Soroka, Schuster, Shewmake and Lopez to the White Sox for Aaron Bummer

[bravesnumberone]

4 lefties is a little much for one bullpen. Some teams barely carry more than 1.

The odds of all four panning out next season or even three of four is low.

[Hudson2]

I wouldnt totally say the bottom is true. Could always just sign a cheap veteran to fill the backup IF slot. Or maybe Grissom is that. We cleared 3 spots, and we really just need a LF'er, one SP, and maybe another SP/BP piece. or i guess we could go after a SS.

Lopez was almost the perfect utility infielder. So why trade that for a BP arm if you don’t plan on an upgrade on the infield? It would be hard to upgrade the utility role over Lopez so upgrading the SS spot seems more likely imo. If some reports are true that the Brewers plan to trade some guys then I expect Adames to be the target or it could be Kim from SD since they seem to wanna cut payroll. Now that AA has 3 empty 40 man spots I expect something to happen soon.

[UNCBlue012]

They clearly lost all confidence in Shuster. He was a first round pick not too long ago and it feels like they just added him to this trade as a throw in.

It happens way more than you'd think. Shuster's stuff is bad, his peripherals are worse and there's truly no place for him. Thankfully, Strider AND Elder panned out well from the 2020 draft.

[Heyward]

Lopez was almost the perfect utility infielder. So why trade that for a BP arm if you don’t plan on an upgrade on the infield? It would be hard to upgrade the utility role over Lopez so upgrading the SS spot seems more likely imo. If some reports are true that the Brewers plan to trade some guys then I expect Adames to be the target or it could be Kim from SD since they seem to wanna cut payroll. Now that AA has 3 empty 40 man spots I expect something to happen soon.

With regards to Adames, i guess it just depends what he'd cost in a trade. Could you get him for something like Dodd, Lee, and Vines/Winans? Would the Brewers value backend pitching to do that, probably not.

[Hudson2]

With regards to Adames, i guess it just depends what he'd cost in a trade. Could you get him for something like Dodd, Lee, and Vines/Winans? Would the Brewers value backend pitching to do that, probably not.

I don’t think it’d be just Adames. Teams are gonna ask for AJSS and Waldrep but I don’t think AA wants to trade either unless it’s for somebody that’s controllable. Elder holds good value and Grissom still does. Those 2 with maybe Richie could get you a really good player or players back in trade.

[UNCBlue012]

I don’t think it’d be just Adames. Teams are gonna ask for AJSS and Waldrep but I don’t think AA wants to trade either unless it’s for somebody that’s controllable. Elder holds good value and Grissom still does. Those 2 with maybe Richie could get you a really good player or players back in trade.

One thing that's clearly top-of-mind but hasn't been discussed is that this definitely clears some of our "depth" additions in any potential trades. We definitely have high-end talent both in our system and in the majors that could be utilized in the right trade, but the ammunition isn't very robust.

[Carp]

Nicky Lopez is the loss for me here as well. I felt like the guy had a chance to put together a pretty good year for us next year and would at the very least get Arcia off the field.

I sincerely hope we have a plan to get a legitimate starter at SS an relegate Arcia to the bench.

Arcia is a starting caliber SS. Sure we could use an upgrade, but LF and SP are more pressing needs.

The main issue now is that our depth at SS is ****. Trading away Lopez doesn't make a lot of sense considering he was set to make about 5 mil or less. We aren't finding a better back-up SS for anywhere near that.

[CJ9]

The trade seems solid. We didn't really give up much that'll impact us long term or even short term.

But if you would've told me we made a 5-for-1 deal with the White Sox, I would've been really excited about adding Cease to our rotation or Robert to LF.

[Hudson2]

The trade seems solid. We didn't really give up much that'll impact us long term or even short term.

But if you would've told me we made a 5-for-1 deal with the White Sox, I would've been really excited about adding Cease to our rotation or Robert to LF.

Agreed. I’m sure AA asked and wanted one or both but the price I’m sure was crazy.

[Carp]

4 lefties is a little much for one bullpen. Some teams barely carry more than 1.

Lee has options. So he will definitely start the year in Gwinett and be the injury filler. We will roll with Minty, Matzek, and Bummer.

[CJ9]

Minter is also a free agent after this year, so if they can fix Bummer, he likely moves into our top LH reliever role in 2025.

[bravesfanforlife88]

Well when he has a bad game we can use this

[Carp]

I do wonder what the asking price for Kim is for 1 season. Defense first guys generally don't warrant huge returns.

[striker42]

Arcia is a starting caliber SS. Sure we could use an upgrade, but LF and SP are more pressing needs.

The main issue now is that our depth at SS is ****. Trading away Lopez doesn't make a lot of sense considering he was set to make about 5 mil or less. We aren't finding a better back-up SS for anywhere near that.

Arcia is a pretty poor hitter. He had insane luck in the first half but he ended the season with an xwOBA of .309 which is pretty bad. 27th percentile. He's well below average in EV, barrel %, and BBs as well.

Arcia's value is tied almost entirely to his defense. He had an OAA of 5 last year which is 88th percentile and his arm strength was 66th percentile (though still only 12th among SS). That surprised me and made him a starter quality SS. If his defense tanks, he's a utility infielder. And his defense hasn't been the most stable thing in the world. The last time he played as much SS as he played this year his OAA was an atrocious -6. His defense also tailed off towards the end of last year. In August and September he was well below average at SS.

So maybe we get lucky again next year with Arcia and he's excellent defensively. But it's a position I'd look to upgrade. Adames makes a good deal of sense. He was heinously unlucky at the plate but is as good as they come defensively. If we could get him we could slide Arcia into a utility role and have a backup at multiple positions.

[Carp]

Arcia is a pretty poor hitter. He had insane luck in the first half but he ended the season with an xwOBA of .309 which is pretty bad. 27th percentile. He's well below average in EV, barrel %, and BBs as well.

Arcia's value is tied almost entirely to his defense. He had an OAA of 5 last year which is 88th percentile and his arm strength was 66th percentile (though still only 12th among SS). That surprised me and made him a starter quality SS. If his defense tanks, he's a utility infielder. And his defense hasn't been the most stable thing in the world. The last time he played as much SS as he played this year his OAA was an atrocious -6. His defense also tailed off towards the end of last year. In August and September he was well below average at SS.

So maybe we get lucky again next year with Arcia and he's excellent defensively. But it's a position I'd look to upgrade. Adames makes a good deal of sense. He was heinously unlucky at the plate but is as good as they come defensively. If we could get him we could slide Arcia into a utility role and have a backup at multiple positions.

.264/.321/.420 is perfectly acceptable from your SS. His wRC+ ranked 10th among qualified SS. wOBA of .321 also ranked 10th. His EV was 88.2.... How is that well below average when the MLB average is 89?

Arcia is a perfectly acceptable starting SS if that is the route we decide to go with.

Adames, isn't the amazing player you think he is. While he was a bit unlucky in BABIP, his EV was even lower than Arcia's. He has also seen his EV decline each of the last 2 seasons. Uncoincidentally, so has his production. I would stay clear of Adames.

[chop2chip]

66% career ground ball rate for Bummer (that would have ranked 2nd in all of baseball last year min 60ip)

You don’t have to squint too hard to see what the Braves like about this guy. It probably comes down to whether this guy can lower his BB rate by 2.

On the other hand, they could have also just brought back Kirby Yates who has the same problems and similar upside.

[Super]

66% career ground ball rate for Bummer (that would have ranked 2nd in all of baseball last year min 60ip)

You don’t have to squint too hard to see what the Braves like about this guy. It probably comes down to whether this guy can lower his BB rate by 2.

On the other hand, they could have also just brought back Kirby Yates who has the same problems and similar upside.

Yates is much older and isn’t a lefty though

[MadduxFanII]

This seems like a trade where we're likely to lose the WAR comparison, even if Bummer pitches well.

[chop2chip]

Yates is much older and isn’t a lefty though

Both guys will be in their 30’s on one year deals. I don’t really think that should factor much into the thinking.

Don’t get me wrong. I have no problem walking away Kirby. I just don’t have any illusions that Bummer will offer anything substantially different. Lefty part is nice though. Maybe someone on the team can get Harper out for a change

[bravesfanforlife88]

I like this trade for Soroka. He just didn't have a future here in ATL and by going to Chicago, he should have a chance to get MLB innings on a regular basis. On top of that, that division overall is very weak so it could give him a chance to have a little success and build confidence.