The Tigers have announced they’ve traded reliever Joe Jimenez to the Braves for prospects Justyn-Henry Malloy and Jake Higginbotham. The Tigers will also send cash to the Braves.
Jimenez, 27, was a highly effective member of Detroit’s bullpen last season, tossing 56 2/3 innings of 3.49 ERA ball. Advanced metrics looked particularly favorably on Jimenez’ work, as his FIP sat at an even 2.00. The right hander struck out batters at a well above average 33.3% clip, while walking them just 5.6% of the time.
Originally signed out of Puerto Rico in 2013, Jimenez dominated the minor leagues on his way through the Tigers’ system, and was called up to make his big league debut in 2017. That year was a struggle for him, as he pitched to a 12.32 ERA in 19 innings. A .403 opponent BABIP certainly didn’t help there, and Jimenez would turn things around pretty quickly after that. His strikeout increased to 29.2% the following year, and Jimenez posted a 4.31 ERA over 62 2/3 innings, with a 2.90 FIP, earning a first trip to the All Star game that summer.
Like almost any reliever, Jimenez has had his ups and downs, and while 2018-19 saw him provide steady relief as a young arm in the Tigers’ pen, he had a rough couple of years thereafter. The shortened 2020 season saw Jimenez shelled for 2.8 home runs per nine innings, winding up with a 7.15 ERA. After experiencing a dip in strikeouts that year, he rebounded in that aspect a year later but saw his walk rate shoot up to 16.7% as he wound up with a 5.96 ERA. He looked dominant this year though, in what was easily his best year in the big leagues.
Jimenez will presumably slot into the back of the Braves’ bullpen. They’ve already got Raisel Iglesias, A.J. Minter, Collin McHugh and Dylan Lee as highly effective relief options, so Jimenez arms them with another weapon to use to close out games. Jimenez is arbitration-eligible for the final time this winter, and projected to take home a $2.6MM salary before hitting free agency next winter.
Turning over to the prospects the Tigers will receive, Malloy is the headline piece. He was the Braves’ sixth round pick in the 2021 draft, and made it as high as Triple-A in 2022, but spent most of the year below that. At Double-A, he hit .268/.403/.421 with six home runs in 238 plate appearances. Defensively, Malloy split time between third base and left field. He’s shot up the Braves’ prospect rankings since being drafted, and was their 6th best prospect on Baseball America’s recently released 2023 list. While their scouting report raises concerns over his defensive ability, the bat has plenty of promise, and he’s certainly hitting enough so far that he could be knocking on the door of the big leagues before long.
Higginbotham, 26, pitched 51 1/3 innings out of the bullpen at Double-A in 2022, posting a 4.73 ERA. Originally drafted in the 11th round back in 2018, Higginbotham’s posted a 3.30 ERA across four professional seasons in the Braves’ organization. He throws a mid-90s fastball, and mixes that with a sinker and curveball.
Photo credit: USA Today Sports.
Braves just got fleeced.
Atlanta is cold in the winter. You must stay warm.
Magnum and Higgins in back to back posts.
Mangum and Higginbotham.
AA is a top 5 GM in MLB, but Malloy seems like a good get. Why did he have to throw in the second guy?
so the tigers dont have to replace jimenez with another outside rp to fill in the system; higginbotham is org filler rp but malloy is a solid bat prospect with no defensive home or plus ability, which is the opposite of what the tigers in their oversized home field should be looking for
Good question. AA’s remarks post-signing was that they have been interested in him since last year. Who knows behind the scenes how this works, but maybe he tipped his hand, and the Tigers felt they were in a position of strength to negotiate. Not my favorite move, but at least we didn’t give Jansen $32M. He’s a great setup man for Iglesias, though.
So cheap they refuse to just sign a RP for $2 million; instead sending the 11th best prospect in their system in order to get cash to cover Jimenez measly $2 mil salary lmao
And only one year of control
JHM would be their “#6 prospect according to BA’s recently released 2023 prospect list” —not 11th. Read AA’s thoughts on trading JHM in his interview. He felt that JHM had nowhere to play after Riley’s extension. 1B and 3B for the Braves locked up for 8 and 10 years. The Braves have a better outfield prospect than JHM that nobody talks about because he was injured last season—-Jesse Franklin V. Sleeper w/big lh power, 45FV prospect. JHM is a 35FV w/a good hit tool, questions about his defense, and nowhere near the raw power Franklin has. Franklin’s a good defensive corner of’er that can play cf in a pinch. He had TJS in late April. Reports are he’ll be good to go in ST 2023. Probably start at AA Miss w/a good chance of jumping to AAA Gwinnett if things go well for him early next year.
Explains willingness to trade Malloy so think they could have engineered a slightly better deal. At a minimum, Malloy alone should have been enough without Higgenbotham.
It obviously wasnt.
Nah,the Braves are just making amends for the Doyle Alexander for John Smoltz trade from back in the 1980’s.
And this prospect is much more regarded than Smoltz was at that time.
@For Love: No—-he’s not “much more regarded than Smoltz was at that time.” Smoltz was drafted in the 22nd round by the Tigers only because he’d told scouts that he wasn’t going to play pro ball because he was going to attend Michigan State. When his home state team drafted him, he changed his mind.
Nash, I was there at the time and Smoltz was not regarded as the second coming. In fact, the hype was more about Alexander going 9-0 and getting the Tigers back into the playoffs than about the prospect they gave up for an aging veteran.
I was “there at the time” too. My point to you was about your claim that Malloy is “much more regarded than Smoltz was at the time.” Malloy’s a 35FV prospect w/no defensive home. Hope he turns out to be more for you guys than Travis Demeritte did. Btw—the Braves had every reason to trade Alexander for Smoltz. They were a last place team that needed to trade vets like Alexander for prospects. They didn’t care about Smoltz’s lousy record at AA. Braves scout John Hagerman told GM Bobby Cox that “Smoltz had the best arm I ever saw on a right handed pitcher.” Once Leo Mazzone told him to forget the changes Detroit tried to make in his delivery and just “be himself,” he developed quickly. Smoltz got a huge bonus (6 figures) from Detroit to entice him not to attend Michigan State. That’s the only reason a 22nd round draft choice got that kind of money then. If he had announced for the draft instead of scaring teams off by telling them he was going to college, he’d have been highly drafted.
@ ForLove: I should add that you’re right that “the hype” at the time was centered more on the Tigers adding Alexander for their pennant push. You’re absolutely right about that. In Atlanta (where I was) some extremely short sighted fans (that didn’t care the Braves were, as usual, mired hopelessly in last place) screamed bloody murder about the Braves dealing Alexander off. Both teams got what they wanted in the deal. Tigers got a pennant. Braves got a good young pitcher w/strong upside.
“For Love”…. I remember as a little kid going to a Tigers/Rangers & a Tigers/Twins game that season and Alexander started in both games. He beat Texas 9-0 and Minnesota 4-1. Great trade at the time, but of course we all know what happened eventually.
“Nashville”….Imma guess you’re young because you like all the new, weird, need an algebra degree to figure out stats, lol. Anyway, what’s “FV” mean??
FV is Future Value, a term used in prospect rankings. The 35 is the grade assigned to him by prospect rankers w/80 being the top grade. Wish I was young, lol. I’m 66. I grew up in Atlanta. Went to my first Braves game when I was 9 years old—-in the year they moved to Atlanta from Milwaukee, 1966.
Wrong. Great trade for the Braves!!
Wrong, terrible trade. Dude has a career ERA over 5 and they just gave up their future LF while ignoring a big FA market.
How often and when was the last time the Braves gave up a great player? I don’t think of them as weak in player evaluation. Prospect evaluators don’t like him defensively so not sure about starting lf.
Last yr when they traded Langliers. As for his defense, he is young enough to improve, especially if they leave him in LF instead of shuffling him around. His defense can’t be worse than Ozuna or Rosario.
Need to see more of Langliers to miss him. If he ends up being great it will be a mistake. But just good no worries. They brought in a valuable player so gotta give Oakland something.
Arm strength and speed don’t usually increase. Bat really needs to play.
Joey Wentz could be a good pitcher. Will find out more this year. He had injuries involved to totally gauge his overall quality. But did pitch a few good games at the end of the season after recovery. Shane Green isn’t a star. So I think the tigers won on that trade. But time will tell.
@DTD: Who’s an of’er the Braves have ignored in the FA market? Jesse Franklin V is a much better prospect than JHM. Far more power, much better defender, runs well. Franklin V 45FV. JHM 35FV. Easy choice to keep Franklin V instead of JHM. BTw—-Jimenez FIP was 2.00, 33.3% K rate, less than 6% walk rate last season. 77 K’s in 55 innings. He’s only 26 years old and trending upward. Plenty of players have poor stats in the early portions of their career. Jimenez has strong upside and he’s cheap. Projected arb salary $2.6M in 2023. Good fit w/1 year of team control. If the Braves don’t like him next season, they can cut bait w/no expense.
Dream, I would say the last time would be Adam Wainwright maybe.
Alex Faedo seems ok.
His splits say he’s a disaster waiting to happen
He still has potential but yeah, he seems past his good days.
Tigers and Harris looking for a 3B to replace Candy.
Think you’re right about Wentz, jay. Braves lost that trade imo.
I agree, this seems like an overpay by the Braves. While Jimenez did pitch great last season, he has a track record of inconsistency from year to year and is only controllable through 2023. Malloy is a legitimate prospect who is nearing being ready for MLB and could become a mainstay in the Detriot lineup for 10 years, either in the OF or possibly even 3B. That’s a big chip to give up for one year of an unpredictable relief pitcher.
Dorothy_Mantooth;
Yes, he was inconsistent.
Am sure that’s what the Braves see, and they have the organization, coaching staff and defense to support Jimenez in ways he never remotely had in Detroit. That’s what will bring about consistency.
I’m so happy that the new Detroit regime isn’t just purchasing stop gaps like the old.
.. Little illich can go to hell.
Fans are tired of the excuses. Build a Flipping team already
@samuel
Detroit is not a 3rd world country. They are very up to date with the changes Avila implemented.
All this talk of him being inconsistent. Relief pitching is a very inconsistent position. You add guys who are pitching well at the time, not what they have done in the past. Right now he is pitching great, thats what you are trading for. AA isn’t trading for 2019,2020,2021 Jimenez, he is trading for the 2023 Jimenez, who is projected to pitch well. Inconsistent only comes in to play when you speaking of compensation. That’s all that matters to them. What they gave up is fair, they guys they gave up will be lucky to make a difference in the MLB, meanwhile Jimenez gives them the potential to add another elite arm in the pen. You need elite guys to win more then you need depth, depth guys don’t play in October.
Steve Pearce and David Freese have something to say about “depth guys don’t play in October.”
Can’t wait to see the big trade AA will pull off this off-season.
AA isn’t the GM anywhere in the league so he will be sitting back chilling
Wrong AA.. he’s referring to Alex Anthopoulos the GM of the Braves not Al Avila the former GM of the Tigers I do believe.
AA isn’t the GM anywhere in the league so he will be sitting back chilling drinking beers.
Huh?
I think it’s a bad joke about alcohol anonymous
Ohhhhh. I see what you mean now.
I think Drew confused Al Avila with the Braves gm
Nope. AA is Alex.
I think it’s Al Avila…..bragging!
There’s the Saber Tooth!
What do you think, did Scotty Harris get the approval on this one??
I don’t know anything about either player. The batter appears to have a good batting average and a great walk rate. What is interesting is the number of RBIs vs the number of hits he has….are those walks? Or is it some guys just like to come through in a clutch….?
We’ll see. I hope for good things!
Or….were those hits just simply against bad pitching, when everyone else was hitting too?…….many base runners equals many RBIs……
The high batting average make that scenario less likely. More hope.
I prefer a bundled package for high ranked prospects, but as you know, ranking is no guarantee. These guys stand a good chance too.
You point out it is only “one” transaction. The Tigers are proceeding slowly. Cautiously? Or without any sense of urgency?
In my mind, they owe it to the fans to be pursuing multiple strategies and be aggressive…they’ll have to pay me, I’m tired of giving away my ideas for free on the net.
I’m shocked at the salaries and the things people are saying about future salaries…..
Or he hits well from “the stretch”, with runners on base…..
I hope they don’t sign any contracts like what’s going on now.
against the stretch *
can i get joe number
Nice
Great trade for both teams. Jimenez’s underlying numbers were Bugs Bunny-like & if not for the last 2 outings of the year, his ERA etc would look better than it does. His opponent BABIP was 33 points above his career average & he still had a career year. Basically improved across the board in 2022.
We were also lacking in the weight category losing Kenley so this is clearly a “big” move. Nose tackle in the bullpen
That’s a gud!
This is AA’s worst deal of his tenure. He just gave away his future LF for a pitcher with a career ERA of 5…awful
Shift is gone, swing and miss is a premium
Swing and miss or hit and score…you can get that for cheap on the market
Show me the reliever available with 12.2 k/9
What good is that ratio when you’re giving up more than 5 runs every 9 innings? That’s like hitting a drive 350 yards and getting a double bogey.
Have you considered that he’ll be going from one of the worst defensive teams in baseball to one of the best?
Career ERA for a reliever is not a great indicator of future success, calm down, you’re acting like they traded Acuna
Have you considered that he’s going from an extreme pitchers park to a hitters park?
So 6 seasons isn’t a good indicator? Dumb
Truist Park is about as fair and balanced a park as you’ll find in baseball.
I meant more the ERA part but go on
…..and actual coaches, that coach.
Fetter & Crew taught Jimenez how to pitch. If Atlanta has a pitching coach & staff as good as Fetter, Atlanta Fans will fall in love with Joe as the season goes on. Atlanta got a much better pitcher than his numbers show. He made it to the Tigers for his first full season at the ripe old age of 23, pitched 63 innings & K’ed 78 & was hitting triple digits most pitches. His control has improved as he toned back to mid-high 90’s. Atlanta did good.
Detroit was not one of the worst. Check your stats.
You will be OK I promise
Tigers selling high on a rental and Braves hoping for continued success. Worth a gamble for Atlanta.
Gave up a promising prospect (consistent .400 OBP plus power) for a reliever with one excellent season. Seems like an overpay, but if Jimenez helps them in 2023 then he might be “expensive but worth it.” Malloy probably won’t be useful to the Braves this year, except as a trade chip.
Could it possibly be AA clearing room in COF anticipating a bigger move? Fallback option is still Rosario/*gasp* Ozuna.
@RunDMC: Clearing room for Jesse Franklin V.
You’re nuts. This was a great ‘win now’ trade and Jimenez will be a substantial part our bullpen.
There are still a ton of relievers on the market that have better career numbers than Jimenez. They lost now and in the future with this trade.
DTD/ATL1313;
I’ve seen the man pitch and at times he’s been very good.
He’s been on a crummy team with an even crummier coaching staff. The Braves are an upper level, class operation with a great coaching staff. The Braves may have gotten themselves an affordable closer.
Era and career numbers are irrelevant. It’s what they can do in 2023. If the Pirates looked at what Quintana did the year before he would be out of baseball instead of getting 26 million. Not that Jimenez needs to make significant changes like Quintana did.
They already have a legit closer, Iglesias, and they have him for a few more years.
DTD/ATL1313;
Do you follow any teams other than the Braves?
The Angels traded Iglesias because he couldn’t close (and he was being paid to). He’s a very good set-up man.
@samuel
Tigers tried to make Joe the closer, but he did not have what it takes. Set up is where he performs better, not high pressure.
Just like Drew Waters, Christian Pache and countless other guys were “the future” in ATL…
Jordan Schafer rotated my tires the other day. Nice guy.
Are you serious with the Jordan Schafer comment?
Very creative!! I give it a 8 out of 10.
Yeah, like Albies, Riley, Harris, Acuna, Contreras, Fried, Wright, Strider, Swanson… I’d say the future track record has been much better than you think
So AA knows what he’s doing or he doesn’t, which is it DTD?
You can know what you’re doing and still make a mistake.
Hard to call this a mistake when you don’t know what other moves will be made before opening day. You’re all up and arms in your feelings about something that we don’t know what the future holds. Also, while JHM is a good prospect for the Braves, not all farm systems are created equally. JHM probably isn’t even a top 200 prospect in the entire majors. He’s not this can’t miss prospect you seem to think he is. As for Jimenez, ERA is one of the worst stats out there for evaluating relief pitchers.
Yeah, the number of earned runs a pitcher gives up is totally useless. It’s always better to give up more runs than less.
DTD/ATL1313;
Your multiple comments might have more credibility if you’d have seen him pitch and could discuss it some, or know anything other than his ERA.
I’ve seen him pitch and know his other numbers. He strikes out people, gets hit hard, and gives up a lot of runs. And you’re the last person to call someone out on credibility as most of your posts are laughable at best.
The reason you can’t always judge relief pitchers on ERA is because they pitch so few innings that 1 or 2 bad outings can totally ruin an ERA.
Luke Jackson’s 2020 season is a perfect example of this. Jackson had a 6.84 ERA but that was because he had 2 separate outings in which he gave up 5 runs each. If you take those 2 games out his ERA was 3.42. So his ERA was doubled because of 2 bad outings.
I can’t believe I’m having to explain this to someone.
You’re not explaining anything I don’t know. He’s pitched for 6 years. It’s not like we’re talking about 2 months and a bad outing that killed his numbers. He is what his numbers say he is. He strikes people out, gets hit hard, and gives up too many runs to be relied upon late in games for a team with WS aspirations. And it looks even worse when you give up your best offensive prospect in your system that will be ready to start in LF in 2024 when your current LF contract is up.
While I love JHM just as much as the next Braves fan, I’ve learned to also trust Alex.
Also, yes, Jimenez does gave a pretty bad ERA, but all of his advanced statistics say he’s a heck of alot better pitcher than his ERA would suggest.
I’m also aware that advanced stats typically favor big strikeout pitchers, which is what Jimenez is, but it’s also the best way to measure a pitcher’s performance when they’re pitching in front of a notoriously bad defense.
Couple their bad defense with a spacious ballpark, his high K rate, and an excellent Braves staff, and I think they’re getting a true weapon to put in the backend of their pen.
They also REALLY needed another solid arm due to losing Kenley in FA and Matzek to injury.. Plus, no one was going to feel comfortable if the Braves were forced to go into the season having to rely on bounceback seasons from Nick Anderson and Kirby Yates or even Luke Jackson.
Now, they’ll have Iglesias as their Closer, and then they can mix and match Minter, Jimenez, McHugh, and Lee to help bridge the gap from their starters to Iglesias.
Also, don’t forget the impact Iglesias and Chavez had on their pen last season, and how well they were able to perform once joining the Braves..
Losing JHM is a real bummer, but if it means locking down the bullpen, and helping the Braves have one of the best bullpens in the league again, so be it.
To get talent, you have to give talent. Especially a reliever the caliber of Jimenez that’s going to basically cost the Braves nothing in terms of money.
On one final note, people are also forgetting that the Braves have been working Contreras out in LF as well. Next season, as things stand now, they’ll be able to carry d’Arnaud, Piña, and Contreras, so in order to get Contreras as many at-bats as possible he should see some time as their Catcher, DH, and in LF as well.
Your posts aren’t strong. If you prove Samuel wrong even just one time he will mute you. You need to call him a name or something so he will mute you. It’s like street cred.
Era for winning games is the most important stat. For player evaluation it’s irrelevant. I could care less what his era was with the Tigers. Only what I think it could be with my team.
Thank you for a common sense post!! Not much common sense in these comments.
Yep, literally one disagreement and he muted me..lol
I agree the bullpen needed to be addressed but this wasn’t the way to do it. There are still plenty of solid relievers on the market that have a stronger track record and better consistency that wouldn’t have cost them a promising prospect. Jimenez has also had long ball problems and now he’s going to a much smaller park. He gets hit hard and now he no longer has the benefit of the shift. He’ll get his Ks but his just as likely to give up a career high in homers.
Common sense isn’t so common here..lol
I actually thought I had already muted him because he’s terrible.
It’s a badge of honor!
Jimenez was very shaky in high pressure situations in Detroit so I’m not sure how much that will improve with a legit contender. If it was a high ERA over a short span, I’d be less concerned but his career has been long enough to be very concerned. His prime to the long ball and is now going to a much smaller ballpark. There’s just nothing that he’s done that gives me confidence.
I enjoy trashing him too much. Unfortunately he has actually learned some things and improved each year. Still weak but nothing like he was.
But you aren’t going to win any discussions talking about era unless you talk to baseball fans who don’t go on the internet. Best to avoid batting average as well. Notice you are alone with nobody coming to your defense. Not that most people on here are right all the time or even most the time. They are right on this though.
I’ve been muted by both Samuel and A’sFaninUK, so I must be doing something right.
No players will benefit from the shift. Not just Jimenez.
Once you get muted by fever pitch guy and the man you can join me in the platinum club.
Is he A’s fan in wales now? Maybe muted so many people he didn’t have anyone to talk to. Judge signs and there are only 13 comments. This site is dead.
I just blocked them both lol
Lol, Samuel muted me too. Badge of honor………disagreeing w/his pompous proclamations guarantees you to be added to his famous list of “Over 100 Muted.”
“It’s a badge of honor!” Said the same thing above before reading your comment Dusty.
@bham: So have I bham.
Malloy is best suited to 1b or DH. I think this is an appropriate risk to take,looks like a good player who might stick but the Braves are in win now mode
Did you look into his splits?
Joes Stats at Comerica Park (Career Totals)
Games-154
Batters Faced-592
Home Runs-13= One every 45.5 Batters
Batting Average Against- .212
Walks-46=One every 12.9 Batters
Strike Outs-166=One every 3.6 Batters
Thank you for proving my point. The big ballpark helped him immensely.
His ERA is 2.5 runs higher away from Comerica. His walk totals are higher away from Comerica.
His homer total is double away from Comerica.
I don’t know what else can be said to show that strikeouts and FIP tell almost none of the story about how effective a pitcher is.
Detroit is not a bad defensive team. They are pretty solid. But whatever makes your narrative work.
Unfortunately, the team is loaded with DHs, so I’m not sure I agree with you.
We already have: Miggy, Carpenter, Meadows, and Haase. The last thing we need is a dh.
Higginbotham is one hell of a name, I’m now automatically rooting for this guy
Sounds like a Lord of the Hobbits name.
Or a gentleman’s gentleman.
“Your evening paper, sir.”
“Thank you, Higginbotham.”
Haha! “Pardon, Sir Higginbotham, would you have any of that….Gray Poupon?”
The Three Stooges could’ve had a field day with Poupon word plays.
Where the heck is Curly when you need him?
Grey Poupon- if its gray you don’t want it Harrumph
Someone finally made a trade!
Jeez, what were they thinking.
who?
The Braves. Give up they best hitting prospect for a reliever who just had one good season.
Read the writing on the wall…they won’t need him when they acquire (insert other COF)
Jimenez was pretty good in 2018 and 2019 as well.
That’s the only thing that makes sense here. There has to be another trade in the works that would have made JHM expendable. Right now as it stands this seems like a very questionable deal for the Braves.
This is quite steep compared to what the Mets had to give for raley
Raley will be 35 next season and had a 3.50ish FIP. Jimenez is 27 and looks like he broke out last year, 2.00 FIP with an insane strikeout rate. I trust the Braves / Ray’s scouting / analytics over the Met’s.
Higginbotham? Very studious sounding
As a Tiger fan, I love this trade! Jimenez is up and down like most relievers and has only one year left under contract. Higginbotham looks like a throwaway, but Malloy’s stats are stunning! The guy regularly gets on base 40% of the time and has power. Will turn 23 in…wait for it…’23.
*two years
I don’t think so. Five full season in MLB (2018-2022) plus a stub in 2017.. 2023 will be 6+. He is arb eligible so no contract to keep him from testing the waters next offseason.
He will be a stud for DET and could be roaming the OF as soon as next season. Great trade for them.
Malloy isn’t a blue chip prospect. Great on base skills but little power and pretty poor defensively. Most likely a utility player at best.
He hit 17 homers and had an .862 OPS this year. He can definitely hit.
He set the AFL on fire and is really coming into his own, not unlike Michael Harris’ trajectory. Interesting that they sold high on him, though I think a lot of people are not aware of how overpriced reliable RP is right now. PHI/NYM are spending big bucks and still have barely addressed their pen issues, in part, because there’s no a lot available on the FA market — or it’s overpriced (see RP contracts in free agency so far).
I almost forgot, Malloy also just hit .306 in the Arizona Fall League. His glove might be weak, but his bat is very strong.
A,A+ & AA Pitching is a whole different world than the Major Leagues.
Betting Harris tries him at 3B.
Couldn’t agree more. Keep honing in on the obp! Nice move Mr. Harris. Hope to see Wily Peralta back!
So you applaud getting a guy who walks a lot, but you want a pitcher who gives up a lot of walks? Got it.
I applaud the team improving on basis of personal opinion, not merely walks. Fwiw, Peralta 3.6 career bb9 to Jimenez’s 3.7.
IMO, Peralta has been more successful in a Tigers uniform than Jimenez.
You said “keep honing in on the obp”. That indicates you value that metric. In the next sentence you said you wanted to get Peralta who had a 5.63 bb/9 last year which is a total contradiction. He had a 3.6 the year before, not for his career as a tiger. You can either double down and look ignorant or have the courage to admit it was a silly statement.
I wasn’t comparing Joe to Wily, and either were you. It was just a smoke screen on your part to save face. But if you want to play that game; one is going to be a set up man for a World Series team, and the other is a minor league free agent without a team. Doubling down once again on an ignorant opinion. What you don’t understand is doubling down makes you look worse, not better. Truly intelligent people can admit mistakes or the self awareness to understand when they don’t totally know what they’re talking about.
K
For those wondering what WWE’s Shawn Michaels’ name is, it’s Michael Hickenbottom.
I understand the Braves were interested in Jimenez at last season’s trade deadline. Al Avila was too afraid to make any significant trades for fear of getting fleeced and exposed for incompetence. So, he kept asking for unreasonable returns to avoid trades.
On the surface this looks like a questionable deal for the Braves. Joe Jimenez is good but JHM should have been used for a bigger fish. My thinking is this sets the stage for another move which would have then made JHM expendable.
This is a “wait and see” trade. After years of unfulfilled promise, Joe Jimenez finally broke out. If he truly has arrived, ATL has their CL. But, I’m happy he’s gone.
It’s hard to say about the two Braves prospects. Neither have enough to fill the back of their cards. Malloy is a DH type who is being fast tracked. Higginbotham is an older L-RP but there’s a reason he’s been moved to AA with so few IPs.
I agree, Jimenez puts me on the edge of the seat every time. I honestly cannot believe they got that kind of return for him. Excited as ever to see what Fetter can do with Higginbottom.
The new front office made a good move. I hope they can unload Baez and Rodriguez now.
Phew, that’s a tall order. But, I’m right there with you.
Hopefully, Baez & Rodriguez have monster seasons and opt out.
Why would you want players to perform well then leave?
So they’re tradeable. They’re not now cause they underperforming their contracts.
So the team reaps the extra value this year, and has more money to spend next off season. No one wants to be paying Baez during the last year of this contract. Besides, it beats Baez performing poorly and deciding he’s getting more than anyone else would reasonably give him, so he will stay.
You are missing the point. If they start performing we want them! You can’t continue to trade vets for prospects. If you have a surplus at a position and a position of need, you trade the surplus for need. Good starting shortstops and pitchers don’t grown on trees. Who are you going to replace them with?
Then why would anyone trade for him? The premise is that he’s playing well.
Player options are stupid; if the player plays well, he’s opting out. If he’s playing poorly, he’s staying. If you have to make that stipulation in the contract, you shouldn’t want him.
You’re missing the point. Your logic is true if a team has a strong core. A team must build a base before they fill need through free agency. You can’t build a base from free agents.
Because I believe Baez & Rodriguez suck, particularly Baez, who sucks big f-ing time.
So I’m hoping they each have a little luck in the 2023 season so we don’t have to keep them long term because, again, they suck.
Jimenez won’t be needed to be a closer – that’s why they took over Iglesias’ 3 years/$48M contract – taking over for Jansen. He cemented that when he didn’t give up a run until the playoffs, after arriving in ATL. ATL loves to load-up on RPs with closing experience (i.e. Chris Martin, Will Smith, Shane Greene, Luke Jackson, Raisel Iglesias, AJ Minter, etc.) then treat the last 3 IP like each of them are the 9th, with Iglesias the traditional closer most nights. Jimenez should thrive with a good defense behind him.
His peripherals were amazing last year, 2.0 FIP! Another power arm for the Braves pen.
Unfortunately for Jimenez, the game is played in reality where players have to field. He just went from a pitcher’s park to a hitters friendly park. In 6 seasons, his ERA is over 5. That’s reality, where the game is actually played.
DTD/ATL1313;
He went from pitching in front of a pathetic defense to one of the better ones in MLB.
You know very little, my friend.
He also is not in that pitchers park and won’t have the shift to bail him out. His homers will sky rocket even more.
in fairness, everyone’s home run rates will skyrocket without the shift
I never said the shift would effect homers. I mentioned the park and shift, the next sentence was about him already being homer prone.
Except you can’t HR what you can’t hit – as indicated by his robust 12.29 K/9. His HR/9 was at 0.44, which was still better than some of 2022’s best RPs, including: Helsley (0.84), Muñoz (0.69), Daniel Bard (0.45), Jordan Romano (0.56), AJ Minter (0.64), etc. They’re also getting him for 1 full season (before reaching FA next offseason), rather than overpaying at the Deadline.
How does the shift effect HRs? Do you play higher?
I don’t understand giving up a somewhat “decent” prospect for him. Cash and a minor leaguer of basically no value or two would have been good. Malloy is an interesting prospect… jimnenz basically had his best year last year. His all star year was fine but more so early in the season than late
2.00 FIP’s completely backed up by Peripherals don’t grow on trees. Malloy is a low ceiling player, always was.
No, no he wasn’t. Have you seen what he did statically last year? He is expected to crack some top 100 lists going into the season. This is a garbage trade.
Malloy was rising through the ranks at a similar pace as Acuna. Now, I’m not saying he’s Acuna at all, but even super early in acunas scouting, they thought he had a low ceiling. That said Malloy is older than Acuna and has been scouted more. But still, he’s turning into someone that no one expected him to be. I like those guys. And I don’t love that the bullpen arm we get in return has only 1 year left and although I get the advanced stats, at the end of the day, he has to perform. Just like Ozuna… they guys advanced stats always told a different story than what he produced on the field. You’d think he’s a god if you just looked at those
bravesfan;
Do you guys get any AL games down there other than highlights?
I watched him pitch twice last year and he was meh. That said, I try not to judge off such a small sample size but I remember the announcers talking about what a great season he was having, etc. again, I’m not saying he’s bad… but he’s not the guy consistently that he was last year. For that, I don’t love giving up a prospect with some upside for 1 year of “who knows what we will get”.
How in the world do you judge a pitcher based on 2 innings of what YOU saw? It’s either good or bad coming in for an inning at a time. Joe is what his stats say, if not a bit better. Clearly one of the better relievers in baseball last year.
Joe has shown his upside at the highest level; Justyn has not (many questions about his defense) so your point makes no sense.
Finally, the Tigers have made a move to improve the ballclub. Let’s hope Malloy works out.
Just as long as Jimenez is gone
Nice move by the Braves. Jimenez will help them. He had a really nice year. He seems to finally have arrived. And the Btaves sniffed that out.
I like Malloy. Great get for DET.
Amazing get for one year of Jimenez.
I’m a bit salty about this.
I’m very salty about this. Worst trade in years.
Nope. The Tommy Milone deal was AA’s worst—by a lot.
Nooooooooo. Not Malloy!!! Not for one year of Joe Jimenez. I like the addition of Jimenez, but not if it’s it costs Malloy.
Fudge.
The Braves plan on extending Jimenez and helping him reach his full potential
or they wouldn’t have done this deal.
I assumed that. However, how do you value Jimenez? I assume he/his agent want a contract based on last year. But, he been very inconsistent prior. He probably wouldn’t mind playing out the year if the Braves don’t give him what he wants.
I know Braves have outfield and 3b set for a while. I just think Malloy can be a great player and if they had to give him up, they should have gotten more.
Even if they extend Jimenez, it’s still Malloy plus for one year of the dude.
How do you value Jimenez? He’s 27 y/o and got 1 year until FA coming off an excellent All-Star campaign where all his metrics point to continued progress. Rafael Montero (32 y/o) was recently re-signed by HOU for 3/$34.5M. If Joe reached FA, he’d get at least that at that age, but I’d say more like 4/$42-45M considering he’s had more success closing, which teams love.
You’re undervaluing a crazy RP market – that will be even more expensive come Trade Deadline when no one will want to give them up and because of expanded playoff slots, you’ll have more teams with an illusion of playoff hopes being buyers and not sellers.
Big joe had a real problem in high leverage situations. Although he has closer stuff he didn’t seem to be able to deal with failure well
Hopefully this means Reynolds is coming to the A
No brainer move for the Tigers. Any tradable players need to be traded out of Detroit for controllable pieces. Their competitive window opens in 2024. This season is likely going to be practice and rehab. They go big in FA next offseason, bring in one, possibly two top tier players and just like that, all the problems created in recent years by Cabrera and his terrible contract is finally over and done with and they can become legit contenders.
a761506;
The Tigers are where the Orioles were 4 years ago and the Pirates were 3.
They have no infrastructure in Baseball Ops. They have to order computers, pitching machines, video equipment, etc. and people that can use them. Then they have to build processes that all can contribute to and use. Find a new coaching staff, scouting people, etc. Quality people can’t be hired in one year. Building the infrastructure takes time. Meanwhile they have to start finding good young players.
Jimenez has the stuff to set up and/or close on many teams.
The Braves Front Office and Coaches have looked at his film and have seen him pitch.
Their pitching coaches probably plan to have him make a few adjustments
to finally reach his high upside potential.
Sorry to see Malloy go, but I trust AA. He seems to make the right decision more often than not.
I knew when I first saw his blond mohawk he was going to be trouble.. He pitched just well enough to get out of Detroit….I may even forgive Wonder Boy for the Boyd signing by ditching the now former-Tiger VaJayJay.
As a Tiger fan my advice to Braves fans is Joe Jimenez is a great 7th-8th inning guy. Best if he starts an inning. Be prepared if he’s brought in with runners on. He likes to let the first hitter he faces get on. If he’s not done in 12 pitches….beware.
So far, I lkie our new GM’s approach.
He’s the prez….we don’t have a GM yet….maybe never again.. (wind whistles, shutters rattle, a wolf howls)
Whatever. He’s making the calls.
He is?
Yes he is, Rocky.
Fair price paid. Only question is why not just sign some guys. Braves know Malloy more than anyone so I would trust them.
Sure, the braves know all their players. However I’m sure since the tigers have one of the best pitching coaches in baseball they also know what they are trading away. I’m sure Chris fetter had been asked on who’s his top arms he prefers to work with?! So it definitely goes both ways. But if they are both good for each team. Then it’s just a matter of need over picking apart each player. Tigers have more strength in pitching then hitting. So they let one go. Atlanta must of wanted more pitching so they went out and got one. Win win for everyone. As long as no injuries sideline either long term.
Tigers could absolutely love him. Doesn’t matter if they would rather have the prospects. Doesn’t seem like they are trying to go all in for 2023 so smart move trading him.
@Dream: Yep, good business by the Tigers to sell high on Jiminez. One year of control left. Rebuilding clubs need to get prospect value for players like him.
Tigers fan here. Jimenez has been up and down. Was actually an all star early in career. In minors he was a stud. Last year he seemed to “get it” and not get emotional over mistakes. He had a couple bad outings but overall was quite good last year. He will do well in Atlanta
Now, if the Tigers are able to acquire Jose Jimenez, Bill Dana will be happy.
Sneaky good move by the Braves I think, at least in the short term and makes sense with Jansen off to Boston. Jimenez has been solid for Detroit. Could get some saves down in Atlanta.
Mickey Steverman;
I believe the Braves stole a top-flite closer.
LOL!
I hope the Braves are not planning on Joe closing. They will be disappointed. Joe has never pitched for a good Tigers team. He’s going to a championship quality team.
You do not want him shutting down the Phillies and Mets, on the road in one run games in the 9th.
Even worse, don’t rely on him to keep you alive in extras with a runner starting the inning on 2nd base.
I wish him no ill will…or the Braves. Just syin’.
Atlanta has acquired a really good reliever. Jimenez always had the stuff, was tantalizing in the minors and can handle closing games. The Tigers’ current pitching coaches helped him to get the results (although he might not be done yet, as his peripherals indicate).
Unfortunately, Detroit will likely make less use of a high-leverage reliever this year, so trading him was the right decision. I really like Malloy’s offense, but he will have to field as well in order to stay in the lineup. Since 3B is vacant with the Tigers, there is an opening for him, although the step would be huge.
Gruß,
BSHH
@BSHH: Think you’d better count on JHM to be used as an outfielder by Dt.
Wtf. Traded Malloy for Joe Jimenez, this is so stupid. Malloy is going to be incredible. He was trending up and was expected to crack some top 100 lists. One of the worst trades I’ve ever seen in my entire time as a fan. I hate this so much
Kind of hard to tell which team came out on top.
Atlanta fans give it a rest. You are making it out that Malloy is going to be a sure fire superstar. Malloy has hit in the minors but has not taken that first swing in majors. Plus, if his fielding is suspect, my guess is the Braves project Malloy being a DH primarily. If that is the case, it was a fair trade.
Dh or not. A player that has on base potential like that has value
Of course that has value – you trade that value for 1 year of a 27-year old All-Star RP that just had a breakout year. Had Jiminez gone to free agency, he’d be receiving at least better than 32-year old Rafael Montero’s 3/$34.5M.
Most Braves fans that favor the trade aren’t saying that JHM doesn’t have potential and value. Some of the disagreement on this deal centers on JHM having no unblocked position to play in Atl. The Braves—and most MLB teams—don’t allocate the DH spot to one player. They prefer to use the DH as a lineup spot to give multiple position players a break from playing in the field. JHM was never going to play 1B, 3B, and probably not the outfield in Atlanta. I’m sorry to see him dealt, but I don’t think he had a near term future in Atl.
This Braves fan is ambivalent about the trade because I fee like it removed one of our best prospect trade chips just when we’re probably going to need to trade for a SS and/or a LF. But we’re not listening in on AA’s phone calls, so we don’t know everything that’s going on.
Now I’m wondering whether or not the Tigers will trade another reliever this off-season. Maybe Gregory Soto?
I wouldn’t mind, if the return was good.
Joe is a little bit of a head case, but very effective when he is confident in himself. He will have a lot of ups and downs, but he will have a long career.
He may have a long career, but he is a FA after one year with Atlanta.
I agree this was a pretty high price. He was rather good last year. Article, as always, throws out BABIP to support one of his more miserable seasons instead of just admitting he was horrible that year. Since twice the fip was so great but the era much higher I don’t trust that. The Braves have excellent scouting and are good with pitchers. Clearly they saw last year as very legit. Also, they could extend him.
Only gave up runs in 13 appearances. Had over 60. Gave up a lot of runs his last 2 appearances which inflates his era, not like it’s fair to take those runs away but looking through the game logs he was a very solid, reliable reliever. He pitched better, for instance, than Kenley Jansen, who just got signed for 32 mil, although clearly Jansen pitched under the spotlight/pressure more (his team was good, he’s the closer (not that it’s as important as people think), and he was fairly expensive).
Good trade for Detroit. 2 prospects are better than Jiminez. Though Jiminez has had some decent games, he is a heart attack on the mound. Just like Soto.
I’d rather see some new blood in the system
Hoping for good things from Joe, but if the Braves had to trade Malloy, I would have preferred it to be as part of a trade for Reynolds from Pittsburgh.
Some people have said “don’t bring Joe in with men on”. We had one of those last year (Will Smith). I hope Joe does better than Will.
Looks like mutually beneficial trade to me. Promising prospect for reliever who finally lived up to potential due to finally maturing. As Tigers fan, JJ was most reliable (to me) reliever last year.
DBacks missed out. Oh well.
I have two words, Shane Greene
IMO, JJ>SG. Shane Greene caught lightning in a bottle and was traded while his value was high. Joe Jimenez finally matured and lived up to his potential.
I have two words, Shane Greene Why do I keep getting a repeated error when trying to post on here
I have two words, Shane Greene Why do I keep getting a repeated error when trying to post on here Unexpected error from server am I being censored
Detroit fan69 I get an error whenever I post. Sometimes it posts sometimes it doesn’t.
Mine post multiple times the eventually there’s just one. This site is flawed.
Joe J. was a man who thought he was a Tiger
But he was another Brave.
Have always liked his stuff when I’ve seen him. Braves see something and will turn him into a beast.
We need a SS/LF platoon or starter. Sure another BP arm is great but need offensive production too. Sure if Ronald bounces back and Ozzie is healthy it will be tremendous. Say what you want about him but Swanson is a winner! Who is the leader of this team? Riley? Olson? Acuna? Albies?