As promised, after ranking the Braves trade deadline acquisitions over the weekend, I will now go over how all the players the Braves traded away have performed in their new threads. I think it’s safe to say, Alex Anthopoulos did a pretty damn good job.
Bryce Ball
Bryce Ball was one of the hottest prospects leading into the 2021 season because of how he burst onto the scene in his first taste of professional baseball in 2019. But after a slow start, the Braves cashed in on the hype by trading him to Chicago for Joc Pederson. I still believe Ball could one day be a very valuable major-league piece, but he’s struggled in his promotion to High-A ball. He hit .206 at Rome before he was traded, and he’s hitting .213 in the 47 games since joining the Cubs organization. However, he has shown a willingness to take walks, accruing 77 of them in 101 games, and the power is still evident, shown by his 13 home runs this season.
Alex Jackson
Jackson has finally gotten some consistent at-bats for the Marlins, but the results haven’t been what the Fish were hoping for. He does have three homers over 31 games, but he’s also struck out 49 times and is hitting just .156. There’s hope for Jackson to stick in the majors as a power-hitting catcher, but his strikeout rate must come way down. At least in Miami, he has a chance to work out the kinks on a team that won’t be competing for a while. Jackson was never going to get that opportunity with the Braves.
Kasey Kalich
Kalich was given up in order to acquire Jorge Soler. At the time, I was a little surprised. I thought Kalich had a decent chance of becoming a quality relief arm down the road, but after watching Soler, there’s no question this deal was worth it. Still, this could be one of those trades that works out both ways. The Royals had no use for Soler, and Kalich has been impressive so far for them. In 17.1 innings in High-A, the Texas A&M product has recorded a 3.12 ERA with 19 strikeouts.
Pablo Sandoval
Seriously, how the hell did Alex Anthopoulos flip Pablo Sandoval into Eddie Rosario? It doesn’t make any sense, but I’m not complaining.
Bryse Wilson
Wilson was undoubtedly the biggest piece the Braves traded away at the deadline, and given how Richard Rodriguez has looked for the Braves, this might be the one deal Anthopoulos ends up regretting. So far, Wilson has performed exactly the same with the Pirates as he did with the Braves. In seven starts, he’s posted a 5.09 ERA, which isn’t too impressive, but his career-low 1.302 WHIP and 2.5 BB/9 is much more encouraging. I believe Wilson will be a highly productive member of an MLB rotation sooner rather than later, and he’s not all the Braves gave up to acquire Rodriguez.
Ricky DeVito
The other piece the Braves gave up for Rodriguez, DeVito, has still yet to appear since being traded due to injury.
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