Cards/Braves Swap (Heyward-Miller-More)

[biggentleben]

Braves traded Jordan Walden and Jason Heyward to the Cardinals for Shelby Miller and Tyrell Jenkins.

 

Incredible deal.  I'm not a fan of Miller, personally.  I honestly would have rather seen Carlos Martinez than Miller, but very interesting pair of deals with the weekend deal of Tommy La Stella to the Cubs for Arodys Vizcaino and bonus slots.  This is the type of deal Hart made in Cleveland with Justice/Grissom for Lofton/Embree.  I hope this turns into the former side of that deal rather than the latter.

[Kirby_waved_at_me]

Seems like the Braves could have gotten more than this for Heyward, they also gave up a good RP. Do the Braves need starting pitching this badly?

[Mike Sixel]

Cards have done this before, then re-signed the OF. If they sign Heyward to a reasonable deal, I like this for them, I think.

[Seth Stohs]

The St. Louis Cardinals acquired outfielder Jason Heyward and reliever Jordan Walden from the Atlanta Braves. In return, the Braves receive righty Shelby Miller and Tyrell Jenkins.

 

The Cardinals get an All Star right fielder who has also won Gold Glove Awards.

The Braves get a still-young Miller who has experienced quite a bit of success and a former 1st round pick in Jenkins. 

 

What do you think?

 

Cardinals give up pitching which means they have more pitching. 

Braves just keep stockpiling pitchers.

[Kirby_waved_at_me]

Yes, I think an extension for Heyward makes this a great deal for St. Louis - I think it was already a pretty good one for them.

[Mike Sixel]

Braves are rebuilding, and did not think they could sign Heward to an extension. My guess is they are trying hard to get younger. I agree, though, you have to really like Miller to like this deal for them.

[biggentleben]

Seems like the Braves could have gotten more than this for Heyward, they also gave up a good RP. Do the Braves need starting pitching this badly?

 

They were shopping Walden hard and just acquired someone (along with a good collection of arms in the minors) to take his place, so he's basically a throw-in to dump his arb-eligible salary.

[biggentleben]

Braves are rebuilding, and did not think they could sign Heward to an extension. My guess is they are trying hard to get younger. I agree, though, you have to really like Miller to like this deal for them.

 

I haven't heard anything about rebuilding from anyone but pundits who want to speculate.  The rebuilding stuff came strongly from a quote from Hart saying that they were willing to listen on anyone in trade in order to remake the team.

[gunnarthor]

Seems like a solid deal for both teams.  Heyward has only one more year of control and relief pitchers are pretty interchangeable.  But neither Jenkins or Miller look to be anything better than solid #4 pitchers.

[biggentleben]

Miller does have #2 type of upside, and I will say that having a 1-4 of Teheran, Wood, Minor, and Miller is very solid and cheap, and moving Gattis to the outfield and Justin Upton to right field could be a huge boon to the offense, but I still am not a fan of the deal.

[Mike Sixel]

I haven't heard anything about rebuilding from anyone but pundits who want to speculate.  The rebuilding stuff came strongly from a quote from Hart saying that they were willing to listen on anyone in trade in order to remake the team.

 

Well, not living there, I can only go by what is on line.....you are closer obviously, since you are a fan, I believe.

[biggentleben]

Well, not living there, I can only go by what is on line.....you are closer obviously, since you are a fan, I believe.

 

I live in South Dakota, but I follow the team very strongly as part of my writing job, and I haven't seen anything but that "remake" interview by Hart that would be anyone directly associated with the team discussing anything that would indicate rebuilding.  They want to retool their team around defense (and with Bethancourt/Peraza/Simmons up the middle, you can't blame them) and pitching instead of the Earl Weaver offense they built last year.

[twinsfan34]

Surprised to see the Braves go for another pitcher, unless they're thinking Santana won't return (or too pricey to return) ?

 

Besides Freeman, Heyward was the only guy with the ability to take a pitch for them. LaStella was the other other, both are now gone.

 

If I'm not mistaken, Vizcaino, was a Brave before...must have really liked him to trade their starting 2B, or they firmly believe Peraza will be ready to man the 4 come ST.

[biggentleben]

Santana won't return.  He wants multiple years, and the Braves won't go there.

[nicksaviking]

Seems like fair value for both sides, but I think St. Louis came out ahead.  They needed another OF and got one with strong defensive and offensive value.  They gave up a nice young pitcher, but they have a lot of nice young pitching. 

 

The Braves also seem to have a lot of nice young pitching and they also seem to have offensive needs.  Even if the players are a push skill-wise, it looks like St. Louis filled a hole while dealing from a strength, while Atlanta did the opposite.

[Mike Sixel]

KLAW's insider article is just now up.

 

He likes the deal for both teams, if I read it correctly.

[EephusKnuckler]

 Do the Braves need starting pitching this badly?

 

A few of their young talented arms have had bad injuries the past couple years. Brandon Beachy just had his second TJ operation I think and Kris Medlen also got hurt last season. I may be forgetting someone else too.

 

Plus you can never have too much good pitching.

[beckmt]

Cardinals keep making good deals, but Hart is no fool.  Like this more for Cardinals, but Miller could be a decent pickup.

[biggentleben]

Seems like fair value for both sides, but I think St. Louis came out ahead.  They needed another OF and got one with strong defensive and offensive value.  They gave up a nice young pitcher, but they have a lot of nice young pitching. 

 

The Braves also seem to have a lot of nice young pitching and they also seem to have offensive needs.  Even if the players are a push skill-wise, it looks like St. Louis filled a hole while dealing from a strength, while Atlanta did the opposite.

 

The Braves' best minor league pitching isn't exactly MLB ready.  Their offense is deep, but it drastically underperformed last season.  They were one of the best offenses in baseball the previous season with basically the same team.  They add Christian Bethancourt at catcher, who could be a top 3-5 defensive catcher in the game immediately with some stick as well, and they can play Evan Gattis for 500+ plate appearances in the outfield, adding significant offense.

[biggentleben]

A few of their young talented arms have had bad injuries the past couple years. Brandon Beachy just had his second TJ operation I think and Kris Medlen also got hurt last season. I may be forgetting someone else too.

 

Plus you can never have too much good pitching.

 

Medlen and Beachy both had their second TJ surgeries last year and are both arby-eligible, which means one or both will likely be gone.  There is a plethora of very good arms coming, but they're 2016 arms at best bet.

[TheLeviathan]

I like this deal for Atlanta.  Heyward is an overrated player by many and he's going to command a lot of money for a guy with a relatively average bat and injury issues already at his age.  He's going to get freakishly overpaid considering what he brings with the bat.