Defensive whiz is dealt: Braves trade Andrelton Simmons to Angels

In the first trade made since John Coppolella was promoted to Braves general manager, they gave up the best defensive shortstop in baseball, and got back a solid one-year placeholder for the position and two starting pitchers who they believe could work their way into the top half of the rotation for many years to come.

“It’s a very tough trade for us, a painful trade, as there have been other tough, painful trades,” said Coppolella, who, as assistant general manager, worked alongside president of baseball operations John Hart when they traded away a half-dozen other of the team’s best and most popular players during the past 12 months.

“We did not want to trade Andrelton Simmons, but we felt this was too good for us to pass up. We felt like we were getting so much talent back in this deal, that if we didn’t make this trade it would be tough for us going forward with our plans.

“Andrelton is a very special player, one of my favorite players. He’s a pure joy to watch play, and he’s a great person, too. But with where we’re at, with a team that lost (95) games, we need more talent. And sometimes you can’t get that talent right here, right now. But we think that all three players in this trade will have an impact on our major league team in the 2016 season.”

Newcomb, was 9-3 with a 2.38 ERA in 27 starts at three levels, and had 168 strikeouts with 76 walks in 136 innings. The Massachusetts native began the season in low Single-A and finished at Double-A Arkansas, where he had a 2.75 ERA in seven starts with 39 strikeouts and 24 walks in 36 innings.

Newcomb, the 14th overall pick of the 2015 draft out of the University of Hartford, was rated the Angels’ No. 1 prospect by Baseball America. BA editor-in-chief John Manuel said the publication would move the hard-throwing, 6-foot-4 lefty to the top spot on the Braves’ prospects list. He features a 93-96 mph fastball that’s been clocked as high as 99 mph.

Ellis was 11-9 with a 3.90 ERA in 26 starts last season in high Single-A and Double-A, with 132 strikeouts and 63 walks in 140 2/3 innings. The Birmingham, Ala., native was a third-round draft pick from the University of Mississippi in 2014.

“It may not be opening day for those two arms, but we think that they have a chance that they will be up at some point this year and that they will be big-impact players,” Coppolella said. “We’re also thrilled to have Erick Aybar, who was an All-Star in 2014, a former Gold Glove winner, .276 lifetime hitter. A very, very good player. He will be a real good add to our team.”

The switch-hitting Aybar, 31, is signed for $8.5 million in 2016, the final year of his contract. An American League Gold Glove shortstop in 2011, he batted .270 with 34 extra-base hits (three homers), a .301 OBP and 15 stolen bases in 2015. He has a .276 average, .315 OBP and 141 stolen bases in 10 seasons, all with the Angels.

Aybar will handle shortstop duties in 2016 for the Braves, whose future at that position is Ozzie Albies, a 5-foot-7 dynamo who has a .328 average and .395 OBP in two minor league seasons. Albies has not played above Single-A and won’t turn 19 until January, but the Braves believe he could get to the majors quickly. Coppolella didn’t want to put any pressure on Albies, but said he not only could be up by 2017, but perhaps even at some point during the 2016 season.

Simmons, 26, had five years and $53 million left on his contract. He has not developed offensively as the Braves thought he might after a 17-homer season in 2013. He hit .265 with a .321 OBP and four homers in 2015, and has a .256 average and .304 OBP with 76 doubles, 14 triples and 31 homers in 499 games since arriving two months into the 2012 season.

He ranked 13th among 19 qualified shortstops in on-base-plus-slugging percentage (.660) in 2015, but defensively Simmons is on on a level all his own. Since the beginning of the 2013 season, he has 94 defensive runs saved (DRS), while no other major league shortstop has more than 30 in that span.

He’s the only player in history to have three consecutive seasons of 3.5 or better Defensive WAR.

He won the Wilson Defensive Player of the Year Award on Wednesday, and was a unanimous winner of the Fielding Bible Award last month as the best defensive shortstop in the majors – the third consecutive year he won that honor by a unanimous vote of the 12-member panel.

Trade rumors began to circulate late Wednesday, and the Braves insisted they weren’t looking to trade Simmons but were willing to listen. After the deal was finalized, Coppolella said they had been talking to teams for about three weeks, but that things heated up this week at General Managers meetings.

The Braves, one of the bottom-half payroll teams, were determined to upgrade their roster going forward without spending a lot more now.

“We probably talked to about 15 teams throughout the process,” Coppolella said. “There were maybe three or four that really got serious. There may have been some that may have thought we just wanted to move Simmons because of money or because of, you know, a lack of offense. But we didn’t want to move Andrelton. Of the teams that really wanted to step forward and made really strong offers, we felt that this was the best of those offers.”

Simmons signed a long extension with the Braves during 2014 spring training and was under contract through 2020, with salaries escalating in that span from $6 million in 2016 to $15 million in 2020.

Trading popular players has become something of a norm for the Braves since November 2014, when they began a frenzy of deals soon after the firing of former general manager Frank Wren.

Others traded in that span included Jason Heyward and Justin Upton, who were dealt with one year left on their contracts before free agency; closer Craig Kimbrel, who was traded the night before opening day in large part so the Braves could dump the contract of Melvin Upton Jr., in that deal; slugger Evan Gattis, who had four years left on his contract but was deemed a better fit for an AL team, and pitcher Alex Wood, who was traded to the Dodgers along with relievers Jim Johnson and Luis Avilan and top infield prospect Jose Peraza in the deal that brought Hector Olivera.

The Braves also traded popular veterans Kelly Johnson and Juan Uribe in July.

Now, Simmons, whose acrobatic plays and remarkably strong throws were a treat for fans even if the team was losing.

“I am not afraid (of the public reaction),” Coppolella said. “Look, fans won’t like this trade because they all love Simmons. I love Simmons, too. He’s fun to watch play. But we need more talent, we need to get better, and this trade helps that happen.”