Since when do we need Leadership to tell us that we suck? KJ, Uribe...great guys. They weren't going to pull this team out of the 10th spot in the draft LOL. Now, if we can just get rid of the other decent players who could cost us draft position...hmmmm
Heyward (07-25-2015)
Tapate50 (07-25-2015)
Braves acquired RHP John Gant and RHP Robert Whalen from the Mets for INF Juan Uribe, INF/OF Kelly Johnson and cash considerations.
Gant was the team's 21st round selection from the 2011 draft and has climbed his way up the prospect rankings. The 22-year-old right-hander has compiled a 3.52 ERA, 1.30 WHIP and 91/36 K/BB ratio over 99 2/3 innings between High-A St. Lucie and Double-A Binghampton this season. He has the potential to develop into a top of the rotation starter.
Braves acquired RHP Robert Whalen and RHP John Gant from the Mets for INF Juan Uribe, INF/OF Kelly Johnson and cash considerations.
Whalen, a 21-year-old right-hander, was the Mets 11th round selection from the 2012 draft. He has spent the entire 2015 season at High-A St. Lucie where he has posted a 3.36 ERA, 1.28 WHIP and 61/34 K/BB ratio over 83 innings. He projects as a back of the rotation starter.
Hardly "nothing" as you say but some people just want to bitch and moan about something.
Ivermectin Man
jpx7 (07-25-2015)
I think 95 is a bit optimistic. Some minor league guns are notoriously fast. From everything I've read, he usually works between 88 and 91.
Both pitchers are similar in a lot of ways. Both have fastballs described as underwhelming, both see the word "pitchability" applied to them, both have gotten batters out to this point more with deception and being more advanced than with stuff.
I think the top end of the rotation starter thing is a typo. If it's not then this guy is way off.
Best case scenario is generally agreed to be a back end of the rotation starter for both these guys. The same can be said for countless pitchers in the minors.
Odds are neither one reaches even that. The lack of a good fastball is hard to overcome.
I find it funny that people here think they can look at stats on a web page and decide who is good and who is worthless.
I suppose if I told you the Braves just traded one of their starters for a minor league guy with a .568 ERA and a 4-10 record at AA, I suppose he would be worthless as well.
This scenario plays out Sunday when that minor league guy enters the baseball HOF. Yes, John Smoltz. So please don't pass yourself off as the end all expert when in the game of baseball at any time any player might hit the right combo and suddenly be a whole lot more than one might think they could became. I will leave that up to the scouts and baseball men that have been doing it for a long long time, sure there are misses, but all one needs is 1 success to make it worthwhile.
Tapate50 (07-26-2015)
Deferring to the front office in all things would make Internet message boards like this boring. Those both for and against trades like this use the information they have available and debate it here.
It's more than just stats, especially at that level. Smoltz threw high 90's. These guys sit around 90.
clvclv (07-26-2015)
I expected someone with a chance to contribute at some point. What I really wanted to see was a relief prospect. Someone like the guy the Brewers got for Ramirez. We have more of a need there and a guy like that has a better chance of contributing in Atlanta than either of these guys.
A couple hours before this trade I remarked how the last thing I wanted to target was guys who top out as back end of the rotation guys. In a perfect world that's exactly what these guys become.
I'm not high on either pitcher and neither one fits a need in our system. There's just no upside for us here. That's my problem with this deal. There's plenty of reason to trade KJ and Uribe and I was never expecting much back. But I just don't see any reason to trade for these prospects. They have no value here.
It just appears to me that in this trade the Braves have traded for, at best, the second coming of Hale and Martin.
I would have much preferred a couple of bats with potential even if they were very far away from the ML. Guys like OF Wuilmer Becerra and 3B Eudor Garcia were both ranked below Gant and Whelan and are further down the system but both probably have more potential and are at need positions.
I am afraid that the Braves are stuck - pitching, pitching, pitching and need a shove to get out of that groove.