Braves finalize deal with Astros for Bourn

[AHawks89]

I think it's safe to say we have a true lead off hitter. :kingchris:

:kingchris:

The Braves have made a trade hours before the deadline, acquiring outfielder Michael Bourn from the Astros.

The left-handed center fielder was acquired for center fielder Jordan Schafer and three minor-league pitchers, left-hander Brett Oberholtzer and right-handers Paul Clemens and Juan Abreu.

Schafer is currently on the disabled list with a finger fracture. The Braves are also without centerfielder Nate McLouth, who is on the disabled list with an abdominal strain.

“I thank the Braves for sticking by me the entire time,” Schafer said while packing up his locker. “With everything I’ve been through, they’ve been great to me. It’s a business. They have to do what’s best for the team. They have to what’s best to try to win a World Series this year.

“It sucks, truthfully. I was comfortable here. At the same time I’m excited to go there. Any time you get traded the team obviously wants you. I’m excited to go over there and start fresh and try to start winning.

“I don’t know if the injuries had anything to do with it. The first one set things back quite a bit. Like I said, it’s a business. It happens. I’m not the first player to be traded. I’m not going to be the last. I’m thankful for the opportunity they gave me.”

Here is the team release:

The Atlanta Braves and Houston Astros announced today that the two clubs have completed a five-player trade. The Braves have acquired outfielder Michael Bourn and cash from the Astros in exchange for outfielder Jordan Schafer and minor-league pitchers Juan Abreu (RH), Paul Clemens (RH) and Brett Oberholtzer (LH). Bourn will wear uniform number 24.

Bourn, 28, is a two-time Gold Glove Award winner and in the midst of perhaps his finest offensive season. In addition to his .303 batting average, which currently ranks 13th in the National League, Bourn leads the majors with 39 stolen bases and leads the NL with 28 infield hits. With 32 RBIs this season, Bourn is just six shy of his career high of 38 set in 2010. Since June 1, he is tied for the NL lead with 72 hits and he ranks fourth with a .336 batting average. On Friday night, Bourn snapped a career-best 13-game hitting streak in which he batted .424 (25-for-59).

“Michael Bourn is a perfect fit for our club, which focuses on speed and defense to match up with our strong pitching,” Executive Vice President and General Manager Frank Wren said. “This trade gives us the first true leadoff hitter we’ve had in a number of years.”

Bourn began his career with the Philadelphia Phillies organization after being taken in the fourth round of the 2003 June Draft. He appeared in the postseason with the Phillies in 2007 before being traded to the Astros prior to the 2008 campaign. The Houston native batted .285 with a league-leading 61 stolen bases in 2009, then became a National League All-Star in 2010, when he batted .265 with a league-best 52 steals.

In 663 career games over his six-year major league career, Bourn has batted .271 with 586 hits and 212 stolen bases in 256 attempts (83%). Since 2008, he has led all of baseball with 193 stolen bases. Bourn is signed through the 2011 season.

Schafer, who turns 25 in September, is the only player in the trade who has Major League experience for the Braves. He has appeared in 52 games for Atlanta this season and is currently on the 15-day disabled list with a fractured left long finger. He is a .223 career hitter in 102 big-league games (2009 & 2011).

Abreu, 26, has appeared in 41 games this season for Class-AAA Gwinnett and is 4-2 with a 2.25 ERA. He came to the Braves as minor league free agent in 2009.

Clemens, 23, was selected by the Braves in the seventh round of the 2008 June Draft and has gone 6-5 with a 3.73 ERA in 20 starts at Class-AA Mississippi this season.

Oberholtzer, 22, was Atlanta’s eighth-round pick in the 2008 June Draft and is 9-9 with a 3.74 ERA in 21 games at Mississippi this season.

Link.

Edited July 31, 2011 by AHawks89

[jhay610]

I think it's safe to say we have a true lead off hitter. :kingchris:

:kingchris:

Link.

This will certainly help Fredi move closer to putting together an optimal lineup. Big assist for him and negates some of his impact on the games.

[Eddielives]

This is the first trade in a long time by the Braves that has got me feeling excited. Bourn is not the big bopper that this team could still really use but he fills another huge need which is a legit leadoff hitter WHO CAN FREAKING STEAL BASES! My god how long has this team gone without a guy leading off who can draw attention from the pitcher when he gets on base and help this offense manufacture some much needed runs. If there is a minus it's that his career batting average isn't as good as you would like it to be and he strikes out a bit but he's not Mclouth up there either. Great trade Wren.

Edited July 31, 2011 by Eddielives

[jhay610]

This is the first trade in a long time by the Braves that has got me feeling excited. Bourn is not the big bopper that this team could still really use but he fills another huge need which is a legit leadoff hitter WHO CAN FREAKING STEAL BASES! My god how long has this team gone without a guy leading off who can draw attention from the pitcher when he gets on base and help this offense manufacture some much needed runs. If there is a minus it's that his career batting average isn't as good as you would like it to be and he strikes out a bit but he's not Mclouth up there either. Great trade Wren.

I am very happy to see that Wren was able to pull this deal off without giving any of the farm's top tier pitching prospects.

[coachx]

Bourne appears to be the 2nd coming off Otis Nixon.

Nice deal for the Bravos since pure leadoff hitters are hard to come by. Bourne is the best base stealer in the game and has more range then any other CF in the game. Even though he is a lefthanded hittter he fairs pretty well vs. left handed pitching with a .284 BA and .341 OBP vs. lefties/ Against righties Bourne has a .310 BA and .371 OBP vs. righties.

Now we just have to cross our fingers that 2 of our boppers can get healthy.............Uggla and Freeman are doing all they can to carry the team until their return.

[lethalweapon3]

I can stop whining about baserunning now? (at least for one player?)

~lw3

[Eddielives]

Maybe it's a personal fixation I have but having a legit base stealer on your team makes the game more fun to watch. It's funny the Otis Nixon reference because I was thinking the same thing. Otis wasn't going to blow you away with his offense but he got on base and it was always fun to see him drive pitchers crazy stealing bases. Again, great move Wren. I'll be watching a little more now with Bourn on the team.

[CBAreject]

We absolutely raped the Astros in this trade. The only player worth keeping that we traded was Abreu, who is a right-handed bullpen fireballer. Oberholzer was never going to make our rotation and Schafer might not ever be able to adequately handle anything better than AA pitching.

It's super nice to have speed, but I'm just happy that we won't have a .250-.290 OBP guy batting leadoff anymore.

[Eddielives]

This is a move that even Terrence Moore has to love. :derisive:

[AHF]

I hope he is the second coming of Otis Nixon on the field - including some of Otis' great defense! Definitely an exciting deal for the Braves since we made it without giving up any of our elite talent.

[AHF]

Looks like ESPN loves the trade:

Schoenfield: Bourn More Valuable Than Pence

Law: Return "Shockingly Poor" For Houston

Bowden: Braves A, Houston F - Best Trade of the Deadline

Edited August 1, 2011 by AHF

[KB21]

Looks like ESPN loves the trade:

Schoenfield: Bourn More Valuable Than Pence

Law: Return "Shockingly Poor" For Houston

Bowden: Braves A, Houston F - Best Trade of the Deadline

And yesterday in the first inning, Bourn did exactly what the Braves needed. He singled to lead off the game, stole second base, went to third on a ground out, and then scored on a ground out. When you have only a couple of other guys hitting the ball well in the line up, you have to be able to manufacture some runs like this. This is a great move that gives the team a legitimate lead off man and lets them hit Martin Prado second. I know some fans would like to see Prado hitting 5th as an RBI man, but I think he has the typical bat control you need to hit second. He can control the bat, avoid strike outs, hit behind the runner, and is a good bunter when used that way. I'm hoping to see Martin bunt to move Bourn over a little more, particularly as Chipper and Brian get healthy.

[coachx]

And yesterday in the first inning, Bourn did exactly what the Braves needed. He singled to lead off the game, stole second base, went to third on a ground out, and then scored on a ground out. When you have only a couple of other guys hitting the ball well in the line up, you have to be able to manufacture some runs like this. This is a great move that gives the team a legitimate lead off man and lets them hit Martin Prado second. I know some fans would like to see Prado hitting 5th as an RBI man, but I think he has the typical bat control you need to hit second. He can control the bat, avoid strike outs, hit behind the runner, and is a good bunter when used that way. I'm hoping to see Martin bunt to move Bourn over a little more, particularly as Chipper and Brian get healthy.

I'm usually for the sacrifice bunt but not a big fan of it when we are talking Prado and Bourne.

There is no need to waist an out using Prado to bunt Bourne to 2nd base. Bourne is the best base stealer in the game. He can steal 60 bases a year. Just let Bourne steal 2nd and then Prado can swing away without fear of a double play.

Edited August 5, 2011 by coachx

[CBAreject]

Coachx, I actually agree with you for once. Bunting to move Bourn over is a horrid, horrid, horrid strategy. Wasting an out with one of your best batters to simply advance a runner when your best 2 hitters are coming up behind him and when the runner could've been advanced with his own two legs with just as high success rate (if not better) will only serve to keep you out of big innings. It will do nothing to increase your run scoring potential.

Now, the fact that ppl are calling for more bunting in general is making me crazy, so please try to understand this, bunting fans: what the Braves need is NOT more bunting. That is not what's wrong with our offense. In fact, the Braves are at the top of the NL in sac bunts. The problem with our offense is that we make outs at too high a frequency. Bunting will increase that frequency. Sacrifice bunting is a controversial strategy, in general. For the last few years, saberists mostly agreed it was never correct unless the batter was a horrible hitter (like a pitcher in the NL). However, some more thorough analysis using expanded run expectancy tables has shown that there are some other situations in which bunting can be favorable (but these tend to be somewhat rare). It is probably never correct to bunt with the #2 hitter, and especially not early in the game.

The obvious case of bunting with the pitcher aside, these are the things you want when you are opting to bunt.

1) The batter has lower skill as a batter (hence why you never bunt with your clean-up hitter)

2) You are particularly interested in scoring just one run (late in the game when it's close)

3) The next batter up is not a power hitter (if the chances of an extra base hit are great, why sacrifice an out to move into "scoring position"?)

Think a bit on #3 and you'll see that the same restriction may apply to base stealing. This is the reason that many statistically-minded, thinking baseball analysts say that the convention of "speed at the top of the order" is flawed. Speed is most useful when it's applied ahead of singles hitters. As such, it could be awfully useful for your #6 hitter to be speedy. On the other hand, running into an out when your sluggers are up isn't worth the risk, since they are generally more likely to get a walk or XBH (both of which make the stolen base worthless) than they are a single.