Done deal:Braves acquire an outfielder from

Braves acquire an outfielder from 

 

The Rangers declared on Friday that they had sent minor league right-hander

Tyler Owens to the Braves in exchange for outfielder J.P. Martinez. In order to complete yesterday’s reported signing of

David Robertson, Texas needed to clear a spot on its 40-man roster. Martinez’s trade of 27 years old appears to clear the

path for that signing to become official. On Friday, Robertson is going to Texas for his physical.

Martinez joined the Rangers in 2023 and made his major league debut, playing in 17 games and racking up 44 plate

appearances by the end of the season. During that cup of coffee, he hit.225/.250/.325 with a home run, a double, and an ugly 16 strikeouts

(36.4%). His performance in 353 plate appearances across 77 Triple-A games was far more encouraging. Along with 14

long balls, 21 doubles, four triples, and a whopping 38 stolen bases in 42 attempts, the left-handed Martinez

slashed.298/.418/.543. He didn’t experience the small-sample strikeout problems that beset him in the majors in

Triple-A; in Round Rock, he walked at a 15.6% clip and fanned at a much more tolerable 22.9% rate

It’s important to remember that Martinez had greater age and experience than

most of his Triple-A opponents. He played five seasons in the top professional league in Cuba, the Cuban

National Series, and two seasons in the independent Canadian-American Association in addition to five seasons in minor league baseball. Whatever the

case, he still put on a strong display, easily his most productive minor league outing since joining the Rangers

organization in March 2018. Baseball America once had Martinez ranked second among Rangers prospects; however, the following year (2020), he

fell to 27th, and he hasn’t been seen on the organization’s major prospect rankings since.

Moving on to the Rangers’ side of the trade, they will acquire a right-hander,

age 23, who was selected by the Braves in the 13th round of the 2019 MLB Draft. Throughout the 2023 season, Owens

pitched in both the rotation and the bullpen for a combined 3.03 ERA in 65 1/3 innings between High-A and Double-A. After being promoted from High-A to

Double-A, he improved both his strikeout and walk rates, walking 7.7% of the time while fanning 23.4% of his opponents.

Despite being undersized at 5’10” and 185 pounds, Owens’ 2023 performance

improved his prospect status. This offseason, Baseball America ranked him 22nd among Braves prospects, praising

his plus fastball, which can reach 98 mph and confuse hitters in part because of its unusual release angle. According to BA’s report, Owens possesses a slider with

strong spin rates that could be an asset if he can locate it more consistently, something he hasn’t been able to do well in his career.

The Rangers now have a potential bullpen arm in Owens, who could make it to the majors in 2024 or 2025.

However, it should be noted that, despite being eligible, all 29 other teams chose not to select him in the December Rule 5 Draft.

With multiple injuries on the MLB roster, Owens had little chance of breaking

through in the near future because the Braves have a stacked bullpen and the Rangers have more outfield depth in the

upper minors and on their big league bench. The Braves sent Martinez, a relatively near-term bullpen prospect who appears to have a chance to make it

in the major leagues, because they think he is more interesting than the typical

player who might be designated for assignment to make room for a free agent signing. Overall, it appears to be a

fair trade for both clubs as they both dealt from positions of depth and addressed areas of need.

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