Working Out A Luke Scott To The Braves Trade

With the Mariners acquiring Milton Bradley from the Cubs (somehow getting Chicago to take the useless Carlos Silva and most of his salary), their demand for a bat like Luke Scott probably decreased a little. Another potential suitor would be the Atlanta Braves, who currently only have Nate McLouth as a full-time starter in the outfield. I once again took to Twitter, looking to make a deal. This time it was an extended conversation, with Capital Avenue Club, OriolesProspects.com, and Scouting The Sally all joining in the fun.

[Tweets reordered a little to try to maximize clarity and flow of conversation.]

camdencrazies – @CapitolAvenue Any interest in LF Luke Scott maybe?

CapitolAvenue – @camdencrazies If the price is right!

camdencrazies – @CapitolAvenue What do you think would be a reasonable return?

orioleprospects – @camdencrazies Id love to get Freeman back from them but I think that is a little too much to ask for.

camdencrazies – @orioleprospects That’s what I thought too. I don’t know the system well enough to make other proposals.

CapitolAvenue – @camdencrazies Good question. I don’t know. Would the O’s want arms in return?

orioleprospects – @camdencrazies They have a pretty deep system. J.J. Hoover might be a reasonable return from them.

camdencrazies – @CapitolAvenue From a quick look at the Braves system, it seemed like the arms were more plentiful than the bats. Same with the O’s though.

orioleprospects – @CapitolAvenue I think they would want a bat. 3B/1B the most.

camdencrazies – @CapitolAvenue If it’s pitchers coming back it might take a little more, but you can never have too much pitching I think.

CapitolAvenue – @orioleprospects @camdencrazies Good thing infielders is the biggest weakness in the Braves’ system.

ScoutingtheSAL – @orioleprospects I saw J.J. Hoover at the end of the season. Pretty blah. He would not be a player I would want in return.

orioleprospects – @ScoutingtheSAL Oh, I thought I had heard positive things about him. What are the negatives?

ScoutingtheSAL – @orioleprospects He was a little old for the Sally and was average/fringe average across the board. His hype is driven by good peripherals.

camdencrazies – @ScoutingtheSAL And that’s why scouting is important. Thanks. Anyone in the Braves system you like (but not too too much)?

ScoutingtheSAL – @camdencrazies I did not catch the beginning of the convo. Who is the player?

camdencrazies – @ScoutingtheSAL Luke Scott to the Braves, maybe.

orioleprospects – @CapitolAvenue Yeah it seems like most of their top prospects are pitchers.

CapitolAvenue – @orioleprospects My top-20 Braves: 14 P, 4 OF, 1 C, 1 1B.

orioleprospects – @CapitolAvenue no SS,2B, or 3B on the list. Didnt know it was THAT heavy on pitchers. Good for the philosophy buy the bats, grow the arms.

camdencrazies – @CapitolAvenue @orioleprospects @ScoutingtheSAL I think one solid B pitching prospect or a couple of lesser (C+) guys would work. Ideas?

orioleprospects – @camdencrazies I think that would work, maybe even a B- would do the job. I just want Scott out of here to get Pie regular playing time.

camdencrazies – @orioleprospects A B- infielder might work, but if it’s going to be pitching it should probably be a solid B (supply & demand).

camdencrazies – @orioleprospects And it obviously depends on other teams’ offers. Got a B- 3B and C+ SS (+ maybe C pitcher) out of M’s fan.

orioleprospects – @camdencrazies Yeah true. SS is definitely a need in the minor league system.

ScoutingtheSAL – @camdencrazies hmmmm, tough one! 1.75 avg. WAR over the past 3 years. I’m not sure how much I pay for that. Hoover or Rohrbough is close.

camdencrazies – @ScoutingtheSAL His WAR was lower in ‘09 because he was DH’ed so much. He can still play an average-ish LF, which would increase his value.

orioleprospects – @camdencrazies Yeah maybe Randall Delgado would be a fit. @capitolavenue Delgado?

camdencrazies – @CapitolAvenue I assume Freeman would be too much?

CapitolAvenue – @camdencrazies Yeah, Freeman wouldn’t work. R. Delgado.. Yeah, that sounds about right.

CapitolAvenue – @orioleprospects Maybe one of the AA/AAA relievers or one of the soft-tossing lefties, w/ R. Delgado.

camdencrazies – @CapitolAvenue Delgado does sound about right. Hey @ScoutingtheSAL, any info on Randall Delgado?

ScoutingtheSAL – @camdencrazies I did not see Randall Delgado. However, I did hear very good things from people in Rome who saw him in person.

orioleprospects – @CapitolAvenue Id love if that happened. Delgado plus a potential reliever or something like that. @camdencrazies, thoughts?

camdencrazies – @orioleprospects I’d like a little more info on Delgado, but that sounds good to me. Andy should pay me for rounding up offers for him.

CapitolAvenue – @camdencrazies Extremely live arm. Sits mid-90’s with good sink and tail. Plus CB. CH and command are fringy at this point.

orioleprospects – @CapitolAvenue @camdencrazies if he can improve his command he looks like a #3 starter to me

CapitolAvenue – @orioleprospects Complicated mechanics. I think he’s 70 ceiling, honestly, but he’s a ways away.

orioleprospects – @CapitolAvenue Yeah very raw right now.

camdencrazies – @CapitolAvenue I do like pitchers with hard sinking FBs. Alright, thanks. Very helpful conversation everyone. Twitter is actually useful!

So there you have it. Luke Scott to the Braves for 19 year-old right-handed pitcher Randall Delgado and maybe a minor league reliever. I don’t like it quite as much as the Scott for Jharmidy De Jesus and Gabriel Noriega deal (from the Mariners), but it’s solid. Delgado is rated as a B prospect by John Sickles, which is the expected return for Scott. He had a superficially mediocre season in A-Ball this year, with a 5-10 record and 4.35 ERA. The underlying stats where much better though, with a 10.2 K/9, 3.6 BB/9, and strong 49% groundball rate. He’d be a fine addition to the O’s stable of young arms.

Tags: Braves, Luke Scott, Orioles, Randall Delgado, Trades