The Rangers have added some depth to their rotation and bullpen, announcing the acquisition of right-handed starter Lucas Harrell and left-hander reliever Dario Alvarez from the Braves in exchange for minor league second baseman Travis Demeritte. Texas has designated infielder Matt Duffy for assignment to clear room on the 40-man roster. Both Harrell and Alvarez will join the big league club right away, per the Rangers’ announcement.
[Related: Updated Texas Rangers Depth Chart]
Harrell, 31, signed a minor league contract with the Tigers this offseason and opened the year pitching with Detroit’s Triple-A affiliate. After hitting the open market in late May, Harrell inked another minors pact, this time with the Braves, and worked his way up into Atlanta’s big league rotation, where he’s posted a 3.38 ERA with 6.4 K/9, 3.7 BB/9 and a 44.2 percent ground-ball rate in 29 1/3 innings spanning five starts.
Harrell broke into the Majors with the 2010 White Sox but didn’t find his first success until the 2012 season, when he tossed 193 2/3 innings of 3.76 ERA ball and made 32 starts for the Astros. Harrell looked at that point to have a chance at establishing himself as a long-term option at the back of the Houston rotation, but he struggled in two subsequent seasons and ultimately landed with the LG Twins of the Korea Baseball Organization in 2015, where he also struggled over a full season’s workload out of the rotation. Harrell, though, has pitched well at all of his minor league stops this season and looked useful enough in the Braves’ rotation to have reportedly garnered trade interest from a handful of teams.
Alvarez, too, was a midseason addition for the Braves, who claimed him off waivers from the Mets back on May 25. The 27-year-old hadn’t experienced much in the way of big league success prior to this season despite a lifetime 2.97 ERA in the minors, but he’s yielded just five earned runs on 11 hits and five walks with a whopping 28 strikeouts through 15 Major League innings since being claimed by the Braves. It’s a small sample, to be sure, but Alvarez’s velocity is up two miles per hour (averaging 93.5 mph) over his previous stints with the Mets, and he’s doubled the usage of his slider, which appears to have led to considerably improved results. The Rangers clearly were impressed by the gains he’s made in 2016, and if they prove to be sustainable, Texas will have control of Alvarez for another five years beyond the 2016 season, so there’s some long-term potential here.
That the Braves were able to turn a pair of May additions into Demeritte is a fairly notable surprise. While the 21-year-old doesn’t rank among the game’s top 100 prospects or even the top 10 farmhands within the Texas organization, the former first-round pick entered the season rated 20th among Rangers prospects per MLB.com and 28th per Baseball America. He struggled last season and was hit with an 80-game PED suspension but has had a rebound year with Texas’ Class-A Advanced affiliate, batting .272/.352/.583 with 25 home runs and 13 stolen bases. MLB.com notes that he has more power than a typical second baseman but has long been far too aggressive at the plate. That hasn’t changed this year, as Demeritte has whiffed in more than a third of his plate appearances in Class-A in spite of his power.
The 27-year-old Duffy, not to be confused with the Giants third baseman of the same name, was claimed off waivers out of the Astros organization last month. He’s a career .272/.340/.438 hitter in parts of three Triple-A seasons but has totaled just 12 plate appearances at the Major League level — all coming with Houston.
David O’Brien of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution first reported that Harrell and Alvarez had been traded. MLB.com’s Mark Bowman reported that the Rangers were getting each player. Jeff Wilson of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram reported that Demeritte was heading back to Atlanta in the deal.
Well, there goes any hope of atlanta wanting/getting a combination of gallo brinson tate ortiz for a teheran package.
I think that’s been dead for several days.
Ummmm… Who???
Got something for Harrell im content. But man does this kid strike out a lot
The Rangers gave up Demeritte for that? Way to go Braves..
I know, right. I’m a little shocked. Awesome trade for the Braves considering they picked up Harrell from Korea.
I know right
I think it is the market that forced so high of a return. Really any starting pitching improvement is better for the rangers and they gave up what they had to in this market to get it. Also, I think this is also a move to make sure if they can’t get a real starter at the deadline atleast they’ll have something.
Demeritte is OLDER than Odor, and strikes out at a 30% rate. He wasnt even a top 100 prospect. I think this is a good trade for the Rangers who desperately needed the pitching help.
Yes, except that Demeritte is YOUNGER than Odor. When you use all caps and are that emphatic about something, just spend the extra 5 seconds to make sure it’s correct.
Demeritte shoulda brought back more. 25 homers and .272 average. Harrell and Alvarez aren’t gonna get it done
Easy come easy go. Braves got Harrell and Alvarez for basically nothing, so flipping them for anything is a plus. Watching their replacements (probably) embarrass themselves on the field will stink but the team is awful already so…
Little high, little low. Any way the wind blows…
Come on! No one? That was clever!
Good Trade for Brwves but don’t need another 2B,
First of all, he’s only 21 years old and in A+ ball. He most likely has at least a couple years before he’s ready (assuming he’s ever ready for the bigs). His position doesn’t matter right now.
Second of all, if he ends up having a .900+ OPS at 2B, then yes, the Braves do need another 2B. Every team in the league would take that no matter who their 2B currently is. Yes, it’s highly unlikely that he carries this through the minors and into the bigs, but they got a player with some talent for basically nothing. In a full rebuild, talent comes first, position comes later.
Was about to say something similar but you beat me to it and in a better way
If he does make it to the big leagues and second is unavalîabe, due to Swanson or albies, I saw he has had experience at 3b and don’t forget the braves are willing to put a catcher, gattis, in left so thats always a possibility
Everything that Priggs said is true. But also keep in mind that he didn’t come up as a 2B. He came up as a SS. Most scouts thought that he would move to 3B. The Rangers moved him to 2B since they had Gallo and Beltre already playing 3B. The Braves have already said they would give him time at 3B, SS, 2B, and LF.
Demeritte played in the futures game? Wow. Can’t believe the Braves got him for Harrell and a LOOGY.
Two guys the Braves got for nothing for a former first rounder with some pop. I’ll take it. Got to get some power into the system even if it is a wildcard
Kind of tells you a lot about this pitching market when the Rangers are willing to give up a former 1st round pick for Harrell and Alvarez.
Absolute steal of a trade for the Braves. I couldn’t be happier. I liked what I saw of Alvarez and was hoping he would stay but this move was awesome!
Massive overpay. A hellickson and Gomez/neris trade would probably net a top prospect if this is the return Atlanta got. Is demeritte a top 100 on any lists does anybody know?
Hes not quite that well regarded because of his swing and miss rate. Average defensive 2B who could be a longterm 3B. Huge pop potential and decent walk ability.
Not top 100 – He faded a bit due to his PE suspension. But agree with everyone that any return is a positive one. This guy has solid pop which is exactly what we need in our system. Another note: he projects better to 3B, but because of the log jam the Rangers had at 3rd they forced him to 2nd and has just taken to it better than expected. I can see him taken the hot corner if we don’t start seeing Rio Ruiz continue to progress.
I think his point is that if two guys who were released in May are worth a guy like Demeritte that established big leaguers like Hellickson and Gomez must be worth a top 100 guy.
A top 20 prospect. Not bad
In the Braves system he’ll be lucky to break top 30 but some legit power. Hopefully they can get him to hit for better avg and they may have something. If not, they haven’t lost anything giving these two up, despite my thoughts that Alvarez may actually keep it together.
MLB has him as #9 in the Braves system
You do realize that MLB also updated the whole midseason prospect list between the time that the trade was first completed and the time that they moved Demiritte into the Braves system.
MLB updated the entire list in the matter of 2 hours? Wow, pretty impressive… Odd how they managed to update the entire list last week when another prospect was traded.
Oh, by the way, your post was entirely irrelevant. I replied to someone who said Demeritte would be lucky to break the Braves top 30, much less top 10. Thanks for bothering, though.
Great trade, Coppy!
Georgia boy comes home.
LOVE this trade for the Braves.
This is a nice deal for Texas. The kid the Braves got is a non-prospect of a particular type that often confuses people, just an age appropriate, low-minors little guy who is selling out for power. Guys like that come along every so often and rarely even make it to the big leagues. You’re talking about a kid in A ball who is striking out 35% of his PA’s and an amazing 40% of his AB’s! He’s basically just blowing up his power numbers at the expense of everything else and isn’t particularly young either. Or a good fielder.
I’ll take the Rangers side of this any day. Useful LOOGY who has been hot lately. Useful long reliever-swingman.
Ha whatever you gotta tell yourself buddy. I hope they help the Rangers but in a lost year for the Braves we will take our chances with a power hitting infielder
Whatever YOU have to tell someone else. Seriously, after all the flak Gallo gets? Demeritte is 21 and in High-A ball. At 21, Gallo was in AAA. Gallo OPS’d 1.199 in High-A…
The odds really are that this guys doesn’t make it to the bigs, and if he does, he doesn’t stick. The entire infield is logjammed for the Rangers (1B jam caused by the others), trading from a strength here.
Odds are MOST prospects dont make it to the majors. The Braves are pretty much gambling pocket change they found on the side of the road in the off chance they find a diamond in the rough. They were never going to do better than this for the guys the sent to Texas.
It makes me laugh that you criticize this guy by comparing him to Gallo, one of the top prospects in all of baseball.
You don’t seem to follow the reasoning. The comparison to Gallo is due to how many people out there, right now, amidst trade discussions, are saying that Gallo can’t/won’t cut it in MLB. So it’s odd that people aren’t nearly as critical of Demeritte and are acting like the Rangers gave up a prime prospect.
With most prospects not making it to the majors, the Rangers are gambling the same pocket change, they just happened to get half dollars from their grandpa instead of pennies and nickels from the side of the road.
This could be a perfectly fine trade for the Rangers. Or it could range from meaningless to really bad.
There is absolutely no way this isn’t a good trade for the Braves, though.
Kinda weird that a “non-prospect” can be a) taken in the first round of the draft just a little more than three years ago, and b) would have been ranked ninth in the Rangers farm system by the MLB’s #1 prospect writer.
-C
He was rated #20 on the mlb prospect list. From my understanding a lot of reason that he fell down the preseason lists was his PED suspension last season. Even though I’m glad to have him in the Atlanta organization he may have a difficult time cracking the top 30 for the Braves. They may have only a few high end prospects, but they have a very deep system.
I misspoke, it was Callis…Baseball America, not MLB. Anyway, he would have put him ninth on the Rangers’ midseason prospect list.
It doesn’t really matter whether or not he cracks the list or not, we’re talking about two utterly expendable arms that the Braves got via a minor league contract and another guy picked up for free off waivers. Neither really projects for any long-term plans, so getting any potentially-valuable prospect for the pair is a tremendous win.
-C
Pretty sure Harrell is going into the rotation. Don’t expect any change in production. The Astros and Mariners are laughing.
Demeritte has nowhere near the accolades or tools that Brandon Wood flashed in the same High-A ballparks during his age-20 season eleven years ago. And aren’t the tools Demeritte does have more reminiscent of Dan Uggla in a best case scenario than they are of the player some Braves fans are dreaming Demeritte will become?
I agree with Seamaholic and Gammaraze. Texas got the upper hand in this trade.
Both sides trade excess players, who had no future with their current team, and both sides received what they need. How is that not a win for BOTH teams?
The Braves had zero reason to keep those pitchers. Yes Demeritte has plenty of flaws and may never make it, but the talent is there and definitely worth (at least) what they gave up.
Harrell is a one year deal and the Braves actually have some LH bullpen depth (Minter will be up shortly)
I’m not saying the Rangers won this trade, just that it’s not the landslide for Atlanta that everyone seemed to think it was. Without any moves being made, Demeritte was blocked at 3B by Beltre/Gallo, SS by Andrus/Profar, 2B by Odor/Profar, and 1B by Gallo/Profar.
Are the Rangers stocked with middle infield talent in the minors? Not anymore, but by the time Andrus/Odor/Profar are gone, they surely will be. And Ian Kinsler thought he was God’s gift at 2B to the Rangers… How do you get Ian Kinsler to be the same player consistently every year? Send him to another team.
Yes! Someone with common sense! The Rangers and Braves both did well. The Braves saw an opportunity to buy low on Demeritte and the Rangers saw an opportunity to bring in rotation insurance and K upside reliever with 5 YEARS of control. The PED suspension undeniably damages Demeritte’s value, that and his power and speed will not translate later on unless he starts making contact. We see a lot of high upside prospects never quite get there because they didn’t address the holes in their swing and their chases rates early in their development. Hopefully the Braves can teach him plate discipline. If not there isn’t much to be had here.
Demeritte’s big stats were being generated at High Desert, which notoriously skews hitters stats. It’s a big time shooting gallery. He is a decent prospect, but won’t put up those kind of numbers in the Braves system.
Agreed, I think everyone in this deal sees Demeritte’s value somewhere between his 2016 and 2015 performance. Demeritte is kind of a lottery ticket prospect in that sense. Which makes this a reasonably fair deal for both sides, I think.
Was Hickory 2014 in the high desert ? (24 HR)
Garbage trade for the Rangers. I would think they grab more pitching,
What are Rangers thinking??? They need better quality pitching than this to keep if they expect to make it to the playoffs. These guys must be part of a package for someone else in the near future.
No, this is an insurance trade. The Rangers need to make SOME trade for pitching happen, and if they don’t get a major deal done, this is what they fall back on.
Yeah gammeraze is right, the Rangers will definitely still go for another better pitcher. They just needed to add more depth and this trade does that both in the rotation and in the bullpen.
Braves fans like this because anyone with double digit homers is a plus.
Rome wasn’t built in a day. Good trade for the Rangers. Minimal risk. It’s the little pieces that make the whole pie. People are acting like they can make one trade. Plenty more time.
Jim Callis said that Demeritte would have ranked 9th on the Rangers midseason top 30 prospects list
Really strange trade. Usually near the deadline you see a veteran regular traded for prospects. Here, we see a prospect traded for 2 May waiver/free agency pickups.
I guess I’ll go troll the ESPN comment section to find the idiots who say the Atlanta FO is the worst in baseball.
Gave up the wrong lefty reliever. Alvarez will be good. The other 3 are crap.
If the Texas kid never makes it to the majors, then it wasn’t a good trade.
The problem with Alvarez isn’t his stuff. If I recall he has had a very spotty health record. Didn’t he frequently hurt his arm in the minors? There must be something because his stuff is electric but he is 27 and is just now getting the chance to pitch.
Alright!! Alright!! Alright!! Now Coppy, trade 2 or 3 of the 12 to 15 arms we have in the minors to go get another bat.
This again… This is not the time for the Braves to pick up a bat. IF they do trade their prospects for a bat, then it will be in the offseason when prices aren’t inflated.
Don’t get me wrong. I understand. This is just not the time.
Krillin, what are your thoughts on getting a bat that headlines 2017 behind Freeman?
Kemp, Norris, and $40M
For
Markakis, Thurman, and lower prospect.
I see us getting more out of a younger and better defender in Ramos this fall when we pay a high price for him. Then Kemp would come cheaper and play LF.
Do you like this idea better because I’m not a big fan of Norris and believe Ramos would give us more.
I am all for adding some star power. I just am not that high on Norris right now and I would hate to take on Kemp’s salary. If the Padres would take on a huge amount of salary then I think I would like to see where that goes. It could be fun to see.
I would love getting Ramos. My bet is that the Braves get Lucroy and sign him to an extension though.
I agree, I am a huge fan of Ramos, my thoughts on Norris were surrounded by price as well. Bigger fan of Ramos over Wieters and Lucroy for sure.
Krillin, that is where the $40M comes in. Difference in contracts of Kemp and Markakis is $43M give or take. $40 is a strong offset.
I don’t see that happening. We have plenty of money to blow and want to younger guns of guys. With Lucroy’s health record and age, and only attainable from trade, I see us going after Ramos and blowing whatever offer he gets from the Nats away. He won’t cost us a pick because of top pick is protected being the top pick.
Amazing trade from the braves. Getting demeritte, who ranked as the braves 9 prospect on mlb.com, for harrel and Alvarez. They took two players who were nothing last year, played the pitching market, and got a high ceiling power bat out of it.
It’s highly likely Demeritte never reaches Atlanta, but still…. seems like a lot to give up for Lucas Harrell and a reliever.
I expected Harrell to bring back some low-A reliever. And I realize Alvarez helped bring back a better return, but still…
I’d say 80% chance this deal never amounts to anything. 20% chance people look back stunned that ATL gave up so little to acquire a 30 HR guy.
I think my favorite part of all of this is the DOB comment section. There are actual people saying the Braves should have kept Harrell (on a one-year deal). LMAO. Probably calculating ways for Atlanta to steal a wild card spot.
Would love to see how those calculations were done. Haha
Not a bad trade for either side, ATL gave up nothing for a lottery ticket. Sure odds are Demeritte never makes it, but if he does… ATL already has an excellent farm system, I don’t see anything wrong with playing the odds with a few guys.
With Dem’s PED history, might be character issues JD didn’t want to have to worry about going forward.
With Dem’s PED history, might be character issues JD didn’t want to have to worry about going forward….
With Demeritte’s PED history, might be character issues JD didn’t want to have to worry about going forward.