Our Braves blog, Talking Chop, is all over Tuesday’s trade with the Yankees, which sends Javier Vazquez to NY for Melky Cabrera and prospects. From Atlanta’s perspective, the deal is mostly about dumping salary:
Trade Analysis: Braves Dump Salary, Pick Up Prospects; Yanks Improve Rotation, Bullpen
Melky Cabrera will earn under $3 million in arbitration, and Mike Dunn replacing Boone Logan should save the Braves another million in arbitration. Subtract Vazquez’ $11.5 million salary and the Braves save around $9.5 million on this deal. That’s good money to go out and get a decent bat. This trade may also look a lot better depending who the unnamed prospect turns out to be. With this kind of return I would think it would have to be someone pretty good.
It turns out that it may just be someone “pretty good.” According to reports, the third player the Braves get back in the deal is pitcher Arodys Vizcaino, who Baseball Prospectus rates as the No. 2 overall prospect in the Yankees system.
On the other side of the deal, our Yankees blog, Pinstripe Alley, sees this as not only a deal to improve the rotation — which it does, dramatically — but also the bullpen. This move now allows Joba Chamberlain to move back to the pen full-time, thus strengthening their relief pitching as well as their starters.
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