The Braves have traded right-handed reliever David Carpenter and minor league left-handed reliever Chasen Shreve to the Yankees for minor league RHP Manny Banuelos.
Interesting deal for both sides. The Yankees make yet another under-the-radar move to build bullpen depth, while the Braves obtain a pitcher who was a highly regarded pitching prospect as recently as 2013.
Carpenter fits right into the Bronx bullpen slot recently opened up when the Bombers dealt Shawn Kelley. Shreve is a potential LOOGY for the future.
The more intriguing, high-risk, high-reward part of the deal is the 23-year-old Banuelos, a lefthander who was Baseball America’s #29 prospect in all of baseball in 2011, but underwent Tommy John surgery that obliterated out his 2013 campaign. Prior to the surgery, Banuelos was one of the Yankees’ “untouchable” prospects — think, Noah Syndergaard — with a mid-90s fastball, sharp curveball, and wipe-out change-up. If he can return to his pre-surgery form, his ceiling is as a #2 starter. However, the UCL tear happened due to something — here at MetsToday, we believe in science rather than chance or voo-doo — so if his mechanical flaw has not been fixed (and likely it hasn’t), he’ll probably wind up back on the operating table at some point. Until then, though, he could be a major contributor to the Atlanta staff as early as 2015. We’ll see.
