Well, Major League Baseball made it official this morning. The Atlanta Braves trade IF Alberto Callaspo, LHP Eric Stults, LHP Ian Thomas, and RHP Juan Jaime to the Los Angeles Dodgers for 3B Juan Uribe and RHP Chris Withrow. The Callaspo trade rumors of yesterday can now be laid to rest now that he and three of his teammates follow him to LA.

The rumblings last night about this being a six-player trade were in fact true. But I didn’t expect the Braves to send four players to the Dodgers that were on our 25-man roster at some point this season. Perhaps the most surprising named included in this trade was Eric Stults, as he pitched wonderfully in relief of Julio Teheran last night. If was a rough two months with the Braves for Stults but at least his last 3.2 IP with the team were excellent. It almost makes up for that Brewers debacle last week. Actually no, it doesn’t.

I think this was a chemistry trade for the Braves. John Hart knew that Callaspo would not stay with the Braves once Chris Johnson came back from the DL. I would assume the leaked news offended Callaspo as he made it difficult for the Braves to trade him, initially exercising his no trade clause.

Part of what has made this Braves team competitive through the first quarter of the season is that the team’s chemistry has been excellent. I imagine Hart didn’t want unhappy players in our locker room so the trade came as quickly as it did.

In return, Atlanta gets a solid veteran 3B in Juan Uribe. As many of us wish to forget, Uribe hit a home run in the 2013 NLDS that basically eliminated the Braves from the playoffs. There is a great chance that homer is on its way to Mars now. Uribe often sat on Don Mattingly’s bench as Justin Turner is having a breakout season at third for LA. Juan was a clubhouse favorite and brings a winner’s attitude to the Atlanta Braves. The best part of this trade is that Juan Uribe can’t hit moonshots off our pitching staff in the playoffs anymore, he’s now an Atlanta Brave.

Withrow can’t throw now as he is out for the season with Tommy John surgery. On paper this may look like a fairly one-sided trade, favoring LA, but like just about every trade Hart has made since taking over as President of Baseball Operations, there’s value were not seeing at the moment but it will emerge at some point. I like Uribe’s leadership and maybe this move gives Atlanta more payroll flexibility should the team need to make more trades further down the line. Or maybe Uribe is just that expensive? One thing is for sure, Callaspo isn’t hitting at the Mendoza Line for the Braves anymore. He wears Dodger Blue now.