Brave Stars on the Move? Survey Says: Probably

Both Jair Jurrjens and Martin Prado appear to be the proverbial worm dangling from a hook for the Atlanta Braves. The Braves are attempting to garner trade interest to fill a couple glaring holes in the Braves 25 man roster; namely landing a top-tier pitcher to compliment ace Tim Hudson, and finding a suitable shortstop that can provide adequate pop with the bat while playing above average defense. At a glance, one might question why a team with such raw, young talent hasn't pushed the Braves to the next level. The answer to such a query is in fact, that the Braves are indeed young, and thus, immature; and that, sports fans, is the answer to the 10 million dollar question: WHY ARE WE NOT THERE YET?

Perhaps I'm wrong, and quite possibly off base, but I truly believe in a few years, fans will look back on the 2011 season and say: "We took our lumps, but we were young and it taught us more than winning it all." Of course I'll say this after the Braves have hoisted the World Series trophy above their collective heads. Delusional as I may be, the Braves may be on the edge of becoming one of the most dominant teams in baseball, and could be just one trade away.

That being said, some in the Braves' fan camp think its pure lunacy to trade away our #2 starter in Jair Jurrjens. JJ is a potential ace if he can figure out a way to avoid the injury bug, because a large reason for the Braves' reluctance to hold on to Jurrjens is his history of injuries. He suffered from injuries during much of the second half of the season after dominating the prior half. Remember when people were appalled that JJ was snubbed from starting the 2011 All-star game? His chances at the Cy Young were demolished by his injuries last season, and much of his 2010 season was disrupted for the same reason. While Jurrjens has the potential to become one of the best pitchers in baseball, this could be prevented by his inability to stay healthy.

Martin Prado has flashes of brilliance while flashing the leather. But as equally good Prado is with the glove, he was equally as BAD in 2011. Granted, a staph infection sidelined the left fielder for a good chunk of this past summer, but when he was activated from the DL he was a mere shell of what he was before the All Star break. I'm not condemning the man for being unlucky enough to contract staph in his right calf, he's a lifetime .293 hitter, hes young, and hes got quite a few good, possibly great, years ahead of him. That being said, last season he hit .260 and managed only 66 runs and 57 RBI. It is possible that Prado's offense is overvalued, and he may struggle to hit as well as before. If this is the case, then he may not be too important to the Braves. If the Braves make a trade for an outfielder or a shortstop, his contributions to the team may be unnecessary, and the Braves will still be in good shape.

A very important portion of this off season equation is that neither Prado nor Jurrjens are making a large amount of money. However, considering both players are arbitration eligible in 2012 and their skill level is becoming higher each year, keeping them around could become very expensive. For this very reason, trading them away could save the Braves a fair amount of money. If the Braves do use Prado and Jurrjens to make a large trade, the money they would save could go towards a long-term contract for the player they get out of the deal. Also, by getting rid of these contracts, the Braves could use this money to sign an expensive free agent. Along with declining the option on Nate McLouth and trading away Derek Lowe, this extra money can help the Braves improve their team and send the Bravos to the happy hunting ground!