LIVE: Braves get Michael Bourn, now hope that’s enough
The Braves finally made a catch before the trade deadline: Welcome, Michael Bourn. (AP photo)
(UPDATED: 1:45 p.m. Folks, here’s the updated blog on the trade. I’m read to chat live now about the deal and the game. Sorry couldn’t get to earlier questions and comments but I’ve been kinda busy.)
It was the eve of the trade deadline, and Jordan Schafer was having trouble sleeping.
“I just had a weird feeling,” he said Sunday. “It’s something I hadn’t felt all along. I even sent a text message to my agent. I told him I thought I might be traded. He said, ‘No, there’s no chance.’”
And then he opened his phone to show a reporter the text message: “10:57 p.m. ‘Wonder if I’m going to Houston.’”
Sometimes, it’s not so great to be a prophet.
The Braves dealt Schafer to Houston Sunday. They made the move less because of what they believe Schafer might be one day than what he isn’t now: Michael Bourn. After dealing Schafer and three prospects to Houston for Bourn, the All-Star center fielder and leadoff hitter, Braves general manager Frank Wren said, “Michael is what we hope Jordan will be in three or four years. For a team that’s poised to win, we need a finished product.”
Wren needed the right sound bite. Braves fans have felt antsy, angry, frustrated, discontent and maybe even borderline hopeless after seeing San Francisco (Carlos Beltran) and Philadelphia (Hunter Pence) each spin major deals in recent days. So Wren hit on the right themes. What comes of this deal, we can’t possibly know.
Chipper Jones lauded Bourn’s speed, but when asked if the Braves are better team as a result of the deal, he said: “I don’t know. Talk to me in two months.”
The fact Jones was a big fan of Schafer’s might have fed into his comments. (At one point, he left his locker to walk over to Schafer, who was packing, to give him a hug, and the two spoke privately for a couple of minutes.) But Jones also struck the proper tone. There were some things about this year’s Braves team we projected back in spring training camp that haven’t panned out. So it’s best not to assume anything now.
Still, credit to Wren. He waited until the day of the trading deadline before pushing the button. The trade market had become increasingly difficult and expensive (opponents love desperate buyers). Wren made the best trade he could have possibly made at this point.
Bourn is hitting .303. He leads the majors with 39 stolen bases. He has 28 infield hits. He has won two Gold Gloves. He immediately becomes this team’s best and most established leadoff hitter since Rafael Furcal. So this is no minor acquisition.
“The perfect fit,” Wren called him.
The Braves certainly have World Series potential now. Then again, we thought that they had that in the spring. Championships assume two things: good health and expected production, and the Braves have used their opening day lineup only 11 times.
But consider this potential batting order: Michael Bourne, Martin Prado, Chipper Jones, Brian McCann, Dan Uggla, Freddie Freeman, Jason Heyward, Alex Gonzalez. If everybody’s clicking, there’s no escape. After all the angst, this may work out yet.
Some of what Wren said Sunday carried a trace of draft day spin. He acknowledged the team “inquired” about Pence and had interest in Beltran. But he also suggested the Braves never really wanted either that much.
“We could’ve had Beltran. … Same with Pence,” he said. “We were involved in everything but we weren’t really into everything.” (I’m assuming the comments would’ve been different had they acquired either.)
Wren got his wish: He held onto the organization’s four projected golden arms in the minors. He closed the deal for Bourn just before 9 a.m., then he phoned Schafer.
“I was backing out my driveway,” Schafer said. “As soon as I looked down at the phone and saw who it was, I knew. It sucks. But it’s a business.”
In a perfect world, Schafer goes on to have a good career, the Braves win a championship and Bourn turns out to be a lot better than the last time the team traded for a Gold Glove, All-Star center fielder who could hit leadoff (Nate McLouth).
We’ve learned not to project. But it certainly looks good.
By Jeff Schultz
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794 comments Add your comment
Mark in mid-town
July 31st, 2011
11:57 am
Jo Bling,
Back in 1977, Reggie Jackson didn’t fit in with the Yankees. He had alienated most of his team-mates and the manager certainly couldn’t stand him. But the Yankees didn’t get rid of him. How did that work out? You don’t dump talent. The Braves were doing real well last year at the time they got rid of Escobar. That means there was no need to panic. There was only an upside to keeping Escobar as his potential was still enormous. And it wasn’t just potential as Escobar had proven himself before his struggles last year. I thought at the time last year that trading Escobar was foolish and vision-less. And Escobar’s strong rebound this year to be among the elite short-stops in the game has confirmed how vision-less a move that was.
5150 UOAD
July 31st, 2011
11:57 am
I hope this guy can be OUR Pete Rose.
He can walk or hit to get on first and steal all the bases to win the game 1-0 behind the braves great pitching.
j
July 31st, 2011
11:59 am
My favorite line of almost every MLB player….”A Scott Boras client”
Furman Bitcher
July 31st, 2011
12:01 pm
mark inn midtown, sorry but Escobar is no Reggie Jackson.
BravesFanForever
July 31st, 2011
12:01 pm
5150 UOAD: “I hope this guy can be OUR Pete Rose.”
???
Pete Rose got on base in his prime far better than Michael Bourn will ever do and Petey didn’t steal bases. There’s no comparison. Pete Rose was a pure hitter and on-base guy, and Bourn is a bunter, in-field hit, speed kind of guy.
But… Maybe our guy can be a good influence and a great leader on the club like Rose always was. I would like that.
Dawgdad (The Original)
July 31st, 2011
12:09 pm
Great article today on Yahoo sports about pitching prospects. Based on the statistics they used, we should trade them all. Scouts pointed out how much better it is to acquire a proven vet than it is to count on a prospect. Something like 67 of the top 200 from 2008 ever made it to the Majors, and few of those were successful at the ML level.
jammer
July 31st, 2011
12:10 pm
great deal…didnt panic and make another Len Barker, Mark Teixeria, Adam Wainwright deal. If the guys we pay to hit actually do hit the braves will be OK. That would be you Heyward and Uggla.
Optimistic Brave
July 31st, 2011
12:10 pm
Pete Rose…? PR was PR, and MB is MB. Surely, we talking apples and umm, grapes. No scandal with Bourn, but an opportunity to actually be admitted to the HOF as a baseball stealer at least. A potential to be a Rickey Henderson type, but not Rickey Henderson. Comparisons are great, but first let the guy be himself and he will be much more appreciated. I have been waiting on this type of player for the Braves to acquire since Andruw departed. Now we can rally around this team as they head into October.
5150 UOAD
July 31st, 2011
12:12 pm
BravesFanForever
Petey didn’t steal bases.
Pete had 198 stolen bases. He started the Head First Slide or Perfected it. You need to check your stats.
ATLcracker
July 31st, 2011
12:13 pm
jack 11:47 am. Better than Andruw Jones ? Bobby Cox was around a long time. When he was asked how good Andruw was he said “He was the best center fielder I ever saw when he was eighteen years old and then he got better.”
Randy Daniel
July 31st, 2011
12:14 pm
Why not bring up that kid from the farm system,Stefan Gartrell?He has been tearing the cover off the ball there in Gwinnett.I think he’d be alot like Florida’s Mike Stanton and would give us more opportunities to win games as well.
ecco
July 31st, 2011
12:14 pm
FINALLY, we make a move to try to keep pace. I just hope it’s enough. We really need a SS now. Hard to belive that last year we had our choice of Bautista or Gonzalez from the Jays and they took Alex…oh well.
Any chance we could get JJ Hardy from the Orioles? Or how about lets get A-Rof from the Yanks and move him back to short! Haha…
5150 UOAD
July 31st, 2011
12:15 pm
198 in 24 years is 8.25 bases a year. I think that ain’t too bad and it means he had to try stealing some to get 8.25 average for a career.
tulsabravo
July 31st, 2011
12:15 pm
But can he lay down a bunt?
Mark in mid-town
July 31st, 2011
12:15 pm
Furman Bitcher, you’re right in that Escobar is no Reggie Jackson. But he is a great player, one of the very best shortstops in the game. He’s a great defender, can hit in the clutch as well as hit good pitching, and he knows how to get on base. He was still young. The Braves were still doing very well last year at the time they gave up on him. They traded him for a serviceable short-stop who is one of the reasons the Braves struggle to score runs when it matters. They didn’t need to do that. They created a hole that didn’t need to be created. Bobby Cox couldn’t stand Escobar, but Bobby Cox was not going to be around beyond last year.
ToccoaBird
July 31st, 2011
12:16 pm
Good luck to Schaf
Steve
July 31st, 2011
12:17 pm
Mark in mid-town Escobar was nothing but trouble in the locker room. The Braves don’t take that! Bobby hated him. Don’t need that crap in the locker room.
Jbone
July 31st, 2011
12:17 pm
Hey Rick….”Popeye’s” average is not going to be good this year. He could hit .400 the rest of the way and his avg still won’t be a high one. Focus on his rbis and homers. His avg for the year isn’t important now.
ToccoaBird
July 31st, 2011
12:23 pm
All that matters now is catching the phillies and winning the division anything less isn’t going to cut it
ATLcracker
July 31st, 2011
12:25 pm
A demonstration of why Yunel had to go.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZP-oaX5×3q0
bad brad
July 31st, 2011
12:26 pm
You can’t trade McLouth. Who wants him? He’s a weak-hitting, throw to the wrong base, over throw the cutoff man, get thrown out for arguing strikes when your team is short of players kind of guy. Ready for him to be gone.
Optimistic Brave
July 31st, 2011
12:26 pm
Sometimes the answer to a problem or potential problem is to rally around that player, not cast them out. After all, they are a team. If there was a problem, perhaps it was personal. Escobar was young, and with young players, just like young children in a household, one must listen to them, and then counsel them. Mark is correct, Escobar is a great young shortstop. I believe he would still be in Atlanta if Freddie would have been coach. He has a good spirit for dealing with all players, especially hispanic players. This will be a key asset moving forward in major league baseball. Just look around the league.
Robert
July 31st, 2011
12:26 pm
Smell another Texeira fiasco. Rent a player for a pennant raise for 3mos while give a way a young player who hasn’t arrived ( in his case, due to early career injuries). So, way to early to have traded Schafer for a three month player.
TruthSeeker
July 31st, 2011
12:26 pm
That’s a helluva trade. None of those guys project to be difference-makers in the big leagues, unless they really blossom. Bravo to Wren for this trade.
extremus
July 31st, 2011
12:27 pm
While obviously Jordan Schafer and any of those other players sent to Houston could end up having successful Major League careers, this was about as great a move as Braves fans could have hoped for. Bourn may benefit the Braves more than Pence will the Phillies simply by adding such table-setting speed (combined with a .300-plus average, something that Schafer so far hasn’t done), enabling the big bats below him in the order to not have to swing for the fences to get runs across as often. When all is said and done I think I like the addition of Bourn’s skillset more than Beltran’s, Pence’s or Quentin’s; it fits the Braves’ needs (especially team speed) much better. Here’s hoping the Braves can re-up him for a long time to come (along with the hope that this move will “be enough” to win a World Series in 2011).
chief pitchanono
July 31st, 2011
12:29 pm
Great Move!! Getting Bourn and still got to keep our A list pitchers. Awesome job Wren. I have to take back what I said about Houston’s GM. I really thought he was gonna hold our feet over the fire after we showed our hand with the pence deal, but he didn’t, he still got some good proscpects and several of them, just not our best. I don’t know if this will be enough to overcome a 5 game deficit and two weeks without McCann to win the division, but it certainly puts us in great shape to make the playoffs and too match up against the phillies and giants. Hopefully we get a little bullpen help before 4pm and we should be in great shape. Go Braves!!
jtfalcfan
July 31st, 2011
12:33 pm
FAIL
Not necessarily EPIC, but what does this really address? It’s a position we could make do with, but unless you add righty pop, this does nothing
bj
July 31st, 2011
12:33 pm
Great News! Now go get Willingham are Omar to balance the RH hitter we need…Thanks Wren!!!!!!!!!!!!
FYI
July 31st, 2011
12:34 pm
FYI… For those touting Bourn’s OBP… Bourn’s career OBP = McLouth’s Just glad we got him for nothing… It now buys us a pinch runner (McLouth) late in the game in the playoffs… Promote Kimbrel Jr. (Jaye Chapman at Gwinnett)… Guess we can wait another month… Granted the Braves lineup has scored more runs with a prototype leadoff than when we had Prado up there…
jtfalcfan
July 31st, 2011
12:36 pm
Giants beat our arse last year in the playoffs
Philly is AGAIN beating our arse in the divison.
And both just b**ch slapped us in the trade market.
FAIL
Paddy
July 31st, 2011
12:37 pm
Robert…..this is not a-rent-a-player deal. If you read the article, he is only going to eligible for arbitration next year. Thats not even apples and oranges.
way off base on this one padner!
Gwinnett Fred
July 31st, 2011
12:42 pm
I like it. The Phillies & Giants got the bigger names, but I think the Braves got the best FIT! Have to go back to the days of Otis “My Man” Nixon when we had an elite lead off hitter.
I do get a chuckle out of the Wren quote, something along the lines of it being a good fit because we trend the team around speed and defense to go with our stellar pitching staff. Hey Frank – with the addition of Bourne, that raises our number of “team speed” players to ONE!!
In any case – it was like trading Schaefer and 3 low end minor leagers for the player we wanted Schaefer to become!
otis nixon
July 31st, 2011
12:47 pm
BC never liked speed. “Wait for the 3-run homer” was his mantra. It’s nice to see his influence fading and Fredi adding speed and a true leadoff hitter for the first time since Furcal.
Satchmo
July 31st, 2011
12:49 pm
Any time you get a lead off hitter that hits over .300, is a gold glover and steals 80% of his attemps , it’s a win. Only negative, he SO’s 20 to 25 % of his AB’s , but its been the missing piece of the puzzle, that we need, as he”ll generate more runs like a Maury Wills, Lou Brock guy, that in the day they got you a run, and let the strong pitching they had, shut down the other team. That will mean a lot when you go against the Phils and Giants down the road.
Mitchell
July 31st, 2011
12:51 pm
The only question about this is, can he get on base, will we actually let him run if or when he gets on base or will we just stick with the same wait-for-the-three-run-home-run style of offense?
It’s a simple question.
I want answers!
Tman
July 31st, 2011
12:52 pm
This is great news. Bourn provides us with the kind of run manufactoring capability we’ve lacked the past couple of years. Maybe now people won’t badmouth Wren so much. He MIGHT just know what he’s doing.Now we just need an inning-eating reliever. It says everything that the Braves feel compelled to use Venters and Kimbrell with a four then five run lead last night. They are in serious danger of being overworked.
TampaGator
July 31st, 2011
12:54 pm
Fran Wren is obviously a better deal maker than the U.S. Congress.
TampaGator
July 31st, 2011
12:56 pm
Oh….that’s right. Frank Wren serves for the best interest of the team…..and the public. The U.S. Congress serves for the best interest of themselves.
Optimistic Brave
July 31st, 2011
12:58 pm
Well Fred, Schafer is Schafer. Bourn is proven, so far. Sometimes prospects must be viewed as just that, prospects. And the need for quality position players will lend to these prospects. This is why the Phillies, Red Sox, Yankees, and others will put into play their prospects in order to contend EACH year for the WS championship. We are still one or two players short with an abundance of prospects to boot. We need to continue to build on both ends to be placed among the giants in the game.
DetroitBraves
July 31st, 2011
12:58 pm
ecco, where on earth did you see that the Braves could have taken Bautista rather than Gonzalez in the Yunel Escobar trade?
JASon
July 31st, 2011
1:03 pm
“The Braves would’ve preferred a right-handed hitter”
Wrong. Braves needed a guy who can hit lefties. Beltran is hitting .230 against lefties. Bourn is hitting .284 against lefties.
Chris S
July 31st, 2011
1:05 pm
Great move. In fact, might have been a better move than Beltran. Leadoff was the biggest weakness in the lineup, and the Braves have a decent chance of keeping Bourn for the long-term. As long as McCann and Chipper get healthy in time for September, Uggla hits in the second half as well as he hit last year, and either Freeman or Heyward is productive down the stretch, the Braves have a lineup good enough to have a chance at a winning it all–perhaps not as good as chance as the Phillies, but the best team doesn’t always win.
coach smith
July 31st, 2011
1:05 pm
Minor and AGON for JOSE REYES
Chris S
July 31st, 2011
1:06 pm
Very well put.
Whopper Dawg
July 31st, 2011
1:08 pm
I like this move a lot. They just said on the pre game show, that with about 3 hours let, Wren may not be through.
I really like this better than major pitching for Beltran. Great D, steals, good to very goo OB %, what is not to like?
Bugs
July 31st, 2011
1:08 pm
LOOK at hits for Bourn over last 10 days along with his .300 average for the year. Dude gets 2 hits a game most nights it seems. He is going to add a half run to run a game for us while playing Gold Glove center field. And we didnt give up much at all to get him. Wren is the man!
P_The_Ricker
July 31st, 2011
1:09 pm
some people will never be pleased. on paper, this deal is a “home run!”
wren gave up 3 pitching prospects, which probably 99% of braves fans have never heard of and a “promising” outfielder. i’m a fan of schafer as well, but bourn his the “here and now.” we’re trying to win this year…..right?
suggestions to trade lowe or mclouth or gonzalez are moronic! what GM is taking those guys for some coveted player? you wannabe GMs realize that these other GMs have some sense to them, right? btw, do any of you remember how clutch lowe was last aug through the playoffs? he was the braves best pitcher during that stretch.
you can’t offer 2 guys (1 making $5MM and the other in the obvious decline in his career) hitting .220 and think some GM is going to give you a hitter hitting .261 with 20 hrs (quentin). give me a break!
EVERY TEAM IS GOING TO HAVE SOME UNDESIRABLE PLAYERS. you’re either going to keep playing them and hope they pull a 180, or you release them. the braves don’t have the luxury of an expendable income to match the red sox, yankees, and now phils.
Optimistic Brave
July 31st, 2011
1:09 pm
Nixon, you say it best. While most of us admire BC’s career in Atlanta, he didn’t value speed as much as power offensively. Freddie comes from Florida where they used speed, especially to win a WS. Now, opposing pitchers must try to balance between Bourn getting on base, and the power that follows him in the lineup.
Good move
July 31st, 2011
1:12 pm
Initally, I was against the Braves making a move if it involved trading away top pitching prospects. I think this is a good deal, and hope Bourn plays well and stays around for a while. Head off hitters have been hard to come by over the years for the Braves…Brett Butler, Otis Nixon were the only true, true lead off hitters that stand out in my mind. Hopefully, he’s in that mold and will have a long career here. And, I hope Schafer can develop up to the expectations once he’s healthy.
Once again, this was a good move.
welikebaseball2
July 31st, 2011
1:13 pm
Great move. Schafer had to go..for several reasons…not the least was the fact that he didn’t get on base (.307 OBP) or knock in runs. By the way, what good is speed if you don’t get on base? Bourn may not be an RBI machine, but he does get on base plenty (see BA & OBP). An obvious upgrade. For all of you talking about how we needed to “do what we have to do” in a penant race, how could you justify continuing to trot Schafer out there? I know, trading him is not the same as benching him or sending him to the minors to “work on his swing,” but I’m not convinced he was bound to be anything more than a mediocre, injury-plagued player with decent defense & good speed.