All across MLB there are players who stand as a testament to the fact that being a top prospect in the minor leagues does not necessarily equal to being a star in the major leagues. In a very promising and interesting move, the Atlanta Braves are exchanging one such player in Christian Bethancourt for another in Ryan Lavarnway. Though the players are similar, the Braves are certainly making the right call in this situation.

While there still might be hope for Bethancourt to regain his promising form, he is not helping the team at all right now if you take out that game-winning home run a short while ago. It might well turn out that he is one of those players who never really achieves what everyone thought he would at the big league level though that certainly would not mean he had zero value.

Insert into that thought process another previous top 100 prospect behind the plate in Lavarnway and you have the right move. The Braves are clearly hoping that they are basically pressing fast forward on their young catching position in this move since Lavarnway is much the same as Bethancourt except a little older with a little more experience.

Perhaps they will get lucky and he will have a year like his explosive sampling for the Boston Red Sox in 2013 where he hit nearly .300 in 25 games. Maybe Lavarnway will flop as well and the front office will feel the need to do something else, but at least for now they can hope that this time around Lavarnway’s success in the minors carries over to the big show. As far as Bethancourt is concerned, he has a ton of work to do if he wants to regain any of the belief that the franchise once had in him.

David Miller is an MLB Featured Writer for www.RantSports.com. Follow him on Twitter @davidmillerrant, “Like” him on Facebook or add him to your network on Google

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