TOT: Derrek Lee Joins the Braves

After one veteran, Troy Glaus, failed, the Braves try another veteran.

Transaction of Today...August 18, 2010 - The Chicago Cubs traded first baseman Derrek Lee to the Atlanta Braves for pitchers Ty'Relle Harris, Robinson Lopez, and Jeff Lorick.

The 2010 Braves were an odd team. In some ways, it was a transition season as Jason Heyward took over in right field with Tommy Hanson becoming a near-ace to lead the starting staff. Meanwhile, Jonny Venters exploded as a stellar reliever while Craig Kimbrel dominated over 20.2 innings toward the end of the season. At the same time, the team was built around aging veterans like Chipper Jones (38), Billy Wagner (38), Derek Lowe (37), and Tim Hudson (34).

Another of those aging stars was Troy Glaus. In his Age-33 season, the four-time All-Star and two-time Silver Slugger-winner had been rather solid as recently as 2008. That year, he hit .270/.372/.483 for the Cardinals. Known most for his time as an Angel, Glaus had bounced around since leaving the Angels after the 2004 season. He spent a year in Arizona, two seasons with the Jays, and two years in St. Louis. Along the way, he seemed to put behind the injuries that plagued him in his final two years in Anaheim. From 2005-08, he played in at least 149 games three times.

Glaus's second year with the Cards started his quick and abrupt career decline. Still favoring a shoulder injury from the previous year, Glaus finally went under the knife toward the end of spring training in 2009. Expected to keep him out upwards of three months, Glaus would not return to the major league club until September. He never got going, though, managing just five hits in 32 trips to the plate.

After the season, Glaus landed on the free agent market having just played 14 games the previous year and entering his mid-30s. To protect his shoulder, he was open to a move across the diamond to first base, a position he had fewer than 40 innings of experience at. And that's when the Braves stepped in, grabbing Glaus for less than $2 million for the 2010 season.

It was a pay cut of roughly $10 million and the cost-cutting Braves were thrilled at the prospect. For the second time in less than three seasons, the Braves waived goodbye to Adam LaRoche. Instead, Glaus was given a make-good contract.

Glaus got off to a slow start to open 2010, but was on fire from April 24 through June 23, slashing .306/.411/.546. It looked like the Braves made one of the offseason's best signings. But, then, it was like the Glaus the Cardinals saw at the end of the '09 season showed up. In his next 43 games, through August 17, Glaus struggled with a .177/.287/.265 clip. After a dozen homers during his hot streak, he hit just two dingers over nearly two months of action.

With that in mind, today's move from 2010 makes a lot more sense. The Braves acquired two-time All-Star Derrek Lee from the Cubs in exchange for a trio of minor league arms. They also sent Glaus to the IL to rest his knees. There was talk that Glaus could help at third base to fill in for Chipper Jones. The latter was lost a week before this trade due to a torn ACL.

Like Glaus, Lee looked to be in the midst of a quick decline. In 2009, he posted a .306/.393/.579 slash, but in his Age-34 season, he looked like half the player who had thrilled Cubs fans ever since he arrived in 2004. He hit just .260 with a .774 OPS over 109 games. With the Cubs struggling and going nowhere, they tried to ship him off to the Angels, but Lee had veto rights and rejected the move. The Braves, on the other hand, were a better fit for Lee.

And fit right in, Lee did. He hit .287 over 39 games with a .384 on-base percentage and a .465 slugging. He still wasn't bashing homers, but he did have three of them. His 14 doubles in 39 games was just seven fewer than the number of doubles he had in 109 games with the Cubs. For a Braves offense reeling from a number of injuries, plopping Lee in the fourth and fifth spots of the order was a huge shot in the arm.

Glaus did return, but only logged two innings at third base until magically starting a double play in the playoffs.

Speaking of the playoffs, Lee had a rough go of it outside of Game 2. With the Braves down 4-0, Lee opened the sixth with a single against Matt Cain and advanced to second after an error. He then scored on a Brian McCann base hit to break up the shutout. Two innings later, he again started a rally with a base hit. He'd later score when the Giants committed another error. He had a quiet fifth at-bat, did catch the ball on the magical 5-4-3 double play that ended the 10th, and got the Braves out of a bases-loaded, one-out situation. Had Buster Posey beat out the double play, the Giants would have won. But, and not for the first time in the series, Posey was out.

Unfortunately, in the other three games of the series, Lee went 0-for-11 with a walk and five strikeouts. He had a hand in the Braves only scoring four runs in those three losses.

With the season over, the Braves handed first base over to the rookie Freddie Freeman. Lee would go on to sign with the Orioles. He struggled over 85 games there before being moved in a deadline trade to the Pirates. He'd once again catch fire after being moved in a deal, but couldn't stop the Pirates from going into a swansong. They entered play on July 26 with a 53-47 record. They'd still lose 90 games, though. Perhaps they never got over the Julio Lugo game in Atlanta.

*pours one out for "Let's Go Pie-retts" girl*

Meanwhile, none of the three prospects the Braves gave up made it to the majors. Lorick lasted the longest in the Cubs' system but was let go after 2014. He spent a year in the indies before his playing career was over. Lopez tried both the indies and the Mexican League but last pitched in the winter leagues in 2018-19. Harris left the Cubs after 2012 and was the only player from this deal to make it to Triple-A. After his final season with the Cubs, he signed with Bridgeport of the Atlantic League, beginning a relatively lengthy run in the Atlantic League. He pitched until 2021 and became a regular during the offseasons in the Australian Baseball League. Since then, he's gotten into the coaching game and was even back in Danville recently with his Grind Time Athletics. He shot a TikTok on the same field he won a championship with back in 2009.

The trade for Derrek Lee that happened today, 13 years ago, had a minimal impact. Sure, it helped the Braves secure a spot in the playoffs, but the team was just not good enough to get very far. That said, the cost was minimal so it was worth a try. And Lee definitely looked rejuvenated by the playoff chase. It also allowed the Braves to bridge the gap so that Freeman would be ready to contribute the following year.

Not all deals are great or bad. Many, maybe most, can be looked at as decent. This was a decent trade.

Previous TOTs

• Red Smith

• Kevin Gausman is waived

• Wilson Betemit is traded for 2 players