The Atlanta Braves and San Diego Padres continued their massive offseason overhauls Sunday afternoon, even after final rosters were to be submitted. The San Diego Padres were last to announce their Opening Day rosters, making people wonder if something was up. A short while ago, Ken Rosenthal of Fox Sports reported that the Padres had made a trade, and boy is it a big one.
Here is the full deal, again from Rosenthal:
Complete deal: Kimbrel and B.J. from #Braves to #Padres for Quentin, Maybin, Wisler, Paroubeck and 41st pick.
— Ken Rosenthal (@Ken_Rosenthal) April 5, 2015
The Braves will have to redo their submitted Opening Day roster.
The Braves signed closer Jason Grilli in the offseason, raising some eyebrows as to whether or not Kimbrel would be moved. Braves President of Baseball Operations John Hart directly denied that the Braves would move Kimbrel:
While Braves president of baseball operations John Hart acknowledges that he has focused on improving the club’s long-term future with the flurry of moves he has made this winter, he remains optimistic that his team will be competitive this upcoming season. Thus, it was not surprising when he shot down the notion of moving Kimbrel when asked on Thursday morning.
“We love our core group,” Hart said. “We have added quality players around this group to allow us to compete while strengthening the farm system. We’ve added (Nick) Markakis, (Jason) Grilli, (Jim) Johnson, A.J. (Pierzynski) and others to help us compete this year. We have never entertained trading (Kimbrel) and have had zero conversations with any clubs about Craig. I want him finishing out a World Series win.”
The trade was essentially a swap of bad contracts, with the Braves getting two prospects in exchange for Kimbrel.
Phillies fans know the B.J./Melvin Upton disaster, having watched Upton bat a combined .198 over the last two seasons with the Braves. The Padres had a starting outfield of Will Venable, Carlos Quentin, and Cameron Maybin before they acquired Upton's brother Justin, Matt Kemp, and Wil Myers to be the team's new outfield. Something had to to give.
Somehow two Padres outfielders became one Padres outfielder and a trade of the Braves top closer, Craig Kimbrel. Kimbrel may not have wished to sign a new deal with the Braves, meaning that he would be a free agent at the end of the season. The Braves get two prospects, including their top prospect, Matt Wisler, a right-handed pitcher. The other prospect, outfielder Jordan Paroubeck, did not make Baseball America's top 10 but remains an intriguing name after being drafted in the 2013 draft.
The Braves also get the 41st pick in the 2015 amateur draft. The rules allow the trade of draft picks only in one occasion: competitive balance picks. The Padres had one, and it is now Braves property. The Braves cannot trade the pick now. Such a trade happened last year when the Pirates acquired the 39th overall pick from the Miami Marlins in exchange for pitcher Bryan Morris.
The Braves got worse in the immediate future, but picked up two nice pieces that will figure in the National League East for years. But, for 2015: Add a couple wins to the Phillies' win total and subtract a bunch from the Braves.
