The Braves announced Monday that they’ve acquired infielder Ehire Adrianza from the Nationals in exchange for minor league outfielder Trey Harris. In a corresponding roster move, Robinson Cano has been designated for assignment.
It’s Adrianza’s second stint with the Braves, as he also filled a utility role for Atlanta just last season. The veteran switch-hitter slashed .247/.327/.401 in 209 plate appearances for the Braves and appeared at six positions last year. Thus far in 2022, however, he’s mustered only a .179/.255/.202 output in 94 trips to the plate.
That rough stretch at the plate notwithstanding, Adrianza has a track record of at least passable, if unexciting, production at the plate. From 2016-21, he turned in a combined .252/.318/.381 batting line over a much larger sample of 1169 plate appearances. He doesn’t have plus defensive grades at any position, but Adrianza also won’t be a liability anywhere in the infield. For the time being, he can help bridge the gap at second base while the team awaits Ozzie Albies’ return from a broken foot. As of two weeks ago, Atlanta was targeting a mid- or late-August return for the two-time All-Star and Silver Slugger winner.
In return for Adrianza, who’ll be a free agent at season’s end, the Nats will pick up the 26-year-old Harris, who previously ranked in the middle tier of the Braves’ top 30 prospects but has fallen off with some rough showings in Double-A. Baseball America twice listed Harris in Atlanta’s top 30 (No. 21 in 2020 and No. 26 in 2021), and FanGraphs pegged him as the system’s No. 16 prospect in March 2021. Harris was a senior sign out of Mizzou in the 32nd round of the 2018 draft and hit well through the 2019 season, topping out with a .281/.318/.411 showing in that hitter-friendly setting during his 2019 debut there.
There was, of course, no minor league season in 2020, however, and Harris has struggled in his second and now third trips through the Double-A level. After batting .247/.317/.354 in 405 Double-A plate appearances last year, he’s at .238/.328/.323 so far in 2022 (220 plate appearances). That’s a far cry from his earlier career performance, which saw him hit .300 and OPS north of .800 in each of his first two professional seasons. Scouting reports on Harris peg him as a corner outfielder — likely left field — with some power to his pull side, but he obviously has a ways to go to rebuild some of his prospect stature.
As for Cano, this is now the third team to cut bait on him this season. He’s already been released by both the Mets and the Padres, and the former All-Star’s brief nine-game showing didn’t do much to inspire confidence in an eventual rebound. Cano went just 4-for-26 with three singles, a double, a walk and four strikeouts in his brief time with the team. He’s now hitting .150/.183/.190 through 104 Major League plate appearances in his return from a 162-game PED suspension last year. The Braves can technically trade Cano up until tomorrow’s deadline, but it’s very likely that they’ll instead just release him.
Welcome back…
Hope he does well for you. He seemed to be able to handle a lot of different roles. He showed flashes with us but the consistency was lacking some.
.
The reunion that the Atlanta deserves, not the one it needs
Adrianza, Forever Giant
Cano getting bounced around like a basketball lmao
I thought he was w the friars
Passed around like a doobie.
Yes…..
Fortunately MLBTR can reload the comments that they have from the last 2 articles about teams that signed him under the article about the next team that signs him.
So don’t bother typing. They’ll still fit!
🙂 Enough Said
Seems like he is trying to get another ring the easy way. Mets, Braves and Padres are all contenders. If he signs with the Dodgers or Astros next everyone will see through his diabolical plan. That is why he seems lost at the plate now. He has a great tryout then does whatever it takes to get released so he can sign with another contender. Rinse and repeat.
The exact move I was expecting from this team.
Does this count as a domino?
A 26th man domino.
Cano about to get a new endorsement with the postal service cause he’s been everywhere man. He’s has more miles on him this year then Ezekiel Elliott legs
And he seldom delivers
Ozzies head must be swelled so big. So far 3 players can’t replace him at 2B, and now the Braves are onto their 4th.
Wut?
THE STOVE IS HOT
Drury feels a lot less likely now, though Adrianza’s swiss army knife still could come in handy elsewhere. Please, no ABs for Mike Ford.
You don’t sell the steak, you sell the SIZZLE!
Great move for this second division team.
What’s a second division?
As his name suggests, he’s only interested in how good teams are on paper
I guess second division means defending World Champs? Odd phrasing!
Is that like Third World or something ?
Back in the day when only 2 teams went to the playoffs (WS) there were a bunch of teams that were always non-contenders. The bottom half of the standings was called the second division. As a Senators fan it was always the goal to be a first division team even if winning the pennant was unrealistic. Unfortunately, we were mostly second division.
Pay no attention to Metsfan22 and his new burner account.
@socal. Not a fan of Cano especially after 2 PED busts. He did have some hard hit balls as a Brave (over 100 mph) but he didn’t find many holes. I had a feeling he was going to be cut after he hadn’t played in a few days. Mike Ford is now the weakest link on the roster.
It’s not that big of a deal, but it seems dumb to give up a “top 30 prospect” for him. Ehire is having a terrible year and this isn’t exactly a good grab. That said, not like Harris is doing well and has pretty much lost all is prospect shine. But seems we should have been able to get Ehire for cash considerations or an even lower ranked minor leaguer for him. Then package (as an extra) trey for one of the bigger deals we need to make. For example, love to see us go after Ian happ, Harris would have made a fine 3rd or 4th name in that package. Literally reaching for something to complain about but you know… that’s why I’m paid $0 to be a couch GM lol
Agreed – I see this as an overpay. But I don’t know what is going on behind the scenes and how little value these Braves’ prospects have in the eyes of GMs.
Trey Harris would never have gotten one at bat in ATL.
I think AA knows what he’s doing.
Agreed. The only Trey Harris was going to see the field at Truist Park was if he bought a ticket!
It makes more sense when you consider just how barren the Braves farm system is though.
LoL no.. That’s a problem with “top prospect lists”. Nobody else in baseball would view a guy like Harris who’s hit below .700 each of the last 2 years as a Top 30 prospect. A better description would be failed Top 30 prospect.
Overpay but does Atl protect him from rule 5 draft? Would another team want him in a bigger trade?
it’s a sellers market this year. The Castillo trade should have made that pretty clear.
If you compare to what the Dodgers paid for Martin, this feel about the same
Harris has spent more than two seasons in AA, and hasn’t played well there. It looks like he hit his ceiling in High A…
I agree that WAS made out by getting any kind of return for Adrianza other than cash.
Trey Harris wouldn’t have sniffed the ML roster. AA is thinning out the farm from a 26 y/o that didn’t have many opps left before inevitably being out of options.
former top 30 organizational prospect not overall. dude is in his 3rd trip through AA hitting 230 with a couple homers….and he’s 26
Harris is a 26 year old outfielder putting up a 2nd consecutive season in AA with an OPS under .700. He’s not a top 30 prospect anymore… MLB Pipeline just doesn’t update their lists.
@TommyHawkBraves: Thank you for posting this. Harris will probably never sniff the majors and so many fans overvalue their favorite team’s prospects. They just see “#21 prospect” and assume the player is worth something more than a lotto ticket.
People calling this an ‘overpay’ are hilarious.
Come on now, Harris is 26. No one wants a 26 yr old that’s struggling at Double A. He was a middle of the pack prospect for us bc cabinets were starting to look bare. We just loaded back up. Adrianza isn’t much younger, but at least he’s in the show.
Look, I get it guys. He’s no superstar and may never even see time in the mlb. But with a guy has any “prospect pedigree” even if that’s only within the organization and a weak farm at that, that holds some value if you package him in a bigger deal. I agree with most of y’all, Harris lost his shine, but I think it’s a reasonable argument to suggest we could have tacked him on a deal for another starter… idk
And when he ended up being the last pick in the upcoming rule 5 draft, would you have been rabbling outside of Braves HQ then as well? We can’t possibly lose anyone that’s ever been a top 30 prospect! We demand roster expansion to accommodate!
Jesse Chavez was having a terrible year up until the Braves reacquired him from the Cubs.
This
Ehire #foreverGiant.
I guess Farhan wanted Dixon Machado more
Woulda loved to see some more adrianza
Now go get Joc
No thanks. He’s been awful
“No thanks. He’s been awful.” Are you referring to NL All-Star Joc Pederson?
You mean the same Joc who was just in the All Star Game?
Please don’t act like the AS Game gives any validity to player performance, until they take out the fan vote. Frankly, most of the NL OF were injured/unavailable (Betts, Bryce) that left a lot of fringe guys getting in. Joc’s 17 bombs overshadows his putrid def play/AVG.
it’s an accomplishment…but you’re not wrong, didn’t IKF get a ton of votes?
Joc Peterson has a 125 OPS+, which is better than every OF on Atlanta’s roster and way better than DH Ozuna’s 87 OPS+. Peterson would improve the team, and his offense has been far from ‘awful’.
Since July 1st he is 8 for 60 with 0 homers and 7 walks. As I said no thanks.
Also, I hope people mentioning the ASG were being facetious.
I echo the bring back Joc comment!
Look I appreciate what Joc did at the plate down the stretch & in 1st round against the Brewers, but he barely did anything in NLCS. Plus he only had 1 or 2 more hits than Acuna did in the world series.
Facts!
Cano might as well do another drug.
…and play in the Mexican league
Isn’t the sexy move most fans were looking for, but he’s a quality switch hitter and all-around INF/OF.
Ultimately replacing Cano with Adrianza the Braves got better, so that’s what counts, and maybe just maybe he can bounce back into the solid utility piece he was last year for the Braves..
The bigger picture I get from this move is that team’s are asking too much for their currently available players like Ian Happ, Brandon Drury, D.Robertson and other players that are having career years…
I mean, I cannot blame the Reds nor the Cubs for wanting as much as possible for their guys, and trying to capitalize off their players higher than expected results…
Even still, if you’re AA and the Braves your farm isn’t very deep in high end talent, so they’re going to need to keep guys like Grissom, Franklin, Malloy, Shewmake, Muller, Tarnok, Vodnik, etc..They need to keep a pipeline of expected prospects to come up to help contribute, so they can try to keep their payroll balanced with veteran and rookie contracts..
I was actually surprised that Cano wasn’t a complete defensive liability, but he just can’t hit anymore.
Ehire has -0.5 WAR and is still and upgrade compared to Cano
Utility players and 6th inning relievers busting blocks this year
We want Brandon
no we don’t
Kintzler is available!
now get Michael taylor
Canó didn’t even last long enough to face the Mets again. I think those hits he got for the Braves were in their last series against the Mets.
Cano is running out of teams to disappoint.
So the Braves essentially traded Phil Gosselin and Trey Harris for Adrianza.
trade Mike Ford please,sign Michael taylor
How are they supposed to sign Michael Taylor?
by giving up muller,and Davidson wait and see we will get him not a fa until 2024 Duvall is a fa after this season
You were waiting outside when the liquor store opened this morning, weren’t you?
Cano should take the hint and retire.
if he retires,he will lose 9.5 million of what the Mets owe him for this season.
That’s only if he officially retires. He can still turn down offers, claiming he’s holding out “for the right opportunity” (a big league spot on a roster), and still collect his money…
if he retires,he will lose 9.5 million of what the Mets owe him for this season.he costs us less than 100,000
He’s still being paid, as long as he does’nt retire.
As a Mets fan I sit back and laugh at this move lol!!
we will take 3/5 games from you this week.see who laughs then.
It’s seen a very lukewarm stove the past week. Luis Castillo and Andrew Benintendi are the only notable trades. Hope we get some huge trades today. I am really hoping Willson Contreras won’t be traded.
Hey Cano; time to start juicing again LOL!
Cano is hedging his bet on a WS ring. Played for 3 contenders (Mets, SD, and ATL). That is a full 1/4 of the playoff teams. He just needs one of them to win it and he retires with a ring.
besides soto, teams are asking way too much in return for the players that’s why it’s so slow. and teams like the Padres, and dodgers are saving their prospects for Soto. if and when soto gets traded, the domino effect will take place. Cincinnati and Oakland are asking way too much in return for their players.drury can’t hit home runs outside of Cincinnati. that’s my observation of why the trade deadline deals are moving slow
AA is not done. Drury, Taylor, or Happ will be picked up. Ehire is just a pinch hit bat. Ford will be the odd man out eventually. I think it’s a good move. Obviously, he’s someone that Snitker trusts. Cano is done.
This trade was all about depth. A player who can play multiple positions and the team knows.
Don’t forget he had the big double against the dodgers that set up the Eddie Rosario three run home run.
Robinson Cano wasn’t doing anything so replace him with someone who can play multiple positions as we move into dog days of August we have ability more to give a few innings off to Olson or Riley in blow out games
I feel like cano was getting real unlucky with the braves but is what it is
This should be an eye-opener for Robinson Cano that retirement needs to be strongly considered. When a waiver guy like Adrianza replaces you, you’re done!
Is there a 4th team willing to give Cano a shot?
Now the Braves need to trade for David Robertson and Ian Happ in a package.
Tucker Davidson, Huascar Ynoa, and Justin Dean for Happ and Robertson.