Early Wednesday evening, the Braves sent starting pitcher Lucas Harrell along with reliever Dario Alvarez for a power-hitting minor leaguer who just played in the Futures Game, Travis Demeritte.
Let's keep in mind here that the Braves didn't even have Harrell to begin the season. They didn't even have him halfway through May. Nope, Harrell was released by the Tigers on May 16.
The Braves picked him up on May 20.
In five starts since, Harrell went 2-2 with a 3.38 ERA, 1.26 WHIP and 21 strikeouts in 29 1/3 innings. The performance was good enough that the Rangers gave up a good prospect to insert him into their injury-ravaged rotation. This was a pitcher who brought a career 4.84 ERA into the season and played in Korea in 2015.
Alvarez was also acquired in-season on a waiver claim from the Mets. Since then, he posted a 3.00 ERA, 1.07 WHIP and 28 strikeouts against only five walks in 15 innings. Unreal value there.
For the Braves, this has to be scored as a huge victory in the sign-and-trade department. Demeritte was a first rounder in 2013 and has 25 homers and 13 steals in 88 games in high Class A this season at age 21. He's a second baseman but has also seen time at shortstop and third base. He's hitting .272/.352/.583, so there are on-base skills, power and base-stealing speed in there.
Again, the Braves got him for two players they didn't even have when the season started. That's almost like getting him for free, really.
They've been doing plenty of that this season, too.
The gold standard when it comes to recent sign-and-flips would be the Cubs signing free agent Scott Feldman to a one-year deal prior to the 2013 season. After 15 starts, they dealt Feldman along with catcher Steve Clevenger for Pedro Strop and 2015 NL Cy Young winner Jake Arrieta.
Flipping rarely turns out so gloriously, but it's very much worth a shot for rebuilding teams like the Braves. You fill your roster with veterans on one-year deals and then flip them if they accrue any value prior to the deadline.
And, again, the Braves have been doing this frequently in 2016. Harrell is just the latest example.
Bud Norris was signed by the Braves on a one-year deal worth only $2.5 million back in late November. On June 30, the Braves sent him to the Dodgers with a player to be named for Caleb Dirks and Phil Pfeifer. Dirks, a right-handed reliever, hasn't allowed an earned run in 12 2/3 innings for Double-A Mississippi since the deal. In six appearances for high Class A Carolina, Pfeifer has a 2.57 ERA and 1.00 WHIP with 10 strikeouts in seven innings.
That's pretty great value considering how little they were paying Norris. The examples don't stop there.
Starting pitcher Jhoulys Chacin was signed Jan. 7 and then traded on May 11 to the Angels for 6-foot-8 lefty Adam McCreery. He's not pitching well in Class A, but that's not really the point. Chacin wasn't going to move the needle in a season where the Braves are a good pick for the worst record in baseball.
Still, some others do work. Take the Norris example and this next one.
Kelly Johnson signed a one-year deal with the Braves in early January. On June 8, he was traded to the Mets for right-handed reliever Akeel Morris, who has a 3.12 ERA and 22 strikeouts in 17 1/3 innings for the Braves' Double-A affiliate since the deal.
Basically, any value is surplus value because the Braves aren't going anywhere this season and these guys they are trading weren't part of the plans for the future turnaround. It's an excellent use of resources during a rebuild.
Will it continue? The hunch is it will over the course of these next few days. Reliever Jim Johnson fits the bill. So does Jeff Francoeur, though it sounds like the Braves want to hold onto him.
Taken as singular moves, these don't seem like a big deal, but in totality, it shows the Braves' mindset, how forward-thinking they were in the offseason to sign a bunch of veterans on one-year deals and also how well they've been keeping their eyes open as the season progresses. Stockpiling talent can happen in any number of ways, and the Braves' ability to sign-and-flip during this rebuild is very commendable.
