On the last day of Winter Meetings, the Tigers and Braves made a deal that will send reliever Joe Jiménez and cash considerations to Atlanta for OF Justyn-Henry Malloy and LHP Jake Higginbotham, the clubs announced on Wednesday.
The 27-year-old Jiménez appeared in 62 games for the Tigers and was 3-2 with a 3.49 ERA and two saves. His 12.23 strikeouts per 9.0 innings ranked fifth in the American League among pitchers with at least 50.0 innings, and his 1.4 WAR for the season matched his career high. He gives the Braves a veteran arm at the back end of their bullpen after closer Kenley Jansen agreed to a deal with the Red Sox earlier in the day.
Detroit received two promising young players in return, including Malloy, who was ranked No. 11 on Atlanta’s Top 30 prospects list, per MLB Pipeline. He combined to bat .289/.408/.454 over three levels of the Braves’ Minor League system last year. Higginbotham, 26, appeared in 48 games in relief with Double-A Mississippi last season, and went 2-5 with a 4.73 ERA (27 ER/51.1 1P).