Justyn-Henry Malloy, a former top prospect in the Braves organization who was traded for Joe Jimenez, has been called up to make his MLB debut with the Detroit Tigers. The move had been a long time coming. Malloy truly started to create a name for himself in 2022, when he began the season in High-A Rome and finished in AAA Gwinnett, with an.862 OPS over three levels. His strength was becoming apparent, but his strongest quality had always been his ability to get along. By the end of 2022, Malloy had become probably the top prospect in the whole Braves organization; nonetheless, the Braves chose to trade him for Joe Jimenez.
I didn’t like the transaction at the time, but Jimenez re-signed with Atlanta and has become a dependable set-up player for Brian Snitker. Still, if Justyn-Henry Malloy develops into a 20-30 home run hitter with a good on-base percentage, trading him for a reliever will appear to be a bad decision. We’ll have to wait and see, but Malloy’s first big-league home run has already left the yard at Globe Life Field. Justyn-Henry Malloy has had tremendous success at every level of the minors. Throughout his minor-league career, he has maintained an OPS of nearly.900.
There is no reason he shouldn’t carve out a successful major-league career for himself, which will sting as a Braves fan. Even if that happens, this trade may not be the worst of the 2022-2023 offseason. Around the same time, Alex Anthopoulos traded William Contreras and a few of the Braves’ top pitching prospects for Sean Murphy. Murphy has not been a poor player, but Contreras has emerged as an MVP candidate at the same position. In retrospect, these two moves may rank as some of Alex Anthopoulos’ poorest work, but not every general manager can hit 1.000.