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Juan Uribe: Braves-Mets Trade Reactions

By John Buhler

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Shortly before yesterday’s road series opener against the St. Louis Cardinals, trade rumors were circulating about 3B Juan Uribe and UT Kelly Johnson possibly getting moved to the New York Mets.  Initially I thought, really?  Why would we give arguably our biggest rival valuable assets as the Mets want to make a serious playoff run for the first time in nearly a decade.

-= Related: Atlanta Braves Lose 4-2, Not in the Cards =-

While Juan Uribe and Kelly Johnson are clearly not part of President of Baseball Operations John Hart‘s long-term plan for his Atlanta Braves, I didn’t want to see either player go, especially to the Mets.  Uribe and Johnson were two of the select few Braves’ bats that had home run power this year.  Juan Uribe played great defense at third and brought a jovial spirit to the locker room.  Since we only had him for a little over two months, it’s not terribly sad to see him go.

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    • But I didn’t like sending Kelly Johnson to New York of all places.  You can tell that KJ and his family want to build a life in Atlanta where Kelly played his best ball as a professional.  He was a great leader by example for our young Atlanta Braves team and maybe that’s what New York valued the most out of Kelly Johnson.  But man did he look dissatisfied about going to play for the New York Mets for the rest of the season.

    Picking up both Kelly Johnson and Juan Uribe was a good move for the Mets.  They desperately needed help at third base as Mr. Met David Wright is on the DL with spinal stenosis.  New York, a deep pitching organization, only had to give up two young prospects to satisfy John Hart’s requirements to pull off the trade.

    Atlanta now has two new members of the Top 30 Prospects list according to MLB.com.  The Braves received RHP Rob Whalen (#24) and RHP John Gant (#25) in the Juan Uribe-Kelly Johnson deal with the Mets.  Whalen projects as starter at the Major League Level with a hard-biting sinker and a ferocity to compete.  He’s had a good season at the Advanced A Level in St. Lucie in the Mets organization as a 21-year old.  What scouts really like about Rob Whalen is his breaking ball.  They believe that his fastball-curveball combo can effectively get Major League hitters out when he’s ready for big league action.

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    Gant has spent most of 2015 in AA Binghamton in the Mets organization and projects as a back of the rotation starting pitcher.  The Atlanta Braves really like how Gant is consistently around the strike zone with a lot of downward action on his pitches.  None of Gant’s pitches really leave you in awe, but John Hart supposedly likes the movement of John Gant’s changeup down in the strike zone.

    While I have said that John Hart has won every trade he’s made thus far as the President of Baseball Operations for the Atlanta Braves, it’s way too early for the Braves organization to reap the benefits of the transaction with the New York Mets.  More deals are coming and expect the stock piling of young pitching talent to continue in the Atlanta Braves organization under John Hart’s careful watch.

    Next: Julio Teheran: Are the Atlanta Braves Going to Move Him?

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