Atlanta Braves: The Upside with Newcomb and Ellis

The Atlanta Braves traded away Andrelton Simmons to the LA Angels on Thursday. Let’s look at what Atlanta got in return in Sean Newcomb and Chris Ellis.

When the Atlanta Braves made the deal Thursday night to send their beloved defensive wizard SS Andrelton Simmons to the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim, Braves Country did know what to think. They thought that Simmons was part of the long term plan here in Atlanta, as part of the “Core Four” that the abbreviated rebuild would center itself around.

However, GM John Coppolella and the rest of the Atlanta Braves front office felt that if for the right offer, they would part ways with their all-world defensive shortstop. What the Angles front office offered the Braves was apparently too good to pass up, sending SS Erick Aybar, and top prospects LHP Sean Newcomb and RHP Chris Ellis to Atlanta for Andrelton Simmons and a minor leaguer.

Aybar seems like a respectable stop-gap shortstop for the Atlanta Braves. He’s spent his first ten Big League seasons with the Angels and made an AL All-Star Game roster with the club a few years ago. While he won’t give us as gifted of glove work as Simmons did, Aybar can play solid defense and has proven himself as the better Big League hitter.

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Since Simmons was such a popular player with the Atlanta Braves, expect Aybar to receive ample criticism when he doesn’t play well at any particular stretch of 2016. While getting Erick Aybar is a solid short-term solution at shortstop, the real reason for Coppy to make the deal with the Angels was to get two pitching prospects: LHP Sean Newcomb and RHP Chris Ellis.

MLB.com has updated the Atlanta Braves’ Top 30 prospects list. Newcomb, who is the #3 LHP pitching prospect and #19 overall, ascends to the top of the Braves’ now deep farm system. Ellis is in the Top 10 of the Atlanta Braves’ organization at #9, behind former #1 Braves prospect RHP Lucas Sims.

Sims tapered off a bit last year, but he at #8, OF Braxton Davidson at #11, and RHP Jason Hursh at #19 is a testament to how much talent Coppolella and President of Baseball Operations have stockpiled in less than a calendar year. Sims, Hursh, and Davidson were the Braves’ first round picks in 2012-14 respectively. All were firmly entrenched in the Top 10 of the Atlanta Braves’ Minor League system.

What Atlanta is getting out of Sean Newcomb is supposedly a very rare combination of size and power from a left-hander. He has a powerful fast that he can change speeds with (90-98 MPH), an improving curveball, and a better-than-average changeup. It seems like he has high quality “stuff” like Matt Wisler brought with him from San Diego in the Craig Kimbrel trade last Easter.

Newcomb was 9-3 with a 2.38 ERA in 27 starts between three stops, finishing up at AA Arkansas. The 15th overall selection by the Angels in 2014 pitched 136.0 innings in 2015. His ETA is 2017. Newcomb’s alma mater, the University of Hartford, has yielded only one other blue chip prospect. That man was 1B Jeff Bagwell. Sean Newcomb could become a front of the rotation type of starter for the Atlanta Braves at SunTrust Park.

Ellis was part of the 2014 Ole Miss Rebels team that made the College World Series. He went in the 3rd Round to the Angels that spring. Chris Ellis has spent the last year and a half at AA Arkansas, where he has been both a starter and a reliever. Ellis was 11-9 with a 3.90 ERA over 140.2 innings in 2015. He may not have as much upside as Newcomb, but his versatility and strong changeup seem like they belong in the Big Leagues. His ETA is 2017 as well.

Next: Freddie Freeman: Next Brave Traded?

The Simmons deal with the Angels is probably the first of many the Atlanta Braves front office will make this offseason. Though the Major League club is not going to contend this year, Atlanta did take two promising prospects from an Angels farm system that isn’t exactly bountiful to begin with. The Braves will have the 3rd overall pick in the 2016 MLB Amateur Draft. Atlanta may have the top farm system in 2016 if it isn’t already.

As frustrating as the Atlanta Braves have been recently, at least the front office has consistently been committed to their promise of rebuilding the farm system. Now will the Atlanta Braves see the benefits of some of these top prospects performing well at the Big League level in 2016? We’ll have to wait and see.

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