The Atlanta Braves found a taker for struggling shortstop Erick Aybar.
The Detroit Tigers announced Tuesday they traded for the 32-year-old, with Mike Aviles and Kade Scivicque going to Atlanta.
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution‘s David O’Brien thought the deal was an example of Braves general manager John Coppolella‘s determination:
Atlanta acquired Aybar in the offseason in the Andrelton Simmons trade. The move seemed somewhat odd since the Braves were and still are in a long-term rebuild. They’ve parted ways with almost every one of their best veteran assets.
In all likelihood, Coppolella either expected the team would be better than it is now or thought he’d be able to flip Aybar at the deadline for a profit.
Instead, Atlanta has the worst record in the league (44-74), and Aybar is in the midst of the worst season of his MLB career. He’s batting .242 with two home runs, 26 RBI and a .293 on-base percentage. According to FanGraphs, his minus-1.2 WAR is fifth-worst among position players with at least 250 plate appearances.
Fox Sports’ Ken Rosenthal spoke to an MLB executive who said on July 24 the Braves were “aggressively shopping” Aybar along with a few other players. Showing a desire to offload Aybar didn’t mean doing so would be easy for Atlanta, though.
The market for his services wasn’t going to be fevered, especially for a player who is potentially a rental for less than half of a season. The Tigers need to expect an immediate return on their investment. Given Aybar‘s struggles, that’s far from a certainty.
Still, there’s reason to hope Aybar could turn things around. He was an All-Star in 2014, and while expecting him to reach those heights again is unrealistic, some level of improvement could be anticipated.
Here’s a look at his offensive and defensive numbers from the past five years, per FanGraphs:
It’s not as if the free-agent market is flush with talent at shortstop. In that regard, trading for Aybar is a better way for the Tigers to bolster their middle infield depth for the stretch run. The team also placed starting shortstop Jose Iglesias on the 15-day disabled list Friday.
Detroit didn’t pay a high price in order to get Aybar, so there isn’t a whole lot of risk in the deal. Anything positive he delivers will be a pleasant surprise. At the very least, he’s an upgrade over Aviles in the infield.
This trade won’t shake up the MLB landscape, but it could help the Tigers as they look to secure a playoff spot in 2016.
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