Pads close to deal for Christian Bethancourt

[ArtistFormerlyKnownAsBKR]

[ArtistFormerlyKnownAsBKR]

ATLANTA (AP) -- The Atlanta Braves have dealt away young catcher Christian Bethancourt after a disappointing season in which he failed to take advantage of his chance to take over the starting job.

Once hyped as the catcher of the future, the 24-year-old Bethancourt was dealt to the San Diego Padres on Thursday for right-handed pitcher Casey Kelly and minor league catcher Ricardo Rodriguez.

Bethancourt began the 2015 season as the No. 1 catcher but got off to a terrible start and wound being demoted to the minors. He returned late in the season, batting .200 with two homers and 12 RBIs.

When the Braves re-signed 38-year-old A.J. Pierzynski and agreed to a deal this week with catcher Tyler Flowers, it was clear that Bethancourt's days in Atlanta were numbered.

Kelly adds to the surplus of young pitchers the Braves have stockpiled while undergoing a major overhaul. A former first-round pick who had Tommy John surgery before the 2013 season, he spent most of this past year with San Diego's Triple-A and Double-A affiliates, combining to go 2-10 with a 5.16 ERA.

The 26-year-old Kelly is 2-5 with a 6.69 ERA in nine big league appearances.

''Casey will compete for a spot on our major league pitching staff this spring, while Ricardo brings another young catcher to our farm system who has a lot of promise and upside,'' said Braves general manager John Coppolella, who has made a flurry of moves this offseason, carrying on the rebuilding job that sent the Braves tumbling to a 95-loss season.

Rodriguez is only 17. He batted .266 with two homers and 15 RBIs splitting time between a pair of rookie league teams in his first professional season.

Well there you go. Only Cashner remaining from that great deal we swung for Agon. Here's hoping the young Red Sox we got in the Kimbrel deal pan out better....or we don't trade the one good one.

Not sure what Betancourt brings to the table unless they intend to move Hedges. If Preller deals Hedges, Renfroe and Jankowski he will have completely shot the entire system from the previous regime. Sure hope he knows how to eye and develop young talent as a head man. And quickly.

For the Padres—who brought Austin Hedges to the majors this season but saw him hit just .168—Bethancourt is worth the gamble the way Kelly is for the Braves. Bethancourt is young and athletic and possesses one of the best arms in the game, but the Braves had grown frustrated with his mental lapses and lack of focus. Despite his tools, which include good bat speed, Bethancourt has a long ways to go to develop into an everyday catcher.

What Bethancourt does for the Padres is give them options. Neither he nor Austin Hedges has yet shown they are ready for a full-time big league job, but Bethancourt’s arrival means one of the two can return to Triple-A for additional seasoning. It also could give the Padres the flexibility to trade Hedges or starter Derek Norris.



Club (League) Class AVG G AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI BB SO SB OBP SLG
Gwinnett (IL) AAA .327 104 404 50 132 38 0 8 62 24 62 10 .359 .480
Atlanta (NL) MAJ .200 96 310 32 62 16 0 4 24 10 66 2 .225 .290

Not exactly a glowing report.

[ArtistFormerlyKnownAsBKR]

Career minor league stats:

YEAR TEAM LG LEVEL G AB R H TB 2B 3B HR RBI BB IBB SO SB CS AVG OBP SLG OPS GO/AO
2008 DSL BRA DSL ROK 34 116 12 31 43 6 3 0 17 11 0 25 1 0 .267 .328 .371 .699 0.81
2009 BRA GCL ROK 32 116 22 33 50 9 1 2 19 11 0 22 7 0 .284 .344 .431 .775 0.74
2009 DAN APP ROK 14 50 10 13 24 5 0 2 8 6 0 16 1 1 .260 .339 .480 .819 1.33
2009 [+] 2 teams - Minors 46 166 32 46 74 14 1 4 27 17 0 38 8 1 .277 .342 .446 .788 0.85
2010 ROM SAL A(Full) 108 399 31 100 132 19 2 3 34 14 1 62 11 3 .251 .276 .331 .607 1.21
2011 LYN CAR A(Adv) 45 166 11 45 54 6 0 1 20 3 0 35 3 2 .271 .277 .325 .603 0.94
2011 ROM SAL A(Full) 54 221 25 67 95 10 3 4 33 8 0 27 6 3 .303 .323 .430 .753 1.19
2011 [+] 2 teams - Minors 99 387 36 112 149 16 3 5 53 11 0 62 9 5 .289 .304 .385 .689 1.08
2012 MIS SOU AA 71 268 30 65 78 5 1 2 26 11 0 45 8 6 .243 .275 .291 .566 1.13
2013 MIS SOU AA 90 358 42 99 156 21 0 12 45 16 1 57 11 7 .277 .305 .436 .741 0.87
2014 GWN INT AAA 91 343 33 97 140 17 1 8 48 13 0 61 7 1 .283 .308 .408 .716 1.02
2015 GWN INT AAA 52 202 25 66 97 19 0 4 31 12 2 31 5 0 .327 .359 .480 .840 1.09
Minors Career [+] 7 teams Minors 591 2239 241 616 869 117 11 38 281 105 4 381 60 23 .275 .306 .388 .694 1.03
YEAR TEAM LG LEVEL G AB R H TB 2B 3B HR RBI BB IBB SO SB CS AVG OBP SLG OPS GO/AO

Last few years in minor league ball, showed some life in bat--more than Hedges so maybe he was a good value pickup.

[Millionaire Wussy]

Betancourt profiles as a power hitter with an outstanding arm. Sure he has work to do on passed balls and errors but would you be surprised to learn Benito Santiago led the NL in passed balls and errors in his Rookie Of the Year season? Young catchers can improve their defense over time is my point.

This guy might just need a change of scenery. If he picks up his defense and learns more consistency with the bat he could be an All-Star.

We're going to have to keep this guy on the 25 man roster (no minor league options left). If he can get his game back we could have ourselves an excellent trade piece. And 24 years of age for a catcher is nothing. I don't think Piazza got started until he was 25. And he was great. This was a medium risk/high reward type move. Savvy move by Preller here.

[ArtistFormerlyKnownAsBKR]

Betancourt profiles as a power hitter with an outstanding arm. Sure he has work to do on passed balls and errors but would you be surprised to learn Benito Santiago led the NL in passed balls and errors in his Rookie Of the Year season? Young catchers can improve their defense over time is my point.

This guy might just need a change of scenery. If he picks up his defense and learns more consistency with the bat he could be an All-Star.

We're going to have to keep this guy on the 25 man roster (no minor league options left). If he can get his game back we could have ourselves an excellent trade piece. And 24 years of age for a catcher is nothing. I don't think Piazza got started until he was 25. And he was great. This was a medium risk/high reward type move. Savvy move by Preller here.

Maybe. So who do you trade? Norris or Hedges. I suspect you'll say Hedges, but he and Bethancourt sort of profile similarly right now. If you deal Norris then C becomes an offensive sinkhole. We probably waited too long on Hedges bc his trade value is pretty low right now.