MLB trade analysis: Javier Vazquez, Boone Logan to Atlanta for prospects

December 2, 5:10 PMMLB ExaminerTony DeMarco

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The Atlanta Braves get a starting pitcher and left-handed reliever they need, and the Chicago White Sox get more young talent.

Considering who's involved -- and we're definitely including White Sox GM Ken Williams in the equation -- you have to like the White Sox's chances of getting the better deal here.

Nobody has had more success in acquiring young talent lately than Williams, who has added AL MVP candidate Carlos Quentin and rotation members Gavin Floyd and Jon Danks in trades, and signed AL Rookie of the Year runner-up Alexei Ramirez out of Cuba.

Now, for a starting pitcher who manager Ozzie Guillen obviously had soured on, plus a young-but-struggling left-handed reliever, Williams' latest haul reportedly includes infielder Brent Lillibridge, catcher Tyler Flowers and likely a minor-league pitcher. (Pending physicals, the deal will be announced on Wednesday, but several reports already have appeared -- here's one).

Lillibridge, 25, is a speedy middle infielder who stole 42 bases at two minor-league stops in 2007. He hit .238 in 80 at-bats with Atlanta and spent most of 2008 at Triple-A Richmond, and was rated the organization's sixth-best prospect by Baseball America. He could fit into the second-base picture with Chris Getz and Jayson Nix, as Ramirez will move to shortstop.

Flowers, a huge catcher at 6-4 and 245 pounds, is coming off an impressive offensive showing in the Arizona Fall League, where he hit .387 with a league-leading 12 homers and 23 RBI in 20 games.

He is only 22, and likely two years away, as he played all last season at Class A Myrtle Beach, where he hit .288 with 17 homers, 88 RBI and a .427 on-base percentage. The Braves apparently are set for quite awhile behind the plate with All-Star Brian McCann, while White Sox catcher A.J. Pierzynski will play next season at 32.

The deal is the product of talks between the two sides that also involved outfielder Jermaine Dye, who would fill another of the Braves' holes, but is very pricey. It is another in a series of moves by Williams, who wisely is itching to retool a lineup that was too old and slow, and filled with past-their-prime players.

The Sox already parted with Nick Swisher (to the Yankees for Wilson Betemit and prospects), and didn't offer arbitration to shortstop Orlando Cabrera. Free agent Ken Griffey Jr. also won't return.

Vazquez's departure was all but sealed when Guillen was openly critical of the right-hander's weak performances in key games down the stretch.

The 32-year-old right-hander Vazquez is durable, but rarely pitches to his potential, and is only 127-129 lifetime. He slipped to 12-16 with a 4.67 ERA last season, but could benefit by moving back to the National League, and to a more-spacious home ballpark..

Vazquez does fill a gaping hole in the Braves rotation, which has lost Mike Hampton to the Houston Astros, and has health  question marks in Tom Glavine and John Smoltz. But he is nothing close to Jake Peavy -- whom the Braves tried to acquire, only to have talks break down.

If the Braves do acquire a No. 1 starter such as Peavy or A.J. Burnett, Vazquez would fit in the No. 3 rotation spot behind Jair Jurrjens.

But the deal is another in a series of actions made under the misguided idea that the Braves still are serious contenders. The truth is, they have been spinning their wheels for three years since the last of their record consecutive-division-titles streak: 79-83, 84-78, 72-90.

They can't count on anything from Glavine or Smoltz in 2009, and Chipper Jones will play next season at 37. They should be hanging onto their young talent, and working more of it into the big-league roster -- not trading it away.

  
 See another report of the deal

 See White Sox examiner JJ Stankevitz