Bronson Arroyo to Braves: Latest Trade Details, Comments, Reaction

The Atlanta Braves officially began their rebuild during the offseason as they sold off veteran pieces such as Justin Upton, Jason Heyward and Craig Kimbrel, all the while acquiring young arms to improve what was a weak farm system.

Late Saturday night, Atlanta continued that trend, sending Phil Gosselin to the Arizona Diamondbacks for Bronson Arroyo and Touki Toussaint, per Fox Sports' Ken Rosenthal.

Gosselin has appeared in 20 games this year, batting .325 with two runs batted in in 42 plate appearances. He'll likely be used as a backup since Chris Owings isn't going anywhere.

Rosenthal framed the trade as more of a salary dump for Arizona. Arroyo makes $9.5 million this year and has a $4.5 million buyout for next season. The 38-year-old had Tommy John surgery in July 2014, and David O'Brien of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution noted that he could be targeting an August return:

Should Arroyo return later on, the Braves might already be well out of the playoff race. They sit two games back of the Washington Nationals in the National League East and 3.5 games back in the NL wild-card race.

The bigger surprise in this trade is that the Diamondbacks parted ways with Toussaint, their first-round draft pick in 2014, for essentially little to no value. He's 2-2 with a 3.69 earned run average in seven starts for the Single-A Kane County Cougars this year:

Hardball Talk's Matthew Pouliot wasn't a big fan of the Arizona deal:

Sporting News' Jesse Spector wonders if the Diamondbacks know something the Braves don't regarding Toussaint:

Atlanta fans will certainly be over the moon with the Braves adding a pitcher who was considered one of the best prep arms in last year's draft.

Even if Arroyo doesn't make a start and is bought out next year, Atlanta could walk away with a steal should Toussaint fulfill his massive potential.