The Braves traded away three prospects yesterday to get Derrek Lee, but really the Braves traded away one good prospect and two warm bodies. Robinson Lopez is head and shoulders above Tyrelle Harris and Jeffrey Lorick as a prospect, but what did the Braves really give up in Lopez? Mike Newman from the prospect site Scouting The Sally, has the best quote I've seen from any of the scouts out there about Lopez:
He’s the type of high ceiling arm ANY organization would covet. It just so happens the Braves find them better than anybody else and Lopez was a project in an organization needing to win now.
Very well put. There are a bunch of Braves fans who are upset at the loss of a good young pitcher like Lopez, and even Mike admits truthfully that Lopez could come back to haunt the Braves, but in the grand scheme of our organizational pitching Lopez will not be a factor for three or four years. The Braves are trying to win now, and they had a glaring hole that needed to be filled, and they may have found the best player available to plug it in Derrek Lee. That's worth mortgaging the possibility that Lopez will develop into something special for Atlanta.
Read more about the trade and the prospects at Scouting The Sally.
Jonathan Mayo at MLB.com has some info on the three Braves players sent to Chicago.
Baseball Prospectus has an extensive look at the trade from both sides.
Ken Rosenthal has a great behind-the-scenes look at the trade.
ESPN's Keith Law thinks the Braves paid a surprising cost.
And Baseball America has their usual solid review of the trade.