It's been a rather busy few days in Major League Baseball with the trade deadline coming and going at noon today. Teams selling, teams buying, veterans, all stars, prospects jumping clubs. The National League East has been particularly noisy over the past five days with the Mets, Phillies, and Braves all making significant moves. The Mets trading away a big time talent, with the latter two teams bolstering their lineup with proven commodities in the outfield.
I blogged earlier last week about the importance of Beltran, and how he could end up deciding the NL East race between Atlanta and Philadelphia—but a couple days later the Giants were the team that acquired the veteran right fielder from the Mets. So while Beltran will no longer be the deciding factor in the East (he could very well end up being an integral part to a Giants run at a second straight World Series title though), there is a chance that one of two former Houston Astros—Hunter Pence or Michael Bourn—could be the bat to lift either the Phillies or Braves.
Let’s take a look at the trade details:
Philadelphia and Houston
Philadelphia receives: RF Hunter Pence and Cash
Houston receives: 1B Jonathan Singleton, RHP Jarred Cosart, RHP Josh Zeid, and a player to be named.
Atlanta and Houston
Atlanta receives: CF Michael Bourn
Houston receives: CF Jordan Schafer, RHP Juan Abreu, RHP Paul Clemens, and LHP Brett Oberholtzer
Both Pence and Bourn make much more since for these two clubs than does Beltran. Beltran is solely a rental player – and many of his detractors say that, save one October, he is nothing more than an above average player. Pence and Bourn are locked down for more than just a season, meaning these trades are not just three month gambles.
The Phillies may have gotten a gotten a better player than the Braves, key word ‘may’, but they did it at a very big cost. Phillies fans will tell you it was worth giving up two of the franchises top prospects (and by top I mean very top prospects), but I suppose time will tell. It seems a little expensive to me, but I’m not the General Manager of the Phillies. Pence is definitely an elite player though. I would love to see him roaming centerfield at Turner Field, but I also would not have agreed to parting with two of our top prospects.
Bourn makes absolutely perfect sense for the Braves. In my own opinion, there could not have been a more perfect trade for Atlanta. If rumors are an tell of reality, the Braves looked into making a move for no less than six different outfielders, among them Beltran, Pence, BJ Upton, and obviously Bourn. Take a quick look at these four and Bourn is the best fit for Atlanta. Beltran, as mentioned before, is a rental, Pence would have cost big time prospects GM Frank Wren was not willing to part with, and Upton does not have the type of on-base-percentage the Atlanta leadoff spot needs.
If you could list the attributes of the type of player the Braves need they would be as follows: true leadoff hitter, high OBP, base stealer, center fielder. Bourn has each and every one of these qualities. In addition he is under contract through 2013, meaning the Braves now have a center fielder for the next couple years, as all signs point to Nate McClouth being on his way out.
Bourn leads all of Major League Baseball with 39 stolen bases, while hitting at a .303 clip with a .363 OBP. He has 16 more hits than any other Brave and also boasts two Gold Gloves in center field. The kid is one of the best center fielders in the game. He gives the Braves a true leadoff hitter, something Atlanta hasn’t had since Rafael Furcal or Kenny Lofton. He gets on base consistently. Consistently. Imagine what that will do for the middle of the lineup. All of the sudden a healthy Atlanta lineup is starting to look dangerous. Bourn, Prado, Chipper, McCann, Uggla, Freeman, Heyward, Gonzales. Bourn is a pitchers worst nightmare. He gets on base and that’s only half the trouble. His base stealing threat messes with a pitcher. He can’t concentrate on the hitter and he’s forced to throw more fastballs.
There is no doubt that this Atlanta lineup has talent, we’ve seen glimpses of it this year. But it’s possible that it needs just one more spark to ignite it. I believe Bourn is that spark and more.
All in all, Wren made a very shrewd move. He took a page out of the John Schuerholz philosophy book: being patient and not giving away top farm talent. Wren has said since the trade for Bourn that he could have acquired Beltran or Pence if he had truly wanted to. Instead he realized that teams trading big time players before the deadline often make fools of their buyers. Many teams get so anxious and feel as if they need a player so bad that they’ll sell the farm just to get him. Wren played his cards perfectly. He shopped around, got the prices, and then waited. He waited until 3 hours before the deadline, and instead of having his back against the wall, he found the Astros with their backs to the wall. Wren showed Houston that if he didn’t get the deal he preferred he was perfectly willing to stay put. Houston was not willing to stay put.
The Braves got what they needed. As far as this season goes, I’m going to be honest, I’d rather be in the Phillies shoes. If we look solely at the players these two teams received, Pence is the better player, plain and simple. But the Braves were not willing to overpay. They also were not just looking for the best player available, they were searching for the best fit.
I think they’ve found it.
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