Drew Sutton Sold to Pirates
May 20, 2012 at 7:51 pm by David Lee under Atlanta Braves, Transactions
According to Rob Biertempfel of the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review, the Braves have traded infielder Drew Sutton to the Pirates for cash.
The amount of cash has not been reported.
Sutton was hitting .270/.374/.372 with 10 doubles and two triples in 164 plate appearances for Triple-A Gwinnett, including 20 walks and 24 strikeouts. Sutton has proven his worth as a solid hitting infielder who could play all over the infield well, especially in his lengthy showing during spring training this year, where he was a candidate for a backup infielder job.
Selling Sutton shows the Braves’ thinking that they had no use for him. It could also show their reliance on Andrelton Simmons as the first infielder in the minor leagues to get a call up. I believe if anything called for an infield promotion, Simmons would get the call.
However, this still doesn’t answer why Sutton would get sold. He was a good hitter who got on base and could play several positions well. Twitter had hopes of him being the next Ben Zobrist. Apparently the Braves needed cash.
Biertempfel further said he didn’t know where Sutton would be sent, as Triple-A Indianapolis is not in need of another infielder. A corresponding move may be coming for the Pirates.
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I always liked Sutton, I was happy when they got him from the Red Sox and was certain he would land the backup infield job. (until I heard they re-signed Wilson for some damn reason)
He is a jack of all trades master of none guy, but he knows how to get on base and is really a perfect bench man for a contender and a starting 2b for probably 10 teams or so.
I hope the money is put to some good use.
Watching Sutton in Boston and in spring training, it seems clear he’s not much of a shortstop. The Braves like bench players who add dimensions, rather than guys who do the same things their starters do, just 80% as well.
From that point of view, Wilson over Sutton was a no brainer. Last season, however, if Sitting had been available to backup Gonzo, he would have been perfect.
Can someone please explain to me why the Braves would get rid of Drew Sutton? Dude ripped it up in spring training and has ripped it up in his short MLB stints and we traded him to the Pirates today for cash. Why? What happens if Jack Wilson gets hurt? Who is the backup shortstop then? The really awesome Josh Wilson? What a joke of a move!
I guess you missed that whole part of Andrelton Simmons being the next infielder to get called up. Especially in a circumstance of Jack Wilson or Pastornicky getting hurt. Try reading the article a second time before asking a question like that?
LOL. I like Tim. I can count on him to rip up a good posting.
Makes my Monday morning bearable, IMHO.
I posted that before I read the whole post. But still. How is it a good thing to potentially ruin Simmons development by rushing him to the majors if Pastornicky or Wilson gets hurt? That’s just dumb in my eyes. You can never have enough middle infielders.
Dude. Read the post before you comment.
Might be a long-shot, stab in the dark, or whatever it can be called, but I wonder if this move was made to free up money to grab Oswalt?
Yeah, that’s a typical stab in the dark. Missed the mark entirely.
Says the guys that apparently has some type of inside knowledge of why the deal was made, but does not want to divulge?
…. Right, now try offering something useful to the conversation.
Anyone with good instincts on how much a player like Sutton is worth want to take a stab at how much the Braves got in return?
It’s hard to tell, one would think that though Barmes is struggling they would just put Harrison at SS. So if it isn’t to fit in on the big club, the value is really a crap shoot. I can’t see it exceeding half a million….. But, they so rarely report the dollar figures of cash only deals (or else I never hear what they are anyway) that it’s tough to gauge.
However much it was, just give it to Bourn.
Maybe they felt bad that he wasn’t going to do anything with the big club?
Also, who gives a shit?
Can we get this guy Will Myers?
http://www.milb.com/milb/stats/stats.jsp?pos=C&sid=milb&t=p_pbp&pid=571976
Wil Meyers? The Braves could probably get the scrub for a C level prospect like Constanza I am sure. Great idea!
Scrub? :-)
I wish. Wren tried to snake him out of there in the offseason, but he is about to get called up in KC.
I did not know this, thank you for the info.
I just don’t get the move (it makes the pair with Asencio to Cleveland).
Simmons regular SS and Sutton bench utility infielder would have been a slight improvement
On Twitter, DOB implied that Sutton’s contract included a clause that would have made him a FA should he not be called up by a certain date. Sounds like that’s what drove this transaction.
Sutton definitely seemed to have some value, but our bench has been a pleasant surprise so far this season. There’s nobody I would option/release to make a spot for him.
When I first read the title, I thought we had traded Don Sutton for Cash. Oops.
The move makes sense in that the Braves are a franchise that let’s good (but not great) players with no options in their own system move on and have a chance to make it to the big leagues. Classy move…
The accumulation of Cash this season makes me think that we’re preparing to put in an offer to re-sign Bourn. That’s the only reason that makes sense to me since signing McCann and Bourn isn’t feasible with our typical allotment of payroll.
I liked Sutton before we signed him. He’s always been a good hitter and can play several positions. He would have opened the season with the big club if it wasn’t for Constanza already being on the 40 man. This guy was on injury away from being our utility IF this season. He had gotten off to a rough start in Gwinnett, but has been hitting over .300 for the past month. Good for him though, he’ll likely contribute for the Pirates.
As far as the Gwinnett roster goes, I would imagine Simmons will get a chance at AAA and Josh Wilson will mainly play 2B. If Simmons plays well in AAA, the Braves will have an interesting dilemma this offseason regarding Simmons/Pastornicky again.
Speaking of Gwinnett, Terdoslavich has looked horrible. Hitting under .200 and and has made 16 errors at 3B. I don’t think he’s joining the big club anytime soon.
Wil Myers is gonna rake once he settles in with KC. Him, Hosmer, Butler and Moustakas are gonna be a solid core for them for the next 6 years.
A guy that’s not getting any love is Matt Adams from St. Louis. This dude has serious skills. He was 2-4 in his debut, was hitting 340/375/603 with 9 hr in 140 ab in AAA as a 23 year old. Last year at AA he hit 300/357/566 with 32 hr 101 rbi and 40 walks to 90 k’s. If he (or Freeman) could handle a position other than 1B (possibly LF?) he would be a guy the braves need to very seriously consider.
Will KC be able to hold on to those players? They will be too expensive to keep them all.
They will be able to keep them for 5 or 6 years.
They probably got the money to help resign Bourn or McCann. I liked Sutton but didnt see him ever becoming a starter. Prado and Francisco will battle for 3rd, Simmons and Pastornicky for SS and Uggla and Freeman for next years infield.
So for those curious right now Simmons is hitting:
.286/.358/.357/.716, 8 XBH(0 HR), 19 R, 16 RBI, 15 BB, 14 K, and is 9-11 in SB in AA in 35 games(140 AB).
I imagine that w the Sutton dump, we’ll see Simmons move up to AAA pretty soon. He seems to be doing pretty well with the bat in Mississippi (more BBs than Ks) and the defense is definitely there. Rev hasn’t exactly been setting the world on fire in any category, is at times a defensive liability, and his defensive replacement couldn’t hit the broad side of a barn with a brickbat. If Simmons can hit decently for a month in Gwinnett I think we’ll see Rev moved to the bench around July if he can’t calm down on the field and/or show more discipline at the plate.
I was actually going to make a smartass comment yesterday in the game chat when Wilson actually hit the ball to the warning track asking, “was that the first time Wilson has hit the ball out of the infield?”
:)
Pastornicky has more than held his own with the bat. How many big 2-out hits has he gotten for the Braves? Quite a few. If you’re expecting the guy to walk a ton then you’ve got the wrong guy. He’s not going to be a guy that walks a lot but he counters that with not striking out a whole lot either.
I dont understand this at all, especially with how much Francisco is struggling. Sutton may be needed as Chipper’s backup at some point.
Francisco is out of options. He can’t be sent down, which is why the Reds traded him. I think he’ll pick it up, and we he’ll be on the big club whether he does or not.
So you sell Francisco to Team X for 30k or whatever they got. Sutton gives you quite a bit more on base, can back up about 6 more positions and gives you much more flexibility because he can be sent down if need be. Unless JF is remarkably better than DS, this was a very bad idea. And I dont think he is even close to that level.
Francisco fell out of favor in CIN. His big thing is power and as Wren has said the hardest thing to acquire is raw power so when you can get you should make an attempt to get it and keep it. That is exactly what Juan has and while his range is not great his arm is ridiculous.
To what Mike said, Francisco has only had 66 at bats so far this season. Sure, he only has 14 hits in those at bats, but 3 were home runs. He has also come through with quite a few clutch hits in RBI situations.
Add to that, he’s in the very first year with a new ball club that he actually has a chance to play everyday with in the future (he didn’t have the chance in CIN).
Give the kid a chance.
@Russell
I sure hope you were watching that power we’re talking about on display in the 2nd inning.
That’s exactly why Wren picked him up.
Guys, we might have lost this minor leaguer who I know nothing about. BUT, I know for sure that we have Jack Wilson who, we can all agree, adds so much grittiness and oldness and suckiness that is otherwise hard to find. We should feel great about this!
Well Pittsburgh immediately flipped him to the Rays, so now the next Ben Zobrist can learn at the feet of the master.
And the Pirates promptly just sent Sutton to Tampa Bay…
That’s good for 2 reasons. The Rays are probably MLB’s best team at carving out talent from players that don’t seem to have a very high potential. And, with him going to the AL and us playing the Rays this season, there’s a VERY slim chance that Sutton will come back to bite us in the ass one day.
… and Tampa Bay probably paid more to the Pirates, than the Pirates paid to the Braves …
Who really cares, Sutton is a AAAA player that is 28 years of age with limited potential. I think the front office knows more about evaluating talent then we do, so I am going back to my cubical to conduct more statistical analysis using an ANOVA and t-tests.