The Braves Keep Trading

The Braves weren't done this off-season as they came through trading their last big name player they said was on the market this off-season. Evan Gattis has been traded to the Huston Astros for three prospects. The deal is pending a physical from Evan Gattis. Here is a look at that deal.

Braves
Rio Ruiz- Third basemen
Mike Foltynewicz- Right handed pitcher
Andrew Thurman- Right handed pitcher

Astros
Evan Gattis

The Braves weren't kidding this off-season when they said they were going to break up the team. They keep All-Star Freddie Freeman to build their team around. They have traded to beef up their starting pitching, and give them plenty of depth. It looks like A.J. Pierzynski will be taken the role of catcher now that Gattis is gone.

The best piece of this trade for the Braves was hard thrower Mike Foltynewicz who was the fourth ranked prospect the Astros had. Foltynewicz was moved up to Triple -A last year, and put up some good numbers despite a high ERA. He started 18 games, went 7-7, had a 5.08 era, 102.2 innings pitched, with 102 strike outs. He still has some things to work on, mainly is accuracy. He walks a lot of guys, and gives up a lot of hits. The good side is he throws hard, and gets a lot of swing and misses.
Rio Ruiz was the ninth ranked prospect that Astros had. He is only 20 years old, and was playing in single-A last year. He had some impressive numbers for a 20 year old, he hit .293, 11 home runs, 77 RBI's, with a .387 OBP in 131 games. I would expect him to move up levels next year, and to grow into a possible big name prospect.
Andrew Thurman is a 23 year pitcher that has been playing single-A the past two seasons. In this two seasons he has a 11-11 record, 4.99 ERA, 155 innings pitched with 150 strike outs. They have been using him as a starting pitcher as of late, and Thurman has found some success as a starter.

The Astros get the big right handed power bat to complement their short porch in left field. Due to the fact that the Astros have 3 quality catchers, including former All-Star Jason Castro, we will probably be seeing Gattis in the outfield. He is probably he some time in the designated hitter role as well. Gattis is 28, and now is in his prime as a hitter. In his first two big league seasons he has hit over 20 home runs in both of them. The remarkable thing is Gattis hasn't played more than 108 in a season, and if you give him tho extra games he could be hitting 30 home runs. Now, Gattis will move to the outfield to save his knees, and hopefully stop some of the injuries he has been having of late. The Astros have to find 450 at bats at least for this guy, because the potential he brings to the line-up is crucial. With the short porch in left field their is a good chance that he hits 30 plus home runs.