Braves trade SS Renteria to Tigers | ajc.com

Well, that clears up that logjam. The Braves sent Renteria and some amount of money to Detroit for two prospects at positions of need. Jair Jurrjens, or the J-Man, as I intend to call him, is a righthanded pitcher from Curacao, probably not ace material but a good bet to be a solid #3 type. Gorkys Hernandez is a centerfielder who can apparently fly and hit .293 as a 19-year-old in low-A ball, but doesn’t yet seem to have the power or walks to be a major contributor. He’s some years away yet, but is supposedly toolsy enough to eventually hit some homers, and is already a good fielder. BP considers both to be among the Tigers’ top five prospects.

The immediate impact is that it means Yunel Escobar is the full-time shortstop and Kelly Johnson presumably the full-time second baseman, though you can’t count out some sort of silly platoon with Martin Prado. I don’t know what this means for Brent Lillibridge, who could be a backup at both spots or get moved to center. Long-term, all three spots would seem to be blocked for him with the two incumbent infielders and the Schafer-Hernandez combo in center.