Transaction Monday - A Trade and Several Re-Signings!
The Braves made the first trade of the offseason and do some minor league maintenance work
I didn't expect to have a trade to cover so soon, but Alex Anthopoulos is a giving person as the Braves welcomed the first official day of the offseason by acquiring a new outfielder. Before that, they retained a number of minor league free agents. Finally, there are a few releases to go over. And of course, yesterday saw several players file for free agency. While I’m not going to go over every player who filed for free agency because it’s a procedural move, it is definitely strange to look at Dansby Swanson and see that he’s not a Brave as someone who has written about his entire career to this point.
The moves covered today include October 24-November 6.
Braves trade RHP Dylan Spain for OF Sam Hilliard.
Atlanta has made a yearly habit of making quick strikes either via signings or trade just as the offseason gets going and this move was just another example. Before I talk about Hilliard, let's focus in on Spain. I spoke of the righty not too long ago in my 2021 Draft Recap so I'm going to try to be pretty quick here. The Hawaii righty bet on himself in 2021 rather than return to college and earned a 10th-round selection that summer by the Braves. He tossed an amazing 11.2 scoreless innings to finish the year. This year was less noteworthy as he surrendered eleven dingers in 56 innings and his ERA jumped to 5.30 with High-A Rome. Already 24, Spain's a guy who can't dilly-dally in A-ball for too long. The Braves hoped he would explode last year and get promoted to Double-A. That didn't happen so now the Rockies will hope he can keep the ball in the yard and let his stuff cook in 2023.
Let's now look at Hilliard. From a simple stats perspective, there's not a lot to love here. Over parts of four seasons, Hilliard has hit just .212/.294/.423 over 639 plate appearances. Worse, he's stuck out in 209, or roughly a third, of his trips to the batter's box. That is a bit of a problem.
Defensively, Hilliard rates pretty well in left field (8 DRS, 1 OAA) and likely has the arm to handle right field even if his metrics there are less accomplished. He's a bit stretched in center, but can handle the position in brief bursts. Overall, he can play all three outfield positions and won't embarrass you even if he probably shouldn't be in center too often. Though, to be fair, playing center field in Atlanta is a good bit easier than it is in Colorado.
So, why make the move? Well, first, let's go over what Anthopoulos and his team are seeing inside these numbers and, second, what Hilliard represents.
Hilliard hits the ball real hard. He has a Barrel% of 11.8% when the major-league average is 6.7%. His exit velocity averages out at 90.4 mph, a good two ticks higher than the MLB average. That part is very exciting and gives the Braves something to work with. The problem is that Hilliard, for all of the raw power he has, doesn't make enough impactful contact for a guy who already doesn't make nearly enough contact in general. He also has struggled dramatically against non-fastballs in the majors. It's so stark that it's shocking that pitchers even bother showing him a heater.
All of that said, if you feel you can mold Hilliard a bit and get him to make better and more consistent contact, the power is legit whether he's in Colorado or on the road.
Hilliard is probably not the Plan A for anything. For that matter, he's probably not even a Plan G. But cheap sources of power who can hit the stuffing out of the ball are definitely worth a 24-year-old reliever who gave up 11 home runs in A-ball last year. With Hilliard out of options, it’ll be interesting to see if the trade affects Guillermo Heredia.
Signings as of 11/1 (according to Chris Harris, a broadcaster for Mississippi)
RHP Ben Dum - Yes, that's his name. Well, maybe it's nicer to call him Benjamin. Anywho, the former undrafted free agent out of Virginia Commonwealth joined the Braves organization ahead of the 2021 season after spending about a year with the Twins. The last two seasons have been split between Rome and Augusta. Dum strikes out about a batter an inning, but has been homer-prone to this point. I don't have a lot of information about Dum, but what I have seen, he throws a 90 mph sinker with a nice curveball.
RHP Roel Ramirez - Drafted in 2013 by the Rays, Ramirez has also played in the Cardinals and Mets' organizations before coming to the Braves last year via Toros de Tijuana of the Mexican League. He appeared in a game in both 2020 and 2021 for the Cards with the exact same 81.00 ERA line, allowing nine total runs in an inning of work. He's been better in the minors obviously and began putting up double-digit K/9 seasons starting in 2019. Last year with the Stripers, he had a 4.91 ERA in 22 innings as he struck out 29 to 9 walks. He's basically organizational depth with experience.
RHP Malcolm Van Buren - Another member of the Rome/Augusta connection, Van Buren started his career as a 31st rounder by the Royals in 2017. Sledding has been quite slow for Van Buren, who can strikeout a small village (218 in 156.1 innings), but often is as surprised as the hitter where the ball ends up (160 walks, 26 HBP, 65 wild pitches). Basically, Van Buren's arm is a damn tease and if the Braves are ever able to harness its power, he could be stellar.
LHP Danny Young - Picked up off waivers by the Mariners in August, Danny Young has the distinction of playing for two playoff teams during the 2022 season. In two games with Seattle, he gave up three runs in 3.2 inning before throwing a scoreless 2.2 innings on August 15 against the Mets in a 13-1 win. Most of his season was spent at Triple-A where he had a 3.72 ERA over 40 appearances with 57 K's and 13 walks. Young's a decent depth option at lefty who relies heavily on his slider/sinker with an occasional changeup. His velocity is low, but he gets okay spin. On a team that will be without Tyler Matzek in 2023, Young has a fighting chance right now to join A.J. Minter and Dylan Lee as lefties in the bullpen.
C Ryan Casteel - Back for his 13th season of minor league ball is Casteel, who has played in the Braves' organization since 2019. Originally a 17th rounder by the Rockies all the way back in 2010, Casteel has also spent time with the Mariners and the independent-league Lancaster Barnstormers. All in all, the "Hammer" has good power, especially for a catcher, but his offense has been inconsistent since leaving A-ball behind after 2013. Defensively, Casteel is an okay option though he's never been particularly gifted. Depending on the status of Chadwick Tromp, who is arbitration-eligible, Casteel could be an injury away from finally getting into a major league game.
C Hendrik Clementina - Signed out of Curacao by the Dodgers originally, Clementina joined the Braves in 2021. He's got some decent pop, but the free-swinger has just a lifetime OBP of .308. His arm rates decent-to-good. The most distinguishable thing about Clementina is how big he is (listed at 6'0", 250 pounds).
C Arden Pabst - Pabst not only has a good last name, he played with the Lightning Sloths in 2020 in the Constellation Energy League. The CEL was an one-year independent league that popped up in Texas during Covid just to get guys some playing time. Greg Swindell managed the Lightning Sloths. If it feels like I'm focusing too much on the CEL, well, I am for a reason. Pabst is a career .223/.272/.361 hitter and, while he did have a .795 OPS in 21 games last year over three stops in the Braves' organization, the Georgia Tech product is a glove-first organizational depth option.
Releases on 11/4
RHP Kevin Solano - Originally signed out of Panama, Solano spent 2019 in the DSL with a 3.29 ERA over 38.1 innings. He walked a bit too many hitters and that only got worse as he came stateside following the pandemic, walking 28 in 30.2 innings over the last two seasons. The righty turns 21 in April.
C Logan Brown - A little surprised Brown got the heave-ho after being a nice organizational catcher since he was picked in 2018 even if his offense has been missing in action since the pandemic. He hit .272 in consecutive years after the draft and in 2019 prior to losing a year of development. He then struggled to hit .200 over the last two years. Considering he's not going to do much at the plate in general, that disappearing offense was not enough to keep Brown around. Plus, I guess signing three catchers decreased the amount of opportunities.
IF/OF Gabriel Liendo - Originally signed as part of the 2021 international class, Liendo made his debut last summer in the Dominican Summer League. He went just 7-for-57, a .123 average, with one extra base hit. Apparently, the Braves saw all they needed from the 19-year-old, who bounced around from first-to-second-to-left field.
And that's all. While it wouldn't surprise me to see few moves over the next two weeks, if anything happens, I'll definitely review it in my next Transaction Monday.
I've always seen Hilliard as kind of Adam Duvall-y. The type of guy who, if you just threw him out there to let it rip, would manage to run into 30 bombs a year, but probably set a modern era record for strike outs in a season while doing so.
I envision him to be Guillermo Heredia's competition this spring....that is, if either of them are still on the roster come 2023. I really disliked the fact that Heredia spent the entire season on the major league roster the last two years. I mean....I get that he's a great energy guy and cheerleader....but so is Blooper. It's about time Anthopoulos at least pushes Heredia and makes him earn his spot....even if Hilliard doesn't exactly provide a stiff competition.