’t do it well, and hasn’t done it for a long time
He will be a long-term outfield bat the Braves need. He can play 2nd til Albies comes back.
Happ has played 2nd like twice under David Ross. I think it was because KB played LF and maybe Bote got hurt.
Only played a handful of times at 2nd under Joe Maddon.
Happ has 67 career games at 2nd and only 21 of those were full games. And 44 of those were in ‘17, his rookie year. Asa Cubs fan, you don’t want him anywhere near 2nd!
I thought he hit a lot of doubles
Yeah. Happ doesn’t play second
Soler, Pederson and Rosario all had potential is the difference. High ceilings with a poor track record.
Not so much with Grossman. This is not the same thing. Even in a best case scenario based solely on evaluation of potential talent the ceiling is much lower.
Just play Rosario full time already and hope he turns it around.
MJ: It’s obvious that Grossman will be the rh side of a platoon w/Rosario. Grossman hits lefties well. Rosario can’t hit them at all.
Happ would have cost Muller + Shewmake at the very least.
Good on-base guy…
Not now he isn’t
Grossman is only hitting .205.
People can scream all day that BA is an antiquated stat, but I’m sorry – .205 sucks no matter what delusions you hold.
Yeah, and at least the Joey Gallos of the world could slug homeruns in that 1 in 5 times they do hit the ball.
FWIW, Soler was hitting .192 AVG when acquired in 2021. Pederson at .230 AVG. His OBP is .035 points under his career AVG, which is really the only thing AA is focused on. Take pitches, work the count, raise a pitcher’s pitch count, get on-base some and set the table for Harris/Acuna behind you.
A pic of a bag of balls would be a straight up trade
It’s like Coolbaugh declared, “SCREW PLATE DISCIPLINE!!! I have seen the light, and the future is hacking at anything close with reckless abandon no matter what the count.” The organization said a collective, “HURRAY!!!!” And here we are.
Coolbaugh needs to go!
And Soler was hitting .192 when the Braves got him last year. Let’s see what happens.
Soler was hitting .192 when the Braves got him last year. You never know.
AA probably picked up Grossman to platoon. He smashes lefties .364/.479/.520 from the right side this year and a 119 OPS+ lifetime against them.
So you’re correct about his overall BA but that overlooks his strength. I really like the move for ATL
Why do they even want Grossman?
Almost as bad as those 3 flawed OF’s AA got last trade deadline.
He walks. Quiet upgrade over Rosario.
He’s torched lefties this year. Platoon or bench piece.
There it is.
.364/.479/.520/.999 vs. southpaws this year
On a .482 BABIP against southpaws. That’ll hold
Yeah, but what’s his xWOBAloney?
Damn I should’ve kept reading the comments before posting. Good call fink
Grossman .364 against lefties and .143 against right ganders … would be in an obvious platoon with Eddie
My concern is Eddie isn’t hitting any pitching well this season.
Grossman has some speed too.
Absolutely vile move. Disgusting – gross even.
You really think it’s gross, man?
You my friend are just a Relic of the Animals of this world. 🙂
One of their best albums.
Great album!
One of their best albums!
Too much Roger Waters on that album. Not enough Rick Wright.
I hope we didn’t give up more than a bag of balls. Scratch that, I would have kept that balls.
Once he leaves detroit he’ll turn back the clock to last year and rake. Tigers are cursed this year. Glad to see him go to a contender.
Probably not much return, he has been awful.
Been a hall of famer vs lhp.
Grossman in the NL seems weird to me
I agree. There are major differences between the AL and NL. How will he cope with the change?
Huh?
Thats Gross… Man. (Ill show my way out)
Small sample size but Grossman has a near 1.000 OPS against left handed pitching.
Yes … and Eddie will play against righties
Wait about 5 minutes and Bleacher Nation will have an article up about this. I swear that Bert/Brett/Brat guy just mooches off this site and puts a whole lot of bug-eyed emo into it.
Then why do you read it?
As always, we await further developments.
The comment section is lit tho
It’s not just the lack of hitting and power this year – Grossman has been all-around bad. Two straight games I saw him throw home from LF way too late to get the runner, allowing the batter to take second on the throw. smh
Lightning in a bottle for the Braves again? AA seems to hit me on these under performing bats.
Nice. Glad they were able to move him for anyone at all. Better served to give his roster spot to a young player/Meadows if he ever gets back.
Not the Duvall replacement I expected. Not much of a bat these days, though a solid defender who can talk a walk.
Drury…Don’t understand why no one is trying to get Drury Farmer or Solano…or heck even Mahle.
Guy will have a summer in ATL
I have absolutely zero idea what the Braves see in Grossman. The stats aren’t pretty. I’m just hoping this is a depth move and they’re still going to improve LF.
.999 OPS vs. lefties. Braves should try taking switch hitting away from him if they want him to ever face a RHP though.
Al’right, that makes it a little easier to understand. Wouldn’t have been my fifth choice even, but I can’t muster any rage on a day they locked up Riley for a decade and got a better SP than I expected.
.143/.241/.430 in 224 plate appearances versus RHP
This has to be their plan. You cannot hit him from the left side. If they can platoon him from the right, he can hi .280+ with some pop.
Idk, Tigers hitters as a whole have struggled bad! Their hitting coach has been tinkering with the players hitting mechanics and has em all screwed up. This was confirmed by Torkelson after he was sent down. Idk. I think the coaching and top brass of that team needs to be blown up and rebuilt instead of the roster lol. Grossman needed a change of scenery so why not ATL. Nothing like playing with the reigning WS champs to bring back someone’s fire. Still need a 2nd baseman though. No way can ATL continue to go with Arcia and Adrianza until Ozzie comes back. Gotta go for Drury.
THIS!!!!
I just don’t understand. One of the best pitching coaches EVER… and one of the worst hitting coaches EVER.
Can that possibly be a thing? Can you be that polarized in hiring? Gah!
This team needs new hitting instructors… not blowing up the team.
Good to see them move on from Grossman. He’s a FA at the end of the year anyway. He did well for the Tigers for quite some time. Just fell off the wagon this year…. likely due to your point.
Did you know that the Tigers have the same hitting coaches this year as they did when they got those good performances out of Grossman, Schoop, Candelario, and Baddoo last year? Do you really think they are doing something different this year than last? Same coaches, same philosophy. Sometimes, the players just need to perform.
I wonder about this… For all I know, the hitting coaçhes are doing something different.
I’m aware. Same as players, hitting coaches can struggle from year to year too. The fact you’re trying to defend a hitting coach from a team that can’t get out of their own way year after year is quite odd. Seems maybe the kool-aid the Tigers GM and owner is serving you is spiked with alcohol? To have all these current top prospects up at a time I’m the same year all struggle days a lot imo. Hard to rebuild a team when your prospects come up and lose all their confidence year after year and have to be sent back down to gain it back. I feel bad for Riley Greene right now. His defense is keeping him in Detroit only to let his bat die off by being up with this dumpster fire for so long.
“To have all these current top prospects up at a time I’m the same year all struggle days a lot”?
Took a while for me to decipher that.
Man have the Tigers got another deal for you!!!!!
Schoop for a bag of Baseballs just to clear another 40 man spot.
A for ATL. Don’t know how you could have got him cheaper. Great pick up. Crushing lhp.
D for DET. They dumped some salary and got a prospect but nothing exciting. D is a passing grade here.
If he’s crushing lefties, he must be three stages beyond awful against right-handers.
Brutal. But all he needs to do is keep hitting lefties. However he has hit righties past years so maybe work with him, change of scenery, gets some reps in games that aren’t close and see what happens.
Waiting on the big move.
These are big moves. No need to trade elite prospects when you can pick up rentals every year for cheap, play the matchups and get all star production.
This team is not in a place line up wise where it needs cheap rental options. Because money wise stuff still has to give. He still has a decent amount more in the tank to give us. Brace yourself. Should be something big falling down the pipes. Should be glorious.
This is a bench bat, at best platoon against one side only. I said big move.
Ironically, the best move they could make may be bringing back Waters and put him straight into left field. He’s killing in Omaha. Looks like he just wasn’t comfortable in Gwinnett. He has hit everywhere else.
To be honest have kept up with much minor stats this season. Seems a little harder to get them than how I used to. Thanks for the head up. Even with the Sir gripping me tight. The bat, ya know lol.
Haven’t
I hope AA is right again.
Check out Grossman’s platoon splits.
Well, there is this year’s version of an underperforming veteran on the cheap
Smart move for tigers now they have a roster and outfield spot open for Juan Soto
Soto will be Avila’s “Dombroski Cabrera” Trade. That is why Skubal was pulled early today.
Strict platoon with Rosario. Grossman has a .999 OPS against lefties.
Yes !
Of course, they still need someone who can hit righties.
Looks like we got that outfielder. Biggest Braves news of the day Riley 10 year extension!
Maybe the Tigers will promote Kerry Carpenter to replace Grossman… Might as well.
Braves probably claimed Jankowski but since Seattle has a lower record they were able to get him. Braves then had to move on to Grossman
@Camden
OMG! You have a strange obsession with Jankowski.
and here i thought reese mcguire would be the grossest man traded today
Any other yet, this is a fine deal. But he’s been pretty bad this year ….
Pretty good trade for the Braves. They give up literally nothing and probably in a winning environment, better lineup, and hitter’s park they get a lot of high end 120 to 130 OPS+ production
Youre guaranteed good BB% so even if he hits only .230 the OBP will still be around .340. I expect though in that ballpark and being in a tougher lineup his production will skyrocket
If this low level pitcher can win a few Cy Youngs and be HOF ……we will get our revenge for the John Smoltz deal
Grossman is hitting .364 against lefties and .143 against right handlers … Robbie will platoon with Rosario so he will face lefties .., His power numbers fell off a cliff compared to last year … maybe he can get it back for a while !
Best team in MLB vs. southpaws just got better. Will be nice against Urias, Kershaw, Anderson, Heaney.
Basically Adam Duvall 2.0.
Great defense and has power, but strikes out too much.
He’s just the opposite of Duvall, actually. High on-base but low power, and below-average defense.
You can’t make an error on a ball you can’t get to, but Grossman did set a MLB record for consecutive games without an error this year. Then he promptly drops 2 fly balls in 2 weeks.
The Braves have one of the weakest farm systems in MLB, and one of the strongest MLB teams. So, it makes total sense for them to pick up depth players like Grossman, Odorizzi and Adrianza without giving up any significant prospects. I like all these deals for the Braves. Plus, Kirby Yates should be ready to join the bullpen very soon.
Now for the Braves to trade for Noah and stick it to the Mets. He starts game 5 and completes a 5 game sweep. The overachievers will go on a dry spell at some point. It is getting ridicious.
Braves got completely Robbed……Gross
This is going to be a miserable deadline for the tigers, Al Avila will give all that talent away for nothing. The rebuild is back on and the solution is right in front of them, Fire Al Avila. Chris Illitch is not the owner his father was, and his unwillingness to fire Avila shows fans he puts profits first.
The owner is the problem. No way Al Avila is this pathetic all on his own. He’s been around long enough to not be this obviously dad. I think Chris Illich is not a serious owner and the only reason the tigers acquired high cost free agents was to attract attention of potential buyers. Otherwise, the entire organization at every level is not at the same level other organizations are.
Grossman will be Joc Peterson for Braves. As a Braves fan losing Freeman said it all. Olson is no Freeman and now we have a DH spot available. No Freeman means no World Series. Unless you think the Braves will move for a Freeman type of player? If not, no World Series.
As long as Acuna doesn’t get another acl they got him.
They have a better record than last year with Freeman…
Since Freeman and his agent weren’t on the same page, ATL has extended Olson and Riley. Sad to see Freeman go and can’t wait to see him down the road, but this is the best possible scenario for ATL’s future. Now, ATL needs to be batter the dough and serve it up Fried to the Max.
Hope this finally opens door for Kerry Carpenter in a MLB Tiger jersey. OPS over 1000 and almost 30 HR in minors for Detroit
Matt Joyce ver2.0
Happ would be great as y’all have said. But maybe a deal couldn’t be made
THANK GOD, they got anyone for him. With Fulmer blowing up so much in July, he’s another one. Well, onward an upward.
I can’t believe any team wanted Grossman and was willing to pay his salary for the rest of the way.
This same comment was said this time last year for Soler, an injured Rosario, Pederson. Some things never change. Chef AA heading into the kitchen to turn Detroit’s chicken s*** into chicken salad.
Well, regardless of how Braves fans feel about Grossman, I’m gonna miss him in Detroit. Solid player, goes out and plays hard every day. Mashes lefties and plays excellent defense. Gonna be missed in our clubhouse.
Disregard the criticism. We’ve wanted him for the last few years. His power seems to have tapered off this year, but it should pick up somewhat going from Comerica to Truist, but his calling card is OBP and defense. For me, he’s a Michael Harris-type (hits southpaws really well) with speed, limited power, etc. It’s a AA-type move to go after the guy with productivity for years that’s dipped this year on a bad team and bring him into a productive lineup and see if we can maximize his value.
That’s right he just had his 440 error free streak snapped. Plus he can play all 3 outfield positions.