Braves Great Trade In-Depth

Braves Great Trade In-Depth

Edgar Renteria Trade

Trade:

Jair Jurrjens and Gorkys Hernandez to Atlanta,  Edgar Renteria to Detroit
I must preface this by saying that I think this deal isn’t too bad for the Tigers either. It’s just spectacular from the Braves end, so that’s where we’ll focus.

In what will amount to basically a salary dump for the Braves (Renteria makes $9 million per season), the Braves acquired two high level prospects and are able to replace Renteria at a very small monetary and production cost.

Taking over full-time at short for the Braves will be Cuban defector Yunel Escobar.
Below is a comparison of their 2007 stats, Edgar going first.

.332/.390/.470
.326/.385/.450

By making this trade, the Braves will save over $8.5 million in salary. A small scouting report from Baseball America on Yunel:

“Escobar has solid tools across the board. His smooth swing produces line drives from gap to gap. Though aggressive at the plate, he has good plate discipline and pitch recognition. He has consistent hands and a strong arm that’s a plus at any infield position.”

During the regular season Escobar hit .326 in about 350 plate appearances. The one concern is his obvious lack of HR power, as he only hit 5 during his major league time & only 2 in close to 50 AAA games in 2007. He does however have a better slugging percentage than one would think (.450), due to 25 doubles.

While the overall power ceiling may not be too high, Escobar should fit in well in the Braves line-up in a one or two slot (.385 OBP). This now gives the Braves a young middle infield of Escobar (24) and Johnson (25), along with freeing up some cash that could be used in the free agent market.

Next time around we’ll look at the two players that the Braves received in the deal.

Yunel Escobar

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