Ender Inciarte has been a member of the Braves for less than three weeks and teams are already trying to pry him away. Since acquiring the outfielder, Braves GM John Coppolella says that he has been contacted by more teams with interest in Inciarte than there were with Shelby Miller (Twitter links via Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports). The GM says that like Miller, the Braves are not necessarily looking to move Inciarte. Of course, the Braves wound up trading Miller when they got a sizable offer from the D’Backs.
Ultimately, Coppolella says that he is open to dealing “any player not named Freddie Freeman” if the price is right. It has been reported that the Braves’ plan is to keep Inciarte in the organization and use him as a leadoff hitter and center fielder for the foreseeable future. Still, if there are more teams in on Inciarte than there were on Miller, than it stands to reason that Atlanta could get a package strong enough to part with him. It was reported in late November that “as many as 20 teams” checked in on the right-hander.
Inciarte, 25, was largely unheralded as a prospect but has batted a combined .292/.329/.386 in his first two Major League seasons, including a stellar .303/.338/.408 line in 2015. Inciarte is an elite defender at any of the three outfield spots; he’s amassed 52 Defensive Runs Saved in just 1972 innings at the Major League level or, if you prefer, +33.7 runs, per Ultimate Zone Rating.
While he lacks much in the way of power and may see his surface-level rate stats decline by moving away from the hitters’ haven that is Phoenix’s Chase Field, Inciarte is expected to help the Braves’ chances both in 2016 and into the next planned phase of the team’s status as contenders. Of course, with five years of club control to go, there are tons of clubs who would like to add Inciarte to the fold as well.
I guess he’s close to what Kevin Pillar is.
Soooo….
Let me get this straight. EI is better defensively(just look at the numbers rather then use opinion)
He’s better offensively
He’s way better on the base paths
He’s younger
By almost Pilar are you suggesting if he was worse he’d be Pilar?
Ender and Grilli for Soler
Enciarte is more valuable than Miller, so the Braves should be able to get quite a lot for him.
Lol
Pitching will usually always be more valuable than hitting unless the hitter is a stud. Inciarte is far from a stud or even an All-Star. Inciarte is probably slightly less or as valuable as Miller, but I definetly wouldn’t say mote.
More*
Over the next three years, Miller might be more valuable than Inciarte, for the reasons you mentioned. But team control is hugely important to value and Inciarte has 5 years of control while Miller has 3. That’s a huge difference. Miller might be more valuable on a year by year basis, but when you consider that a team trading for Inciarte would have him for almost twice as long, I think he’s probably more valuable.
No, he isn’t.
Man, you sure do like to make bold, certain statements without providing any evidence for why you feel that way. It is absolutely arguable that Inciarte is more valuable than Miller. He’s a young, cost-controlled outfielder that provides excellent defense and a mediocre bat. That has a lot of value in today’s game.
Personally, I believe Inciarte may have already peaked and his ceiling doesn’t appear to allow for much more improvement, so the Braves should probably move him; but even with a step back in production, he would still be a useful player.
Not even close bud
Then why did it take inciarte plus 2 top prospects to get Miller ?
Because Dave Stewart, probably.
The Braves should hold onto Inciarte for now (until Ozhaino Albies is ready to play second and bat 2nd) and use him in LF. Mallex, Ender (later Albies) and Freeman would make up the best 1-2-3 part of the Lineup for years. Olivera can try to figure out third, we have Aybar until Swanson comes up.
1. Mallex Smith CF
2. Inciarte LF
3. Freeman 1B
4. Markakis RF
5. Olivera 3B
6. Beckham/Garcia 2B
7. Erick Aybar SS
8. Flowers/Pier C
Should score more than last year.
I like your line up but I’d rather have Jace Peterson at 2nd base
Totally forgot about him. You are right!
I prefer Garcia over Peterson. Garcia can hit. I’m wondering why Olivera has never been mentioned at 2b which is his natural position. This lineup does seem much better than last year.
Don’t count t out Daniel Castro he is a gamer like Martin Prado was.
Jace Peterson is not very good. He might be a serviceable utility guy but as a 2B he was almost exactly replacement level last year. As Braves fans we are deluded into thinking that’s good after years of suffering through the human windmill out machine and defensive dumpster fire known as Dan Uggla.
Well, you do know that was his rookie year right? He was incredibly inconsistent, but gave us a glimpse of legitimacy. Pretty good with the glove, draws a good share of walks, and has solid speed(though wasn’t a very effective base-runner last season). 2016 will be his age-24 season. There’s still plenty of reason to believe in Jace becoming a decent regular. My only real concern is his performance against LHP. That’s gotta improve.
In any case, it’s almost certain that he’ll provide more value at 2B than a mixture of Gordon Beckham, Adonis Garcia, and Emilio Bonifacio.
I think if you give Peterson some days off against tough lefties he will show a lot of improvement this season. His second half was not good at all, .221/.293/.319 compared to a first half of .252/.328/.348. Against right-handed pitching he hit .251/.332/.350 but struggled against left-handed pitching .190/.234/.250. Another issue was that it was by far the most games he’d played in a season. Not sure his body was prepared for that. If he matures a bit and gets some relief against lefties, then it is realistic to think he’ll progress to be quite serviceable for the braves at second.
If you’re going to split .239/.314/.335/.649 in almost 600 ABs, you better have a good glove. But he’s not a “good” glove.; Jace was statistically dead average defensively; he was .2 DWAR last year, 6 runs below zone average for MLB 2nd basemen and good for -1 runs saved for the season.
And saying “Well he’s only 24” is a wash as well. Defense generally peaks early, between ages 18-25 (paging Andrelton Simmons) While many players become better hitters as their 20s progress, it’s usually the opposite for fielding, players defense almost always declines after age 25.
That being said Jace might be the most able 2B on the Braves current 40 man roster and was probably the starter on a terrible team last year by default.. IMHO he’s a future utility player. If he moves up I-75 with the Braves in 2017 I don’t see it as the starting 2B.
Oliviria is in left
Garcia at 3rd
And isn’t Mallex more of a Jaun Pierre or Ben Revere in the field?
Thus Incarte plays center?
The Braves are set on Olivera as a LF. It’s also reported that he’s a better 2B than 3B. I doubt he’ll ever be back to a regular 3B.
The Mallex/Inciarte/Markakis issue is certainly a conundrum. I’d love for the Braves to implement Mallex as a speed replacement type back up outfielder. Keeping one on the roster has seemingly helped the Royals massively..
The Braves WERE set on Olivera in LF before a capable Inciarte entered the picture. It’s pretty safe to say hey are back to plan B with Olivera. 3rd base makes the most sense for him and them right now (really want Alex Wood back..)
Mallex as a 4th OF is a terrible idea and would stunt his development. We already have Michael Bourn. We can sign Justin Maxwell if we need another.
Justin Maxwell is signed in Florida
I’m with the above comment that Oliviria is done at 3rd
Bourn will not be a regular as the braves will not want to activate his option yr.
That is not a good 1-2-3.
Name 5 better.
Jays, Angels, dbacks, red sox, marlins, Cubs, Pirates, need I go on?
Cubs, Dodgers, Jays, Red Sox, Giants, Angels, Astros, Pirates shall I go on? That is likely 2 average to below average hitters at 1-2.
The pirates have Polanco, Harrison, McCutchen. The Cubs have Heyward, Zobrist, Rizzo. The Marlins have the best lead off man in the business in Dee Gordon, Polanco hitting 2 with Stanton hitting 3.
Whos Polanco? I think you mean Yelich
Agreed. Pretty weak top three.
Smith is not a top prospect. He could be a solid every day guy in the future. But besides his speed, he lacks any impact tools. He probably won’t exceed something like .270/.330/..360. Inciarte’s line last year was nearly identical to his eight year minor league triple slash, and that’s probably his ceiling. So…
Smith: .270/.330/.350
Inciarte: .290/.330/.385
Freeman: .285/.370/.470
How is that better than these 1-2-3’s:
Altuve: .315/.350/.450
Springer: .275/.370/.475
Correa: .280/.360/.500
Zobrist: .275/.350/.425
Heyward: .280/.360/.430
Rizzo: .280/.390/.520
In fact, I’d rank that Atlanta 1-2-3 as the 2nd worst in the division, above the Phillies. There’s way more than five that are better. Arizona (Pollock, Peralta, Goldy), Boston (Betts, Pedroia, Boggy), Colorado (Blackmon, Reyes, CarGo/Arenado), Miami (Gordon, Yelich, Stanton), Pittsburgh (Polanco, Harrison, Cutch), Toronto (Revere, Donaldson, Bautista), Washington (Rendon, Turner, Harper), Cleveland (Kipnis, Lindor, Brantley), Mets (Granderson, Conforto, Duda).
There’s ten that beat them EASILY. There are ten more that could easily be considered better.
Markais no power batting clean up??? He’s gone too dumb signing
But does he get on base?
Offseason is the time players bulk up to maintain power. Nick has neck surgery last year and couldn’t buff up so he had no power. I expect him to hit at least 15 this year. Not a lot but good.
When is the last time Nick hit 15?
The issue with this lineup is your first 4 batters are left handed
Jace Peterson is your 2nd baseman champ. That’s wishful thinking on Olivera at third. He’s already shown that he can’t field at the position and I don’t think he’ll hit above his weight. Olivera will be a bench bat by mid season. Garcia will win the 3rd base job despite sloppy defense, cause if it’s between him and Olivera, at least Garcia can hit
I cant wait to hear what all the Braves fans expect in return for him..This will be good.
Wait….a fan base over valuing their players……this must be new…
As somebody who is a a few sites, Cubs fans are the worst. And I like the cubbies. But they seem to think all their prospects are sure fire.
Braves fans were right on Miller and Simmons.
Look what Phillies got for Giles. It’s a big time sellers market. 25 teams looking to compete and the rest building their system. Supply in demand
Well if more than 20 teams are asking for him he deserves a big return for him fans like you don’t get the game it’s about what teams are willing to give up for someone
Ben Revere with less speed. Don’t think he’has ever been deemed high demand.
revere has lots of speed, less defense and Inciarte has defensive advantage. both are extreme low OBP guys who had better get on base via the hit, or won’t any other way and singles hitters at that.
Difference is, revere has superb ability to turn those singles into doubles via the SB and Inciarte (like JBJ, only he presents power) have GG defense.
Inciarte has been better in his two seasons than Revere ever has as a hitter.
Inciarte has more power in general, has shown better ability to generate doubles and home runs. Fun fact – Revere has 66 career doubles, while Inciarte has had 45 in his first two seasons. Inciarte had more doubles in his first two seasons (1,008 PA) than Revere had in his first 4+ seasons (2,026 PA).
He has profiled as being only slightly better in AVG/OBP, but the SLG is a significant difference. Further, wRC+ shows that the offensive boost isn’t simply park-related.
-C
Revere sucks. Speed is his gimmick. You guys are talkng like Inciarte is Mookie Betts or something……..smh
Inciarte isn’t in the top 10 of any offensive category besides BA. He’s barely in the top 20 for any offensive category. He’s 37th in slugging (admittedly .408 for a little guy is very good, but rankings aren’t “relative to size”…). Basically, he’s a 1 dimensional player….speed (which relates directly to his defensive ability), Speed guys are good until they slow a bit, then they are mediocre at best.
The guys is good right now, but he’s not in the top 25 overall……He is, IMHO….at least as good as Miller however (I don’t like miller that much….lousy K rate)
Braves fans are no more delusional than any other team’s fans…it’s just that they are more confident they will actually get those ridiculous packages since the D’backs keep unloading the farm for them
I would have said the same but after seeing what they got for Miller, I can’t say anything. Hart must have some of the best PIs in baseball digging up dirt on the other GMs.
if you are in full rebuild trade Freddie and Enciarte and get tons. no reason to keep Freddie. NONE…and Enciarte will bring a good haul.
Yeah.
Freeman and Teharan would both bring nice hauls.
How about the Pirates? They could use both.
Astros?
No reason to keep Freeman? He’s 26 and signed through 2022. Granted, those last few years might be brutal, but that’s a risk attached to any mega-deal. Should be a 3-5 win player for at least another 3-4 years.
And trading him right now wouldn’t make a ton of sense. He’s coming off a wrist injury and those can be scary. The FO alienated a huge portion of the fanbase by tradingHeyward, Upton, Gattis, Kimbrel, Simmons, Wood, and now Miller without getting any proven impact players back(unless we’re counting Miller here). The Shelby Miller heist helped, but trading Freeman for more prospects would destroy any hope of anyone coming to bid Turner Field goodbye.
If Freeman’s wrist is healed and he’s mashing and some team’s willing to part with a collection of potentially special players, then they’ll consider it. But that’s not gonna happen before opening day and it’s unlikely to happen mid-season. Heck, the only way I see it happening at all is if the Braves land an impact bat or two for some of these prospects they’ve been collecting. And who knows when they’ll start shopping any of those…
Correct
I don’t think the fanbase had time to care about Miller. They looked at him and saw a sack with $$$ on the side of it. But yeah, Gattis, Kimbrel, and Simmons really hurt. The Braves have passed the point of selling off the core of old teams though I think.
Freddie’s contract still looks awesome, expecting him to decline in his age 31/32 season is not giving him enough credit for his capabilities.
I’m hoping that the Braves will realize the flaws in a handful of the sp prospects they’ve acquired and package them for a young power hitter. It’ll really round out the team and it seems they haven’t noticed that power is only becoming more of a premium.
The Pirates would match up perfectly with the Braves. They have high end pitching prospects, they have a high end first base prospect (Bell), some nice outfield prospects that are blocked and they need a starting big league first baseman to keep pace with the Cubs. If you are truly rebuilding then do it. The Cubs sucked for 3 years and now they have a ridiculous lineup and the Braves have better pitching prospects already if they went full rebuild and just drafted high end hitters like the Cubs than they could have a deep farm and a massive lineup in 2 years.
The Pirates window won’t be open forever, they’re highly motivated……plus, it’s the right thing to do by Freddy. He isn’t going to fill the stands by himself-
Gotta agree with Smiley on this one. Look, it’s not that Freeman has no value, he’s a .300 hitting first baseman who’s good for 18-20 HR and 80 RBI a year, and plays as good defense as just about any in the league. But he will not save the Braves from their fate over 2016/17, he will not fill the seats by himself as the team amasses losses. The Pirates have a short window and a glaring need at first base. They have plenty of talent in their system to make a deal worthwhile. The Braves may have to eat some of the contract, but now is the time to make a call and see what the offer would bring. The FO isn’t concerned with fan favorites (obviously) nor face of the franchise baloney. Freddy and Heyward were the faces of the Braves. Now, it’s like Butch with no Sundance. This thing is aimed at turning around in 2018/19 and the Braves still have many, many needs- Now isn’t the time to go soft in the hand, you know?
Freddie Freeman “mashing”……?????…….when has he ever done that? Has he been hurt his entire career? He has 103 HR’s over a 5 year career (full time player). That would be “mashing” for a 2B or a SS, but it’s horrible for a 1B. Don’t get me wrong, he’s a solid guy and a good ballplayer, but his career slash is .285/.366/.466/.832, he averages 20 HR’s a year, 30 doubles, and 80 RBI’s. Very respectable. But 2016 is the last year that he is affordable ($12 mil). He’s making over $20 mil/yr over each of the final 5 yrs of his contract. They should try to move him now, before he costs too much (that ship may have sailed anyway). That’s a lot of $$$$$ for 20 HR’s and 80 RBI’s.
And this might look quite good in 2018/2019……
Albies – 2B
Inciarte – CF
Swanson – SS
Freeman – 1B
D. Peterson/Davidson – RF
Ruiz/Riley – 3B
Mallex – LF
Herbert? – C
Gotta assume Markakis is a goner by then(likely by next years deadline), .Obviously I could be getting ahead of myself Ruiz and Riley, but I think Swanson will move quick. I still have faith in Ruiz getting it together, but Riley might also move quick if his bat is as good as I think it is. Another possibility is Braxton Davidson, assuming he can tap into that power we heard so much about when they drafted him. Chances are they’ll make a play for an impact bat or two before then, but it’s not crazy to think they could have a pretty competent offense with what they’ve already got in-house. Which seems insane considering how they haven’t acquired many position-player prospects in this incredibly busy year for them.
They have plenty of time, but they need to target a young catcher. There’s pretty much zero depth there. There’s Herbert, who was drafted just last year, and……??
I see Mallex Smith leading off w Albies or Swanson 2nd. Smith in CF w Inciarte in RF and 1 of those other guys in LF
Inciarte is a much better defender than Smith, so I can’t imagine he’ll be moving to a corner over Mallex. As for who bats cleanup, Albies or Smith make more sense to me than Inciarte. Inciarte doesn’t walk much and while it’s yet to be seen if Smith and/or Albies will provide more in that department, all 3 have similar skill sets.
From what I hear, Swanson projects to be your prototypical 2-hitter, but with Smith, Albies, and Inciarte all on board in this hypothetical scenario, it would make sense to put 2 of them in the first 2 spots because there’s a chance Swanson has 15-20 HR potential. I wasn’t really making a “lineup” though. Just a position-by-position breakdown. In a perfect world though, this would be nice and balanced…
Smith
Swanson
Freeman
Riley
Ruiz
Inciarte
Albies
Herbert
Can’t imagine we’d be seeing both Inciarte and Mallex as starting players(at least not in Atlanta) going into 2018 though.
As a Reds fan I’m jealous of what the Braves got for Miller.
Braves should deal him or any player north of 27. They are so far from being a contender. I like the moves they have made and the rebuild approach they are taking. Sign cheap veterans you can flip and get all the prospects for the new stadium.
They actually just got something better than a prospect, a proven player at the big league level who is cost controlled and fills 3 needs on the team: CF, lead off hitter, speed. Why trade? Those are assets you use. If you want to obtain power on the lineup, fill that need with the $ that is made available by having cost controlled players such as Inciarte on your team
Where is that cj fella at..Im sure he can come up with some 27 player deal to move Inciarte
I wish there was still a way to like comments. This one deserves an upvote.
I came here to find him too. I wish I could click on his profile to see comments like I used to.
I love his obscene trades and the terrible rationale he provides for why it makes sense
How is this “the latest”?
My thoughts after reading this post as well..lol
Inciarte/Markakis/Freeman is an excellent 1-3, I hope they hold onto all of them.
If Olivera struggles to adjust, the Braves will really need a young power hitter to protect Freddie. Presumably at 3B or 2B. That’s going to be tough to find, though Swanson could be part of the answer.
Swanson to me seems like a higher end Elsides Escobar or Atwve. Probably looking at 15 homers, 70 rbi, 35 steals 310 avg
Inciarte… just another blunder of the Amaro administration..
Hindsight is 20/20.
Ender is under team control for 5 years and our window to compete is 2018-2020. We need to keep him if we plan to compete in those years. He is a semi proven player. Not all prospects pan out.
Just an idea, because obviously ATL has to start acquiring offensive pieces at some point… What about calling Colorado and checking in on some of their young bats? Granted they would be expensive, but where else are impact guys going to come from? Just an idea… it obviously doesn’t make sense to undo what has already been done, but they will be looking to move some of those guys and ATL obviously has pieces to start taking some steps
pretty sure this means the Dbacks never found out what inciarte could fetch from other teams, just targeted 2 pitchers and included him in the offer. im sure they could have got more value other places, like inciarte for kyle hendricks and c.j edwards and then package blair and swanson for someone like wily peralta. lengthens the rotation and edwards can go straight in to the pen. greinke, peralta, corbin, hendricks, ray. i think it would be a better rotation.
Swanson and Blair for Wily Peralta?? You must be Wily Peralta
Or Dave Stewart
peralta is basically shelby miller. lower XFIP, fip roughly the same, he was hurt last year. you are betting on them improving, same age, same amount of team control left. blair is a borderline top 100 guy, and swanson is just decent ceiling high floor guy.
Swanson is decent ceiling? He has been compared to Jeter offensively w better defense. I think that is better then a decent ceiling.
I seen that too…lol
I highly doubt it.
Better than Jeter? Lets see how is plays in high A ball first.
Not sure if he sticks at SS. but he does have some wheels and a good bat.
I didn’t say he was better than Jeter. There have been people that have compared him to Jeter offensively but better defensively. Jedihoyer claimed Swanson had a decent ceiling. If evaluators are comparing him to Jeter then “a decent ceiling” is selling him short. Idk anything about the kid other then what I have read so I can’t make an educated claim that he is the next Jeter. LOL
Blair is a “borderline” top 100 guy? Pre-season 2015 rankings…..
Baseball America: #40
MLB.com: #80
Baseball Prospectus: #43
This was before he had the best season of his pro career, throwing a career high 160.1 IP with a 2.92 ERA between AA and AAA. Strikeout numbers went down, but he lowered his walks and his fastball velocity still sat between 92-94mph while touching 96mph+. at times.
He’s a borderline top 50….
I don’t know how he could fit in the top 50. I think the top 50 are all cubs prospects. All of them are sure fire hall of famers.
Blair is a 3/4 pitcher who is MLB ready imo(probably even last year). He doesn’t have the upside some other prospects have but a top 50 prospect i agree with.
I would imagine most of those 20 teams were simply doing their due diligence and checking in with Atlanta about a player that they previously had not talked about. Don’t get carried away with expected returns, quite yet.
Solid young player, but by no means a superstar. If you can get someone to overpay it’s a smart move.
Agreed.
I’m pretty sure they’d trade him if someone would eat Markakis’s contract.
The Braves are not the buyer
Not likely to be true. Anyone eating a contract like that would reduce the potential return for Ender. The Braves are no longer in a situation where they have to use valuable trade pieces as leverage to remove bad or mediocre contracts.
Markakis has been worth his contract
He might have been worth it but do you need his salary when you’re not contending though?
Call me crazy but I’ve never seen the point in saving a little bit of money during rebuilds. Teams typically spend all they have because it’s very hard to make that money translate into latter season unless it’s just spread out.
On the other hand you need a player like that to help mentor your younger players and have a name on the field people recognize.
Maybe it’s my fear that if you don’t spend it you lose it, but I’m pretty sure most teams spend all of their money, they just allocate more of it to the minors.
Incarte, Teheran for Soler, Baez, and Contreras
Here is an excellent move for both the SF Giants and the Atlanta Braves. The Giants clearly need a center fielder with the collapse of Angel Pagan.
Inciarte to SF Giants
Atlanta needs to build from catcher to the mound.
Susac to Atlanta
Mejia to Atlanta
What do you think?
The Braves need to build catcher to the mound? Pitching depth and talent is over loaded. Catching needs some help but after looking at Susac, his defense better be amazing because there shouldn’t be much expected from his bat. I looked at his minor league numbers and there wasn’t any hope of upside in them.
And then there’s Meija who pipeline projects as a no.3 pitcher. I think a trade to get Inciartes has to be a little more serious than this.
Lol, right.
And then the braves trade you Swanson and Freeman for a PTBNL or cash……
I do not want to trade Inciarte at all but I am interested in what teams are actually offering or what Atl is asking for.
I hope Markakis has a strong 1st half so Atl can trade him. Slide Inciarte to RF and Mallex Smith in CF
If they could move inciarte for a reasonable haul, I am going to be so ticked as a dback fan. Watch inciarte net them a solid ready rotation piece like Miller…..
Not going to happen. But they could get another good prospect(s)
I’m new, I have had the site bookmarked for a year and checked almost everyday. Just wanted to say hey to everyone ehos comments I’ve been reading. I hope to be involved.
Getting on base is what you want your one and two hitter to do. He’s right. That isn’t a good arrangement. Also, Mallex will not be pushed if he needs further development.
Inciarte
Markakis
Freemen
Olivera
Ayeber
This would make more since. Your best all round hitter hits in the three spot while your best power hitter, the clean up spot gives him protection so they can’t just pitch around your no.3 hitter. Your first two hitters are your table setters which utilizes Inciartes speed and athleticism and Markakis ability to get on base
hanks1hammer, have to laugh at the lofty prospect of Olivera batting cleanup. Bro can’t hit
Ender can’t hit righties; he’s abysmal against them.
Not sure where you got that info but he has a .309 BA against righties. .331 Avg last year.
Lefties he sort of struggles with .229 last year. Dbacks used him in a platoon with Righties with Tomas hitting Lefties.
The Cubs have one of the best defensive CF in the minors in Almora.Use Heyward as a stopgap in CF until the trade deadline and see where Almora’s bat is at that time.If he is doing well, bring him up.If his bat isnt coming around they can make a trade then.I dont see the urgency as of yet to go after Inciarte and have to overpay for a great defensive guy with very limited offense.I can see 5-6 teams which is good,really in on Ender,with the other 15 coming from the Braves brass to drive up the price.But hey it only takes one team to throw in the offer of a lifetime as we seen with the D Backs.
Almora better be good with the glove. But I agree, he projects to be a pretty similar to player to Inciarte. I don’t see the Cubs giving up anything of value for a CF unless it’s one with a lot less question marks than Inciarte.
However, Almora is at least a year away, maybe even 2. He’s been pretty bad offensively over the last couple of years after hitting ..328/.356/.470 over 115 games between rookie ball, low A, high A, and the AFL to start his pro career. His most recent stint in AA wasn’t too encouraging(though he did improve on that absolutely abysmal BB rate in 2014).
What’s his speed like? I’m assuming it’s at least average if he’s so highly-rated as a defensive player, but he seems to ground into quite a lot of double-plays.
Braves have a similar, though more under-the-radar player in Connor Lien. Nobody took him seriously until this year after hitting a solid ..285/,.347/.415 with 33 steals at high-A. Guy had 21 outfield assists in 127 games this past year and just recently turned 21.
And I have yet to see a Braves prospect list that listed Lien anywhere, despite the fact that he was one of the very few players in their system who had a good year with the bat.
Lien strikes out way too much. He struggled heavily in the AFL. He’s also already 21, will be 22 at the beginning of next season on A ball. If he work make a prospect list it would be in the low 20’s. The Braves system is stacked.
I think a lot of people are missing the big picture, the Braves are out of the business of needing to trade someone. If someone wants a part they are going to have to pay our price. Swisher, Incarte, Teheran for Naez, Soler, Contreras