In a bit of shocking news to start off the week, the Braves have traded Drew Waters — their top overall prospect according to MLB.com — to the Royals for the 35th pick in Sunday’s draft.
Atlanta and Kansas City are finalizing a trade that will send center-field prospect Drew Waters, right-handed pitching prospect Andrew Hoffmann and a third minor leaguer to the Royals for the 35th pick in Sunday's draft, which has a $2.2 million slot value, sources tell ESPN.
— Jeff Passan (@JeffPassan) July 11, 2022
According to Passan, right-hander Andrew Hoffman and C.J. Alexander will also be going to Kansas City in the deal.
An organization trading away their top prospect for a draft pick isn’t a normal transaction, but it makes a lot of sense in this case. The Braves have watched a ton of their prospects graduate in recent years, and they’ve traded away even more. Because of that, their farm system is extremely thin.
Waters, while still a talented prospect, has struggled over the last two seasons in AAA. On top of that, the Braves outfield is crowded at the major-league level following the emergence of Michael Harris. It was beginning to feel unlikely that Waters would ever carve out a role for himself in Atlanta, so moving him and a couple of other pieces for the 35th pick in the draft is actually rather savvy. Considering how well Alex Anthopoulos and company have done in the draft recently, this makes Sunday a helluva lot more interesting.
This is now the second trade Alex Anthopoulos has made in as many days. Yesterday, the Braves acquired Robinson Canó from the Padres in exchange for cash. He is expected to be added to the active roster before Atlanta’s series with the Mets today.
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Photo: David J. Griffin/Icon Sportswire
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