Trade Central: Braves Acquire Draft Pick From Orioles

THE DEAL

The Braves had the fourth-largest draft pool, but have made no secret of their desire to add more bonus slot money, and they accomplished that Monday.

Atlanta traded righthanded starter Brandon Barker and lefthanded reliever Trevor Belicek to Baltimore for lefthanded reliever Brian Matusz and the No. 76 pick in the June draft, a competitive balance round pick which has a slot value of $838,900. That would give the Braves, who have the third overall pick, a draft bonus pool of $13,224,100 to spread around, now third behind the Reds and Phillies. Atlanta’s top pick has a slot value of $6,510,800, but almost certainly won’t receive the entire slot value. Atlanta now has five of the top 80 picks.

The pick was the primary “get” in this trade for the Braves. Matusz was designated for assignment shortly after the trade was announced.

ORIOLES ACQUIRE
Brandon Barker, rhp
Age: 23

Barker, a 23-year-old born in Panama who was the club’s 14th-round pick from Mercer in 2014, was the Braves’ leader in wins (12) and strikeouts (109) last year. He’s been similarly effective this season, going 3-2, 2.00, striking out eight batters per nine innings while walking 2.4 per nine at Double-A Mississippi. Barker has a funky delivery that one scout compared to a righthanded version of former Braves lefthander Alex Wood. His fastball sits 89-93 but touches 95. He also throws a slurvy curveball and a changeup.

Club (League)	Class	W	L	ERA	G	GS	IP	H	R	ER	HR	BB	SO
Mississippi (SL)	AA	3	2	2.00	9	8	45	35	10	10	3	12	40

Trevor Belicek, lhp
Age: 23

A big lefthander drafted as a senior out of Texas A&M-Corpus Christi last June, Belicek transitioned into the bullpen this season with great results. In 25 1/3 innings at low Class A Rome, Belicek has struck out 29 and walked just one, going 3-0, 2.49 in 11 appearances.

Club (League)	Class	W	L	ERA	G	SV	IP	H	R	ER	HR	BB	SO
Mississippi (SL)	AA	0	0	0.00	1	0	3	3	1	0	0	0	3
Rome (SAL)	LoA	3	0	2.49	11	0	25	19	8	7	2	1	29

BRAVES ACQUIRE
Brian Matusz, lhp
Age: 29

The fourth overall pick in 2008—one pick ahead of Buster Posey—Matusz had moderate success as a starter before cratering in 2011 (1-9, 10.69). He rebuilt his career as a reliever, averaging 9.4 strikeouts per nine and compiling an ERA of 3.47 in 211 appearances after going 21-33, 5.58 in 68 major league starts. He’s been particularly good against lefthanded batters in his career, holding them to a .211/.268/.358 slash, although this season he’s allowed 10 of 16 lefties he faced to reach base.

Still, at just 29 and with his velocity not showing much falloff (91.6 mph per Brooks Baseball), Matusz should be able to find work with a contender.