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Rockies acquire pitchers David Hale and Gus Schlosser from Braves, designate Jayson Aquino for assignment

In one of their more significant moves this offseason, the Rockies turned a pair of minor league catchers, Jose Briceno and Chris O'Dowd, into a pair of relievers and designated a young lefty for assignment.

By Jordan Freemyer
Jason Getz-USA TODAY Sports

The Rockies bolstered a pitching staff that seriously struggled in 2014 by acquiring a pair of right-handed relievers from the Atlanta Braves in exchange for two minor league catchers.

The headliner of the deal is 27-year-old David Hale who made 45 appearances, including six starts, for Atlanta last season. Hale posted a 3.30 ERA in 87 1/3 innings in 2014, allowing 89 hits, walking 39 and striking out 44. He gave up just one run in 11 innings in a brief MLB appearance in 2013. According to The Denver Post's Nick Groke, Hale may get a shot at a spot in the Rockies' starting rotation after posting a 2.45 ERA as a starter last season.

Hale did get one of his four wins in 2014 at Coors Field, allowing a run on two hits in 2 1/3 innings of relief in a 13-10 Braves win on June 10. He was the Braves' third round pick in 2009 and posted a 56 percent ground ball rate, which likely appealed to the Rockies.

To make room for Hale on the 40-man roster, left-handed pitcher and No. 17 PuRP Jayson Aquino was designated for assignment. Aquino struggled last season as a 21-year-old, though he was advanced for his age, with a 5.13 ERA in 107 innings split between high-A Modesto and AA Tulsa. Here is Jeff Aberle's full PuRPs write-up on Aquino.

The other pitcher coming to the Rockies is 26-year-old Gus Schlosser. Schlosser struggled in his MLB debut last season, with a 7.64 ERA in 17 2/3 innings over 15 appearances.

In exchange for the two relievers, the Rockies sent minor league catchers Jose Briceno and Chris O'Dowd to the Braves.

Briceno was No. 24 on the recently-released PuRPs list after posting a .283/.336/.476 line at Asheville as a 21-year-old in 2014 and throwing out 44 percent of base stealers in the process. He is slated to become a minor league free agent after the 2015 season. You can read Jeff Aberle's full write-up on Briceno here.

O'Dowd, a Dartmouth graduate and son of former Rockies general manager Dan O'Dowd, split last season between Modesto and Tulsa as a 23-year-old, hitting .271/.335/.385 in 113 games.

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