Braves complete Tommy Milone trade months after the fact

It took months to do so, but the Atlanta Braves sent over their players to the Baltimore Orioles in exchange for Tommy Milone

Back at the Aug. 31 MLB trade deadline, the Atlanta Braves acquired left-handed pitcher Tommy Milone from the Baltimore Orioles in an effort to bolster up their rotation before the postseason. The move was made, with the Braves sending over two players to be named later. Two months later, the identities of those athletes have been revealed.

On Thursday, the Braves officially announced that they’re sending infield prospects A.J. Graffanino and Greg Cullen to the Orioles in exchange for Milone.

The Milone experiment failed in Atlanta

Graffanino was Atlanta’s No. 23 ranked prospect in their farm system. The 2018 eighth-round draft pick slashed .318/.344/.382 while recording one home run, 54 hits and 17 RBI through 43 games in the minors that year. Graffanino has only played in one game since.

As for Cullen, he was drafted in the 15th round of the 2018 draft class. In his last full season in the minors back in 2019, the second baseman slashed .270/.393/.401 with nine home runs, 127 hits and 58 RBI.

The Milone experiment failed spectacularly for the Braves, who were in desperate need for a solid starter for their rotation. In his six games with the Orioles, Milone posted a 3.99 ERA and 1.261 WHIP, while striking out 31 batters over 29.1 innings of work. While he did have a 1-4 record, the Braves were enticed enough to bring him over to the NL East from the AL East. Milone’s stint in Atlanta lasted three games, as he recorded a bloated 14.90 ERA and 2.483 WHIP in 9.2 innings of work. To be specific, Milone allowed 22 hits and 16 earned runs in total, leading the Braves to release him in September.

This is just the name of the game in baseball — you take a chance on a player, surrender assets and hope it works out in your favor. That didn’t happen with Atlanta, and now they have to live and learn from that mistake.