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| In this Monday, June 1, 2009, photo, Pittsburgh Pirates center fielder Nate McLouth comes off the field during a baseball game against the New York Mets in Pittsburgh. McLouth was traded Wednesday, June 3, to the Atlanta Braves for two pitchers and a outfielder. |
ATLANTA (AP) -- The Braves acquired All-Star center fielder Nate McLouth from the Pittsburgh Pirates for three minor leaguers on Wednesday, a move to beef up Atlanta's offense in hopes of contending in the NL East.
The 27-year-old McLouth set career highs last season with a .276 batting average, 26 homers and 94 RBIs. The Braves desperately needed more offense from an outfield that produced only 10 homers through the first 51 games.
Atlanta gave up outfielder Gorkys Hernandez, one of their top prospects, along with pitchers Charlie Morton and Jeff Locke.
McLouth, who is hitting .256 with nine homers and 34 RBIs this season, fills several needs for the Braves. In addition to bolstering the lineup, he won a Gold Glove in 2008 and had 23 stolen bases. Since the start of the '05 season, he has the best stolen base percentage (64 of 69) among all major leaguers.
Another plus: McLouth is under contract through at least 2011, having signed a three-year, $15.75 contract in spring training. The deal includes a team option for a fourth year at $10.65 million, with a $1.25 million buyout.
"He gives us everything we're looking for," Atlanta general manager Frank Wren said. "He gives us an extra outfield bat. He gives us speed. He gives us defense. He brings a lot to the table."
It was a day of big moves for Atlanta. The trade was announced less than an hour after the Braves released 305-game winner Tom Glavine, saying they didn't think the 43-year-old pitcher had shown during three minor league rehab outings that he could still be effective in the big leagues.
Instead, the team called up highly touted prospect Tommy Hanson, who has dominated at Triple-A Gwinnett and will make his first major league appearance Saturday against the Milwaukee Brewers.
"We didn't want the season to get too far gone before we made some moves," Wren said. "We thought some aggressive moves would put our club in good position."
The Braves went into Wednesday night's game against the Chicago Cubs trailing the NL East-leading Philadelphia Phillies by 4 1/2 games. Atlanta hasn't made the playoffs since 2005, the last of their record 14 straight division titles.
By trading McLouth, Pittsburgh cleared a spot for one of its best prospects, 2005 first-round pick Andrew McCutchen. The 22-year-old outfielder was called up from Triple-A Indianapolis, where he was hitting .303 with four homers, 20 RBIs and 10 stolen bases.
Pirates general manager Neal Huntington said trading McLouth "may be the toughest decision we have made in my time with the organization."
"Nate is a quality player and person," Huntington said. "But as we have said several times, tough decisions will need to be made as we build and sustain a championship-caliber organization. Nate has worked as hard as any player to become a starting major league player, proving wrong anyone who may have doubted him.
"When we signed Nate to a long-term contract, we did so with the intent on having him remain part of our core of homegrown talent. But the quality and quantity of talent we are receiving in this trade moves us closer to our goal of building that sustainable championship-caliber club."
Last summer, Pittsburgh had perhaps the best outfield in the big leagues with McLouth, Jason Bay and Xavier Nady. All three have been traded since last July.
With the rebuilding Pirates likely to reach a record-setting 17th consecutive losing season this year and so few prospects in their organization, they're dealing what serviceable players they have for young talent.
Pittsburgh had coveted Hernandez when he was with the Detroit Tigers, before they traded him to Atlanta in an October 2007 deal for shortstop Edgar Renteria.
