Over the past years, the Atlanta Braves have made a lot of trades. Every major league team uses trades or acquisitions to make a team better during, before, or after the season.  In the long run, most trades do not work out as planned, such as many trades in the Atlanta Braves organization. The Braves have made many poor trades over the years that has led to mediocre productivity. 

A bad trade is when team A gives team B a better player(s) than they received, so team A made a poor trade. The Braves were team A in the Adam Wainwright trade. Adam Wainwright was a top notch pitching prospect for the Atlanta Braves organization. Wainwright would have been a guy that could have been the ace on the Braves staff for many years, yet Atlanta thought J.D. Drew and Eli Marrero could fill Wainwright's shoes. Both Drew and Marrero were young Major League players with upside for the St. Louis Cardinals. Wainwright got traded to St. Louis in 2004 for Drew and Marrero.  Marrero only played in 90 games with his one season with the Braves in 2004.  J.D. Drew hit 31 home runs and had a .305 batting average the only year he spent with the Braves in 2004 (Baseball Reference). While both Drew and Marrero could not find a home in Atlanta Wainwright found a home in St. Louis where he is an established ace with a World Series Championship and finished top 3 in Cy Young (award for being best pitcher) voting four times (Rowlands Office).  J.D. Drew and Eli Marrero never hit stride in Atlanta, yet Wainwright was a pitcher that Atlanta could have made the face of the organization for years to come. The Adam Wainwright trade is one of many examples of a bad trade by the Atlanta Braves.

 On July 24th, 2015 the Braves traded veteran infielders Kelly Johnson and Juan Uribe for two pitching prospects (John Gant and Rob Whalen) from the New York Mets who were not even considered elite prospects. Atlanta was in need of leadership, with many young players on the roster, which was something that both Johnson and Uribe provided for the Braves organization. John Gant and Rob Whalen have never made it past the Mets AA minor league team (O'Brien, 2015). The minor leagues go by the letter 'A' to show how close they are to the major league team starting at single A (A) then double A (AA) and finally triple A (AAA) before the major league organization. Whalen and Gant are not a factor to bring in talent or leadership to Atlanta because both of them have to go through AA and AAA before they can make it to the majors. Johnson and Uribe both gave productivity at the major league level with their leadership off the field and productivity on the field that these two prospects will not show anytime soon at the major league level. With this trade being made before the 2016 season, there are no stats for how these players have performed since the trade, yet the leadership that Johnson and Uribe provided cannot be replaced by two players who are not even at the major league level. The Johnson and Uribe trade is another example of a poor trade by Atlanta.

After the 2014 season the Braves fired general manager Frank Wren due to having their first recorded losing season since 2008.  John Hart was hired as the new Braves general manager and not shortly after stated, "The Braves have always been a pitching organization (ESPN, 2014)." Hart tried to prove that by trading right fielder Jason Heyward, the face of the Braves organization, and right handed pitcher Jordan Walden to St. Louis for right handed pitcher Selby Miller and minor league pitcher Tyrell Jenkins who is not relevant at the major league level. John Hart also stated, "It is very difficult to trade Jason Heyward ... But the deal was made to help us not only in the short term but the long term (ESPN, 2014)." Even though the Braves traded Shelby Miller to the Diamondbacks after just one season with the Braves (Piecoro, 2016). With one year with the Braves, Shelby Miller won six games but lost seventeen in return and gave up the more hits than he ever has before with 183. Jason Heyward hit for a career high .293 batting average while also hitting thirty-three doubles, a career best, and winning his third gold glove (Baseball Reference). Overall Shelby Miller did not last in Atlanta, and Jason Heyward has seem to found a home playing right field for the St. Louis Cardinals. Yet another example of a bad trade by the Atlanta Braves.

Craig Kimbrel led the national league in saves from 2011-2014 and was known as the best closer in major league baseball. "Kimbrel, 26, averaged 46 saves, 14.6 strikeouts per nine innings and a 1.51 ERA over the last four seasons (Ortiz, 2015)." These numbers are not heard of and something every major league team wants. Melvin Upton, more known as B.J. Upton, struggled in the shadow of his brother, Justin Upton, in Atlanta. B.J. only hit for a .192 batting average in the two years he was an Atlanta Brave (Baseball Reference). Though not good at the plate he was known for being a consistent starter who always made the big plays in center field. Both of these players were traded to the San Diego Padres for Carlos Quentin, Cameron Maybin, two-minor league prospects, and a 41st overall draft pick. Carlos Quentin never played a single game for the Braves and Cameron Maybin batted a mediocre .267 and only hit ten homeruns in the 2015 season with Atlanta. Craig Kimbrel kept hitting his stride as he saved 39 games in 2015 with a 2.58 earned run average (Baseball Reference). The main reason for this idiotic trade was so that the Braves could get rid of the huge $75 million deal that B.J. Upton was signed to when coming to Atlanta. John Hart states, "This was a difficult trade to make from a personal standpoint ... From a professional standpoint, we continue to be consistent in our plan, where we're going and what we needed to do to get there (Ortiz, 2015)." This trade is another horrible trade for the Braves that is due to them wanting to have a low salary for the opening of a new suburban style stadium in 2017. I understand needing to save for a new stadium, but not at the cost of ruining a team. Which is in the end a bad trade on the part of the Atlanta Braves.

In contrast, a good trade is explained like a bad trade with team A and team B except now the Braves are looked at as team B, the team that got the better end of the trade. Tim Hudson was acquired by the Braves in 2004 for Juan Cruz, Charles Thomas, and Dan Meyer. Hudson was a great player at the time of the trade and this was thought to be a steal by the Braves. While winning 96 games and having a .702 winning percentage as an Oakland Athletic from 1999-2004, while Hudson still showed much promise at the age of 29 (Curry, 2004). Tim Hudson won 112 games in nine years in Atlanta while winning more ball games than he lost in all nine years. Juan Cruz only won 24 games over the last eight years of his career. Charles Thomas only played one more season in his short career where he did not hit any home runs and only batted a sleazy .109 in Oakland. Dan Meyer played four more seasons, 2007-2010, and only won 3 games over that span (Baseball Reference).  Hudson was a great player when he was in Atlanta, but also was a great teammate who always had a smile on his face while still being a vocal leader for this team. A nice guy with great leadership that also provided for his team on the field is not heard of from a pitcher but do not tell Tim Hudson that. Tim Hudson was a great acquisition for the Braves due to being healthy and effective for consecutive years, while the players we gave to Oakland for him never shined. In contrast, Atlanta has mixed in a good trade when Tim Hudson was acquired.

After the 2002 season, Kevin Millwood was coming off an 18-win season in the majors, while no one knew who Johnny Estrada was. Estrada was flirting between the major league and minor league in the Philadelphia Phillies organization in 2001 and 2002 with not much success at the major league level. Kevin Millwood was wanting a big pay day due to having a big season and a big pay day is something the Braves did not see in Millwood's future. With such small time to work with the Braves traded Millwood to the Phillies for Johnny who (Bradbury, 2011)?  Johnny Estrada, who was an All-star for Atlanta in 2004 while finishing 16th in the voting for the national league MVP, hitting for a .314 batting average and batting in 76 runs. Johnny was brought to Atlanta for his leadership and gave Atlanta more than expected. Kevin Millwood never won more than 18 games again in the last ten years of his career. Also, Millwood never got close to the .692 win-lose percentage that he posted in the 2002 season with Atlanta (Baseball Reference). The pickup of Johnny Estrada was an elite trade for the Atlanta Braves due to Estrada being more productive than an expensive Kevin Millwood. Johnny Estrada is another example of an successful trade in Atlanta. 

Shelby Miller was a mediocre pitcher in his one year with Atlanta. While Miller flirted with throwing two no-hitters, he was not consistent and lost more than twice the games he won. Shelby Miller was looking for a salary increase, but the Braves were thinking different. With wanting to get rid of a pitcher with great potential the Braves knew they would try to make a blockbuster deal for Shelby Miller. "The Diamondbacks gave up emerging outfielder Ender Inciarte, well-regarded pitching prospect Aaron Blair and the most recent No. 1 overall draft pick, shortstop Dansby Swanson, to get Miller because they believe his best years are ahead of him (Piecoro, 2016)." Atlanta traded one pitcher that had a .261 winning percentage in the previous season for three young players who are up next on the major league level. Dansby Swanson is the number 8 prospect on MLB.com's top 100 prospects for the 2016-2017 season while just being drafted number 1 overall in the last major league draft. Ender Inciarte is a young outfielder already on the major league level that is expected to turn into a great leadoff hitter for Atlanta. Aaron Blair is also on the top 100 prospects list at number 56. Mark Bowman states:

"Blair was grouped with Swanson and Ender Inciarte to form the blockbuster package the Braves received in compensation for Miller. The 23-year-old right-hander is a polished hurler who could reach the Majors before Newcomb. Blair posted a 2.97 ERA over the 25 starts he combined to make at the Double-A and Triple-A levels last year."

Blair has mastered three pitches and clearly understands the art of pitching at the age of twenty-three. Aaron Blair is also expected to see the majors before players ahead of him on the top 100 prospects list (Bowman, 2016).  With the Diamondbacks giving up a lot of young talent for just one player who is not yet proved he can be consistent form season to season is a bad trade for Arizona and a good trade for Atlanta. 

Furthermore, after the Braves won the National league east from 2000-2005, manager Bobby Cox started struggling with being able to put the lineup in order to be effective due to less talent from poor trades, such as the Adam Wainwright trade. From 2006-2015 the Atlanta Braves have only won one, I repeat one, national league east title (Baseball Reference). This consistent lack of success cannot just be blamed on the players not performing. A drop in success after the 2006 season can also be looked at as a front office problem. The move of John Schuerholz form general manager to president in 2007 was a big factor of why the success started to plummet. Frank Wren, who was Schuerholz assistant general manager for the previous six years, became the general in 2007 and got fired in 2014 and replaced by current general manager John Hart (Cooper, 2007). Not to take away from either of these men, but they are no John Schuerholz and do not hold the knowledge or skills that Schuerholz did. With the lack of experience of running a winning ball club Wren and Hart are factors of why the success started to go down after the 2006 season.  Many of the latest trades can be blamed on the general manager, John Hart, trying to clear up some salary space for the new ballpark that is set to arrive at the beginning of the 2017 season. After the 2010 season, historic manager Bobby Cox retired after a little over 19 seasons with the Braves. Fredi Gonzales was hired and had some big shoes to fill. Gonzales showed some promise with a .574 winning percentage over his first three seasons while also making the playoffs twice and winning the national league east in 2013. After 2013 is when general manager John Hart moved in and started moving big names out of the Braves organization to save money for the new stadium (Baseball Reference). These managers and general managers are the brains of making and applying trades. The recent changes in the front office is a reason for mediocre productivity.

 These facts show that the Atlanta Braves have made trades that have turned out both good and bad for them. The facts of history prove that over the years the Atlanta Braves have made more negative trades than positive trades. Trades are effective throughout any major league sport and these trades can make or break a franchise. Bad trades can be looked on as trying to turn the organization around by making risky deals to get Atlanta back to an organization that strives on good pitching. Many bad trades have also been caused by the opening of a new stadium in 2017, yet a new stadium does not cause for a whole new roster. Where there are bad trades there are good trades and Atlanta had a few good trades in the mix of all these bad ones. A drop in success after the 2006 season can also be looked at as a front office problem. Bobby Cox retiring and John Schuerholz taking over as the president of the Atlanta Braves means that new faces are going to come in. New faces will make mistakes from not knowing the Braves organization like a Bobby Cox or John Schuerholz. Rebuilding an organization from the front office is going to take time to smooth out and lead to success. In conclusion, this research has helped me decide that the Atlanta Braves have made many horrible trades that have turned into mediocre seasons, but the rising young talent of the Braves will turn the organization back into the 1990's-early 2000's Braves who were always in the hunt for a pennant.

