Braves trade LaStella

Can't really judge this trade until you see who the Braves get on the international market. And who they could have had with that 4 slot.
 
Personally think it was more about clearing the way for Peraza to step in the second he's ready and the international pool concerns (even if it's not Moncada).

If Tommy was keeping the spot warm for Jose (which we all assume), and he didn't hit during April we wouldn't have gotten *hit for him.

That's likely. Just a bit surprised. Peraza brings some needed athleticism to the table for the team, but we still have to see if he will hit at the big league level. I've seen videos of his stance and it's a bit quirky. But he's fast and plays better defense than La Stella.
 
Can't really judge this trade until you see who the Braves get on the international market. And who they could have had with that 4 slot.

Net we gain $830K in international signing funds. If we incur the tax penalty for international signings, it saves the team another 830K in penalties.
 
So we created yet another hole in the lineup. Looking like a fantastic off season.

Our best near-major league ready position prospect plays second. I don't see this as creating a hole. It trades away from the middle infield, an area we have significant surplus (La Stella, Pastornicky, Gosselin, Elmer Reyes, Daniel Castro all in the majors or upper minors). All of those guys project to be backups to Simmons and Peraza going forward. Maybe La Stella is a bit better than the others, but still it is an area of surplus. And you want to deal away from areas of surplus.
 
Mark Bowman

@mlbbowman

The #Braves will give Jose Peraza a chance to prove how close he is in ST. If he's not ready, Gosselin is a top internal option for 2B

David O'Brien

@DOBrienAJC

wouldn't expect #Braves to pursue big-ticket Cuban free agents right now. But they figure to get involved in those pursuits in future.
 
Can somebody ELI5 as to how the slot system works with regards to international signings...?

The bottom line is it gives us an extra 830K to spend on international signings without incurring taxes and other penalties. Our initial allocation for the current signing period was 1.9M, so it is a significant increase. We supposedly spent close to a million on a 16 year old Venezuelan third baseman named Juan Yepez.

It is also worth noting that the Cubs went over their international allocation in the 2013-2014 signing period. In addition to the tax, they are also penalized by not being allowed to sign anyone for more than $250K during the current period. So in a sense the Cubs signing money is somewhat devalued for them and it made sense for them to trade a chunk of it to another team that is not facing the 250K restriction.

One more interesting wrinkle. Most of the top prospects sign early in each signing period (July). So the Braves acquisition of the money at this late stage of the signing period suggests they have identified an interesting prospect or two who was not available earlier, or who has raised his stock significantly in recent months.
 
The Cubs have announced they have acquired infielder Tommy La Stella from the Braves for right-hander Arodys Vizcaino. The two teams also traded 2014-15 international bonus slots: the Cubs receiving the Braves’ number four slot ($142K) in exchange for Chicago’s second ($458K), third ($309.3K), and fourth ($206.7K) slots (figures courtesy of Baseball America’s Ben Badler). The Braves will net $832K in the swap of bonus slots.

So it looks like we moved up quite a bit on the international draft market. Can someone shed more light on how valuable this might be?
 
Our best near-major league ready position prospect plays second. I don't see this as creating a hole. It trades away from the middle infield, an area we have significant surplus (La Stella, Pastornicky, Gosselin, Elmer Reyes, Daniel Castro all in the majors or upper minors). All of those guys project to be backups to Simmons and Peraza going forward. Maybe La Stella is a bit better than the others, but still it is an area of surplus. And you want to deal away from areas of surplus.

Wasn't Tommy our best ML prospect before too? I wasn't a fan of his, but to trade him away for a reliever who cannot stay healthy is an awful move. Tommy did good, slumped, and then never got consistent at bats again.
 
Our best near-major league ready position prospect plays second. I don't see this as creating a hole. It trades away from the middle infield, an area we have significant surplus (La Stella, Pastornicky, Gosselin, Elmer Reyes, Daniel Castro all in the majors or upper minors). All of those guys project to be backups to Simmons and Peraza going forward. Maybe La Stella is a bit better than the others, but still it is an area of surplus. And you want to deal away from areas of surplus.

No one said a whole lot about it, but I got the distinct impression that the Braves weren't that thrilled with La Stella's defense. In addition to the guys you mentioned, I wouldn't be surprised if the Braves looked over the lower-tier free agents and tried to find a multi-position guy, preferably a LHH.
 
Wasn't Tommy our best ML prospect before too? I wasn't a fan of his, but to trade him away for a reliever who cannot stay healthy is an awful move. Tommy did good, slumped, and then never got consistent at bats again.

Tommy was never rated our best position prospect. And he was never rated as high in the league lists that BA puts out as Peraza has been (#3 in the Carolina League, #6 in the Southern League). At the end of last season, La Stella was rated #16 in the Southern League, behind among others his teammate Christian Bethancourt who was #8.
 
No one said a whole lot about it, but I got the distinct impression that the Braves weren't that thrilled with La Stella's defense. In addition to the guys you mentioned, I wouldn't be surprised if the Braves looked over the lower-tier free agents and tried to find a multi-position guy, preferably a LHH.

I liked La Stella and wanted to give him a longer shot at second. But no doubt his defense left something to be desired.
 
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