Braves Complete Three Player Trade With Chicago Cubs

ATLANTA, Ga. – The Atlanta Braves and Chicago Cubs announced this afternoon that they have completed a three-player trade, as the Braves have acquired infielder Emilio Bonifacio, left-handed pitcher James Russell and cash considerations in exchange for minor-league catcher Victor Caratini.

Bonifacio, 29, has played in 681 career games over parts of eight seasons with Arizona (2007-08), Washington (2008), Miami (2009-12), Toronto (2013), Kansas City (2013) and Chicago (2014).  The switch-hitter posted a .279 (77-for-276) batting average with the Cubs in 69 games this season and is a career .264 hitter with 152 stolen bases in 194 attempts. In 2014, Bonifacio has collected 14 doubles, three triples, two home runs and 35 runs scored. This season he has tallied 48 games (36 starts) in center field, 26 games (23 starts) at second base, seven games (three starts) at third base and one at shortstop.

Russell, 28, has spent his entire five-year career with the Cubs.  He has worked in 316 career games, including 311 out of the bullpen (all five of his starts came in 2011).  Russell owns 10-16 career record with a 3.87 ERA and 203 strikeouts in 272.0 innings pitched. He is 0-2 in 2014 with a 3.51 ERA and 26 strikeouts in 33.0 IP, and has held right-handed batters to a .103 average (6-for-58).

Caratini, 20, is currently with Single-A Rome and owns a .283 career average over two minor-league seasons. The native of Ponce, Puerto Rico, is batting .279 in 2014 and paced the Rome Braves with 42 RBI.  He was the Braves’ second-round selection (65^th overall) in the 2013 June draft.

EMILIO BONIFACIO’S MAJOR LEAGUE RECORD

YEAR TEAM           LG    G    AB    R    H  2B  3B  HR  RBI   BB   SO   AVG   OBP   SLG

2007 Arizona        NL   11    23    2    5   1   0   0    2    4    3  .217  .333  .261

2008 2 TEAMS             49   169   29   41   6   5   0   14   14   46  .243  .296  .337

     Arizona        NL    8    12    3    2   1   0   0    2    0    5  .167  .167  .250

     Washington     NL   41   157   26   39   5   5   0   12   14   41  .248  .305  .344

2009 Florida        NL  127   461   72  116  11   6   1   27   34   95  .252  .303  .308

2010 Florida        NL   73   180   30   47   6   3   0   10   17   42  .261  .320  .328

2011 Florida        NL  152   565   78  167  26   7   5   36   59  129  .296  .360  .393

2012 Miami          NL   64   244   30   63   3   4   1   11   25   52  .258  .330  .316

2013 2 TEAMS            136   420   54  102  22   3   3   31   30  103  .243  .295  .331

     Toronto        AL   94   262   33   57  16   1   3   20   13   66  .218  .258  .321

     Kansas City    AL   42   158   21   45   6   2   0   11   17   37  .285  .352  .348

2014 Chicago        NL   69   276   35   77  14   3   2   18   16   49  .279  .318  .373

MAJOR TOTALS            681  2338  330  618  89  31  12  149  199  519  .264  .321  .344

JAMES RUSSELL’S MAJOR LEAGUE RECORD

YEAR TEAM           LG   W   L   PCT   G-ST   SV      IP    H    R   ER  HR  TBB   SO   ERA

2010 Chicago        NL   1   1  .500   57-0    0    49.0   55   37   27  11   11   42  4.96

2011 Chicago        NL   1   6  .143   64-5    0    67.2   76   37   31  12   14   43  4.12

2012 Chicago        NL   7   1  .875   77-0    2    69.1   67   28   25   5   23   55  3.25

2013 Chicago        NL   1   6  .143   74-0    0    52.2   46   21   21   7   18   37  3.59

2014 Chicago        NL   0   2  .000   44-0    1    33.1   24   14   13   3   16   26  3.51

MAJOR TOTALS            10  16  .385  316-5    3   272.0  268  137  117  38   82  203  3.87