The Braves began shopping Simmons just a short while ago, and while there were rumors they had asked for either Jacob deGrom or Matt Harvey, it appears they have settled their sights a little lower. Today the Braves agreed to deal Simmons and catcher Jose Briceno to the Angels in return for Lefty Sean Newcomb, Righty Chris Ellis, Shortstop Erick Aybar, and three million in cash. Presumable the cash won’t arrive in unmarked bills.
Simmons, 26, is arguably the single best defensive player in the game today. Though he hasn’t been consistent offensively, he has a tremendous floor because of his glove. And he has shown more value at the plate at times.
Los Angeles will take over the extension that Simmons signed last winter with his now-former club, pursuant to which he is owed $53MM over the next five seasons. Notably, not much cash has run off of that contract since it was signed, as Simmons was owed just $8MM total from signing through 2015.
The Braves, meanwhile, receive two hurlers who were widely considered the best prospects in an already-depleted (and now largely barren) Los Angeles system. Newcomb, in particular, is a major asset, as he landed inside the top twenty of prospects league-wide on MLB.com’s latest list. Atlanta now has a loaded store room of young arms to deploy at the major league level or utilize in trades.
Fan Interference 
I was just coming on here to make a post about this trade.
There’s never a bad time to enjoy some defensive super-wizardry, so do so with this….
P.S. – For those of us in fantasy leagues, bump Garrett Richards up a few spots on your rankings. Richards has become a pretty extreme groundball pitcher over the last few years, including having the 6th highest GB% in the majors last year…and now he’ll have the best groundball-picker-upper-and-thrower in the game working behind him.
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I much prefer the Angel’s side of the deal…Simmons is much more likely to be and continue to be productive than Aybar or a pitching prospect.
As the fan of a team that has focused on drafting and developing pitching (in part because that is usually what is left in the late 1st round)., I would much prefer to be the fan of a team that is loaded with position players rather than pitchers…..pitchers break….a LOT….and wrt the Cardinals, I am not convinced that part of the miracles they work isn’t what leads to what seems like a very high rate of pitcher injuries.
Seems much easier to draft and develop bats/gloves and then to fill in the rotation as best you can a la KC, Chicago, Pittsburgh….much more reliable year-to-year production.
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Agreed. I like thee Angels side of the deal and I don’t trust pitcher development. (He says as he waits for Mark Appel to be anything more than a 4-A playing pile of s****) To think, that could have been Kris Bryant at 3rd for the Astros.
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Yup. We were talking earlier that it’s okay to put Simmons out there and ask the world for him… but if you don’t get the world, you don’t have to trade him for a couple of island nations. Boo.
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Yeah, I’d take the Simmons side of this deal too.
The Braves may have gotten the best the Angels system had to offer, but the Angels system was pretty crappy (and now it’s quite possibly the worst in the game). Doesn’t seem like nearly enough of a return.
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I’m going to be sick. Sorry, I can’t be rational or logical right now.
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Condolences.
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Yeah, that’s tough.
Actually, now that I think about it, what’s left on the roster to attract people to the ballpark and/or tv screen? Watching Simmons make impossible plays was kinda all they had last year, and now that’s gone.
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The only “old” Braves left are Freddie, Julio, and Joey Turdoslavich. Fucking Joey T is now an old Brave. What kind of messed up, fucked up world do we live in, man, when a dude who spends half the year in Gwinnett is now an old Brave?
Freddie’s the only one I care about who is left and even he’s probably not even safe, even though he’s the less talented Dale Murphy for a new generation. I have a whole theory about it. People might love the 80s but Braves fans sure as hell don’t.
I’m sorry, I’m just angry and need to lash out.
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Don’t apologize. Be angry and lash out.
FYI – I thought Turdoslavich was a nickname I was unaware of….but google says that’s a real person who plays real baseball. Learn something new every day.
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Lefty – Joey T, sadly, is an actual ballplayer who actually sometimes plays ball for my Cobb County Braves.
I know they are rebuilding for 2017, but what good is it when 2016 is so unwatchable and unlikable that your fans can’t even stomach the thought of watching your team?
It’s times like this that I am glad I have another team that I love just as much, otherwise this would be unbearable.
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I never really adopted a second team. I just used fantasy baseball as my method of still finding players/teams to pull for while the Cubs explored the deepest depths of suck across the last couple decades. I was a Red Sox fan when I had Pedro and Nomar….I was a Phillie fan when I had Abreu and Utley…and other such etceteras.
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I know the feeling well, professor. Basically you have three outlets:
1. Hope management knows what they are doing and be patient
2. Fantasy baseball
3. Occasional outburst of rage in which you lash out at all things yourteam.
In my case the Astros appear to have exited the tunnel. Good luck.
And I do love to watch Simmons. I understand that, too.
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Waiting for Ren to weigh in…
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