Prospect Breakdown: Astros Trade Michael Bourn To Braves For Brett Oberholtzer, Paul Clemens, Juan Abreu & Jordan Schafer

The Houston Astros have traded outfielder Michael Bourn to the Atlanta Braves for a package of four prospects which includes pitchers Brett Oberholtzer, Paul Clemens and Juan Abreu as well as outfielder Jordan Schafer. Oberholtzer is the best of the Braves second tier pitching prospects. He is currently 9-9 with a 3.74 ERA with 92 strikeouts in 127.2 Innings for Double-A Mississippi. The 6’2″ lefty went 6-8 with a 3.72ERA combined between Low-A Rome and High-A Myrtle Beach in 2010. The 22 year old Oberholtzer was an 8th round pick of the Braves in the 2008 draft. Clemens is 6’4″ right hander who’s posted a 6-5 record with a 3.73ERA and 93 strikeouts in 108.2 innings for Mississippi this season. The 22 year old went a combined 2-4 with a 3.23ERA between Rome and Myrtle Beach in 2010. Clemens was a 7th Round pick of the Braves back in 2008. Abreu is a 6’0″ right handed reliever who is currently 4-2 with a 2.25ERA at Triple-A Gwinnett. He’s struck out 68 batters in 48 innings and International League hitters are batting just .193 against him. The 26 year old went a combined 4-2 with a 4.35ERA and 12 Saves between Myrtle Beach and Mississippi last season. He was originally signed as a non drafted free agent by the Kansas City Royals back in 2003, and has yet to make his major league debut. Schafer was at one time a top organizational prospect before running into a string of bad luck including a 50 game suspension from major league baseball in 2008 and a wrist injury in 2009. His best season in the Minors came back in 2007 when he hit a combined .312 with 15 Home Runs and 63 RBI’s between Rome and Myrtle Beach. Schafer has not had more than 4 Home Runs in a season since hitting 10 in his suspension shortened 2008 season. Since a call up from Gwinnett in May of this year, Schafer hit .240 with 6 Doubles, 3 Triples, 1 Home Run, and 7 RBI’s in 52 Games with the Braves. The 24 year old Schafer was a third round selection of the Braves back in 2005.

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