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BRAVES & DODGERS DEAL
Braves receive: Juan Uribe and RP Chris Withrow
Dodgers receive: Alberto Callaspo, Eric Stults, Ian Thomas and Juan Jaime
The deal has finally been agreed to after some wrangling, and here is what it means for each team.
BRAVES
Uribe will share time at third base with the soon to return from the DL Chris Johnson who was batting .270 with no homers in 43 at-bats last season. Why the Braves gave Johnson a three year contract is beyond me. Over his last 625 at-bats he’s hit .264 with a .658 OPS. Gotta be impressed by the 10 homers, 63 RBIs and 48 runs scored as well. Not. He’s hit .313 with a .350 OBP against lefties in his career (just .272/.309 against righties) though, so he has that going for him. As for the aging Uribe, he’s a vet of like 27 years who has racked up many a big hit. Over his last 467 at-bats Uribe is batting .300 with 10 homers and 60 RBIs. However, he’s only batting .247 with one homer this season. Both men could be in a big time battle for playing time rendering both as nothing more than NL-only options – boring ones at that.
Withrow has a power arm but he had Tommy John surgery last summer so the 26 year old isn’t likely to help out until 2016. Withrow had a 2.73 ERA and 71 KS over 56 innings in 2013-14.
DODGERS
Callaspo fell out of favor with the Braves, and it remains to be seen what his role will be with the Dodgers. It’s possible he could be designated for assignment even. He has no fantasy value at all.
Stults can start of course, and he might be asked to do that given the injuries to Hyun-Jin Ryu and Brandon McCarthy. Let’s not forget that Brett Anderson is about as injury prone as any pitcher this side of Jaime Garcia. At the same time Stults is nothing but an innings eater. He has a 1-5 record, 5.85 ERA and 1.28 WHIP over 47.2 innings this season. His NL-only value is extremely low.
Thomas is a lefty reliever who doesn’t do anything for anyone at the moment.
Jaime weighs 250 lbs, is nearly 28 years old, and has 13.2 inning of big league experience. He throws 95 mph. That’s all.
Just gorgeous. I dare you to disagree.
So this deal really isn’t about anyone I’ve mentioned, at least not in terms of any guy gaining or losing significant playing time. What this deal does do is make a couple of other fellas with the Dodgers extremely interesting. You know who I’m talking about – Alex Guerrero and Corey Seager. Let’s take a step back for a moment.
If healthy, here’s the lineup the Dodgers will likely go with.
C Yasmani Grandal
1B Adrian Gonzalez
2B Howie Kendrick
SS Jimmy Rollins
3B Justin Turner/Alex Guerrero
OF Carl Crawford/Joc Pederson/Yasiel Puig/Andre Ethier/Scott Van Slyke
There are many data points that everyone is forgetting amidst the Guerrero/Seager hype.
(1) The Dodgers, literally, have five outfielders they can turn to when healthy. How is Guerrero going to see consistent time in the outfield if those five men 
arehealthy?
Pederson is playing solid defense and has a nearly .950 OPS. Strikeouts are a huge concern – 54 in 148 at-bats – as well as an insanely high HR/F ratio of 34.3 percent, but the fact is we all know he’s playing every day.
Puig is still having trouble overcoming a troublesome hamstring issue, but when healthy we know he’s an immense talent that will be playing on a daily basis.
That leaves three men for one spot in the daily lineup…
Crawford is always hurt, but look at his numbers over his last 120 games: .293-9-49-60-23. I know you all want to put him out to pasture, but the man can still produce.
Ethier, for those that haven’t noticed, is raking. Yeah, that’s what you call it when a guy has a .311/.403/.546 slash line. They want to trade him, sure, but with his contract it will be difficult. Plus, with Puig/Crawford hurt they need Ethier.
Van Slyke is a force against lefties. A force. In 219 career at-bats against southpaws he has a .368 OBP, .511 SLG, 14 doubles and 13 homers. He should be in there when a lefty is on the bump.
So let me ask you… how can Guerrero possibly play daily in the outfield for the Dodgers? I will answer the question. He can’t.
‘But Ray, Guerrero can just play third base now that Uribe is out of town.’
Really? Anyone heard of Justin Turner before? I’m not saying that Turner is more talented than Guerrero as that would be foolish. I’m also not arguing that Turner has more “upside” than Guerrero. That would also be misguided. But what I know, and what seemingly no one else in the fantasy universe does, is that Turner is a good ballplayer who has killed it since the start of last season. Here is where Turner ranks, amongst third basemen, since the start of last season (400 plate appearance minimum).
Turner is batting .328. That is the BEST in baseball for a 3B.
Turner has a .397 OBP. That is the BEST in baseball for a 3B.
Read that again folks because I’m sure there ain’t a person who just read it that believes it. Doesn’t make it any less true of course.
So you think the Dodgers are just going to bench Turner for Guerrero huh. Really? Why would they? Turner isn’t an everyday player, and he should not be out there against lefties, but the guy rips up righties. Need more proof? OK. Since the start of last season, amongst third sackers with at least 275 plate appearances against right-handed pitching...
Turner is first in baseball with a .348 AVG.
Turner is first in baseball with a .416 OBP.
Newsflash folks, Turner is going to continue to see action when there are righties on the bump.
While I cannot envision the Dodgers calling up Seager at the moment to play third, let’s spend a moment there.
Seager is an elite talent, top-10 in all of baseball kinda stuff. He’s 21 years and one month old. He has all of 99 plate appearances above Double-A. In fact, he’s only appeared in 81 games above Single-A. He just doesn’t have that much professional experience yet. He’s also batting .280 with a .323 OBP and .409 SLG through 23 games at Triple-A. That’s not bad in the least but it’s also not the kind of effort that is going to force its way into the big leagues. It should also be pointed out that while he has appeared in eight games at third base this season he’s still seen action in 35 games at shortstop. He might transition to third base in the long run but for now he’s still a shortstop. Given all the pressures he’s facing I find it difficult to believe that the Dodgers would relish the idea of promoting him to play a position that he’s seen action in nine times over 300 professional games.
So what all of this means follows.
- Seager isn’t going to be promoted in the short-term. He’s merely and NL-only stash.
- Turner is going to continue to play at third base. You can make a sound argument that since the start of last season that he’s been one of the most effective offensive performers in baseball at third base.
- The Dodgers outfield is close to a return of Puig which will further crowd things. When/if Crawford ever gets healthy… well let’s say the Dodgers will have to be a trading to get out of the mess of outfielders they currently have.
- Guerrero will continue to be an effective hitter who will be moved around the lineup. Note that I didn’t say he would be in the daily lineup. He should find a spot most days if he keeps hitting, but it’s not going to be easy. I should also speak briefly about his production. I don’t want to rain on your parade Guerrero owners but have you noted he’s hitting .263 with a .311 OBP in May? Have you noted that he’s struck out 17 times in 57 at-bats in the month? Are you aware that his 29.6 percent HR/F ratio is likely to be cut in half the rest of the season?
Be careful what you wish for folks.
Ray Flowers can be heard Monday through Friday at 7 PM EDT on SiriusXM Fantasy Sports Radio (Sirius 210, XM 87). You can also hear Ray Sunday nights at 7 PM on the channel talking fantasy sports. Follow Ray’s work at Fantasy Alarm and on Twitter (@baseballguys).