The Braves have traded their top draft pick from 2011 for one year of Ryan Doumit.
The Atlanta Braves have traded their top draft pick from 2011, pitcher Sean Gilmartin, to the Twins in exchange for catcher Ryan Doumit. The Braves had been looking at catching options since losing Brian McCann and most likely didn't feel comfortable with having Evan Gattis and his hefty platoon split being the Opening Day catcher. Doumit carries a one-year, $3.5 million contract with him into the 2014 season.
The switch-hitting Doumit has fared much better against left-handed pitching in the past, having hit .290/.346/.407 as a right-handed batter against left-handed pitching, and hitting .229/.301/.391 as a left-handed batter against right-handed pitching. This is still a puzzling move, however, because Doumit and Gattis both have serious platoon splits from the right side, so perhaps it means that the Braves may be looking to move one of the two, or the Braves intend to play Doumit in the outfield, where he played 31 games in 2013.
In order to complete the deal, the Braves gave up 23-year-old left-handed pitching prospect Sean Gilmartin. Gilmartin was the Braves' top pick in 2011 and most recently spent time in Triple-A Gwinnett, where he started 17 games to the tune of a 5.74 ERA. Gilmartin was ranked 10th on Baseball America's 2014 Braves prospect rankings, but he may have fallen out of favor with the front office after two poor seasons in Triple-A.
