Braves trade David Hale and Gus Schlosser for...

[Dalyn]

...catchers Jose Briceno and Chris O'Dowd.

[Dalyn]

Chris is Dan's son, so that's a huge negative right there. Hate to lose Hale. Not sure about this one, but it feels off.

[Hawk]

Bizarre.

[The Chosen One]

Good move Hart. With all the pitchers we've acquired this offseason we'll need more catchers to catch them all.

[MadduxFanII]

Oh, David. Poor, poor David. Things are going to be sooooooo bad for you in Coors.

[The Chosen One]

John Buck already feels his position in AAA is being threatened.

[MadduxFanII]

I obviously don't know anything about these guys. But Briceno at least has some mildly intriguing minor league statistics.

[tomahawkchop10]

Well duh, we had to open up a spot in the rotation for mighty Eric Stults!!

[Dalyn]

I'm not a fan of this one. I thought Hale was worth more than those two on his own.

[thethe]

#11 on fangraphs listing:

11. Jose Briceno, C Video: Briceno is a young catcher still working on the finer points defensively, but the athleticism and tools are there to stick behind the plate and the arm is plus. The raw power is average and there’s just enough feel to hit that he could get to it in games. It’s a longshot but potential everyday catchers don’t grow on trees, so scouts are more than willing to give Briceno a chance.

[thethe]

I'm not a fan of this one. I thought Hale was worth more than those two on his own.

I liked Hale. Not a fan of this move but I have no clue who these prospects are.

[The Chosen One]

Poor Bethancourt. Team signs the guy with worst reputation in baseball to be his backup, another backup to backup, and trade for 2 catchers as young as you. Spells confidence.

[Tapate50]

Rockies Organization All-Stars dated 10\1\14

Catcher -- Jose Briceno, Asheville (84 games): In his first taste of full-season ball, Briceno made his name known for the South Atlantic League champions. The 22-year-old established a reputation for a powerful throwing arm, cutting down 35 of 80 potential basestealers (43.8 percent) and added an imposing presence at the plate, batting .283/.336/.476 with 12 homers and 50 RBIs.

"Briceno had a great year," Tourists manager Fred Ocasio said. "Especially down the stretch, he came up with some of the big hits. It seemed like every time we had bases loaded, two outs, and we just needed the ball to be put in play or get a base hit here and there, he'd come up with a double off the wall, three RBIs.

"Behind the plate, he's got an above-average arm -- people know that. They don't run on him. He ended up picking off [19] guys at first base or third base. The one thing with him is that he's not afraid to throw. He's aggressive. He wants to throw."


http://www.milb.com/news/article.jsp...vkey=news_milb

[Braves1976]

I'm not a fan of this one. I thought Hale was worth more than those two on his own.

Me too. But this move goes with the trend of this off-season. Plenty of disappointment to go around. Oh well.

[jsebe10]

So trade a usable arm away for career minor league catchers. CHECK

K What's next on the offseason agenda?

[Tapate50]

I can't find a scouting report on this guy, and wasn't aware the Brits played anything other than cricket and root canal in their "Lehsure" time.

If anything, he should bring a chuckle to the clubhouse.

[Dalyn]

So trade a usable arm away for career minor league catchers. CHECK

K What's next on the offseason agenda?

I'm pretty sure there's some kind of, "If you eat the whole offseason without throwing up, you get it for free," thing going on.

[Dalyn]

I can't find a scouting report on this guy, and wasn't aware the Brits played anything other than cricket and root canal in their "Lehsure" time.

If anything, he should bring a chuckle to the clubhouse.

I know one thing after watching The Crimson Petal and the White...he won't be adding anything substantial to the Wood jokes.

[Braves1976]

Poor Bethancourt. Team signs the guy with worst reputation in baseball to be his backup, another backup to backup, and trade for 2 catchers as young as you. Spells confidence.

Yea, adding all these catchers sure seems to tell us that Bethancourt isn't thought of as highly as the hype suggests. We have too many catchers now too so some will need to be cut or traded as you cannot have this many in AA/AAA, etc.

[NinersSBChamps]

44 percent of potential base stealers is impressive. Regardless of the level that's an awesome figure. However two guys who have ML experience and at times showed they can pitch in the bigs for two unknown prospects is par for the course this front office has done on the back 9.