HS3: The Rise of the Trades

by nihil67 on Jan 3, 2008 6:45 PM EST

Continuing the Hot Stove series, the A's today traded another major league player for a smattering of young "talent". They sent Nick Swisher to the White Sox for AA LHP Gio Gonzalez, A+ RHP Fautino De Los Santos, and AAA OF Ryan Sweeney. The White Sox continue to make baffling moves and the A's continue to stockpile (very) young talent.

Matt Clement has also signed with the Cardinals, adding to their stable of injured and highly talentless pitchers. Is this enough to push them over the Pirates for second to last in the NL Central? I can't wait to find out.

Poll

Best Non-Dback Acquisition So Far

Tejada by the Astros

2 votes

Cabrera & Willis by the Tigers

28 votes

Kuroda by the Dodgers

0 votes

Silva by the Mariners

0 votes

Swisher by the White Sox

1 votes

Fukudome by the Cubs

4 votes

Valverde by the Astros

1 votes

Jones by the Dodgers

4 votes

Garza by the Rays

1 votes

Rowand by the Giants

0 votes

41 votes | Poll has closed

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Comments

Voted for Jones

Since the Dodgers didn't have to give up any talent to get him and have the type of payroll where his salary doesn't affect them at all. But the Tigers obviously did well for themselves with Cabrera (would've done better without Willis, though).

by johngordonma on Jan 3, 2008 11:36 PM EST reply actions

Cabrera & Willis

If Willis returns to form, the tigers pitching staff could be as dangerous as the lineup. The team looks really good after getting both of them.

by dbacksfan01 on Jan 4, 2008 12:13 AM EST reply actions

Willis

strikes me as a bonus - if he recovers anything like his peak form, that would turn a very good trade into a truly excellent one.

By the way, does anyone know what happened to him?

by peachy rex on Jan 4, 2008 1:33 AM EST reply actions

Yeah.

The league figured out his unorthodox throwing angle.

Come on, Sandy Baby, loosen up. You're too tight.

by DbacksSkins on Jan 4, 2008 5:30 AM EST up reply actions

Well, hmph

That's depressingly straightforward. And I suppose it also suggests that he's unlikely to recover very far.

by peachy rex on Jan 4, 2008 7:18 PM EST up reply actions

By the way

I'd characterize the Stros as making more baffling moves than the ChiSox... Valverde?? Tejada?? Do they REALLY think they can compete next year???

Come on, Sandy Baby, loosen up. You're too tight.

by DbacksSkins on Jan 4, 2008 5:32 AM EST reply actions

Wait

You mean adding an old SS with declining skills and a closer won't make up for a lack of starting pitching depth? I don't follow...

Yeah, they haven't done great this year. The White Sox have been making bonehead moves for a few years now.

Bob Melvin Sucks

by nihil67 on Jan 4, 2008 1:33 PM EST up reply actions

Exactly

I have argued with many a astros fans that they will still not compete this year and instead these trades will only prove to cripple there chances of competing in the future.

The Astros franchise is not looking good right now.

by dbacksfan01 on Jan 5, 2008 7:02 PM EST up reply actions

I know everyone is worried about this....

but Jeff DaVanon has signed with the Padres.

Drat!! He'll give up all our secrets!!!

Come on, Sandy Baby, loosen up. You're too tight.

by DbacksSkins on Jan 4, 2008 6:07 AM EST reply actions

Saw that

I expect that he'll get a shot at being their center fielder, either every day or in some sort of platoon with Hairston and the rest of the outfielders they have now.

Bob Melvin Sucks

by nihil67 on Jan 4, 2008 1:18 PM EST up reply actions

If it says anything about the team....

You notice that all of our bench guys that we did not resign have been coveted elsewhere. Davanon, Cirilio, Clark all wanted by several other teams. I think that says a lot about the quality of bench guys we had last year.

Tippecanoe and Pena too! (let's hope pena doesn't die after 30 days in office)

by seton hall snake pit on Jan 4, 2008 2:05 PM EST up reply actions

Don't despair!

He's just following Hairston. It's all part of Phase II of Operation Trojan Horse.

Right? Right?!?

I'm not superstitious- it's bad luck.

by kishi on Jan 4, 2008 4:20 PM EST up reply actions

So what you're saying is....

....that he's going to kick ass for about a month and then regress to his usual mediocre self?

Come on, Sandy Baby, loosen up. You're too tight.

by DbacksSkins on Jan 6, 2008 2:11 AM EST up reply actions

To be honest....

The one move that San Diego has made that DOES somewhat worry me is signing Mark Prior for $1 million. I mean, seriously?? That is a FANTASTIC free agent signing. If he busts and gets injured again, they're only out a mil, but if he's able to reclaim his previous Cy Young-caliber pitching talent, then they've possibly passed us in the "best rotation in the NL" department.

Granted, I don't see them getting much better on offense next year, if at all, and I think Jake Peavy will regress slightly, as will evil Chris Young.

Come on, Sandy Baby, loosen up. You're too tight.

by DbacksSkins on Jan 6, 2008 2:14 AM EST reply actions

Why I'm not worried

About 6 months ago I was all over the Sign Mark Prior bandwagon, but I've done a lot of reading on the subject since and I think there's a really good reason that Prior a) stayed on the FA market as long as he did and b) only signed for $1mil.

Even if he is able to "recover" from this last injury, he hasn't thrown a competitive pitch in the majors since 8/10/06. It'll likely be about 2 months shy of 2 years once he takes the hill again. Mid-May is the current best case scenario.

If that wasn't reason enough to be worried, there's the fact that he has mechanics, that while lauded by some, appear to be injury prone according to others. There are those that try to refute Chris O'Leary, but just read this analysis that he made before the '06 season: http://www.chrisoleary.com/projects/Baseball/Pitching/ProfessionalPitcherAnalyses/Documents/PitcherA nalysis_MarkPrior.pdf

My hunch is that even if Prior is able to come back in '08, it'll be limited and may be even after spending as much as a month or two in AAA.

Bob Melvin Sucks

by nihil67 on Jan 7, 2008 10:41 AM EST up reply actions

True.

The "if" is a very big if, in Prior's case. Still, all I'm saying is that it's a very low risk, low cost, high reward type move. Essentially, for the price of little more than a roster spot, they're gaining a pitcher with a career ERA of 3.51 in the majors, and a career 1.14 WHIP. Prior may never again match the levels of his 2003 season, (18-6, 2.43) and probably won't, but it's a great move to make on the possibility that he will.

Incidentally... isn't he rumored to be lousy in the locker room?

Come on, Sandy Baby, loosen up. You're too tight.

by DbacksSkins on Jan 7, 2008 2:23 PM EST up reply actions

Must admit...

The apparent lack of suitors suggests that there is something very up with Prior, either physically, mentally or both. Given the shortage of pitching this off-season, I suspect a bidding war would have broken out had his count of functioning limbs even fractionally passed three. The odds must be seen as very, very low of him returning.

by Jim McLennan on Jan 7, 2008 3:37 PM EST up reply actions

And

You can add Bartolo Colon to this statement. There is something very wrong with him and teams aren't going to pay much, if anything at all, to have him sit and rehab.

Bob Melvin Sucks

by nihil67 on Jan 7, 2008 4:54 PM EST up reply actions

Apt comparison.

Although Mark Prior isn't morbidly obese.

Come on, Sandy Baby, loosen up. You're too tight.

by DbacksSkins on Jan 7, 2008 10:08 PM EST up reply actions

Reward... maybe

I think teams are done with signing injured people to any sort of deal. I can't think of a single highly injured player signing for a low amount and then being awesome the following year.

Mark Mulder is the only guy I'm pulling up in my brain from last year. He didn't throw a single pitch in '07, yet got paid $5 mil. He's going to get paid $6.5 mil to not pitch most of this season and then the Cardinals are still going to have to pay $1.5 mil to buy out the '09 option.

Now, the Prior deal is a much better deal then this. I'll give you that. I can't see the reward being much more then 5 or 6 league average to below average starts. I suppose there is the outside chance that all of the injuries heal with no impact at all to his velocity, but that is a very, very outside chance.

Remember that Prior was a 3 pitch pitcher. He had a wicked fastball, an average curve (that he couldn't control), and a below-average change. If he has no velocity, you'd be better off running Mark Grace out there every 5th day. Check his 2006 season for proof.

Bob Melvin Sucks

by nihil67 on Jan 7, 2008 4:52 PM EST up reply actions

You can never have too much pitching.

Come on, Sandy Baby, loosen up. You're too tight.

by DbacksSkins on Jan 7, 2008 10:16 PM EST up reply actions

Unless

it's too much bad pitching.

by AZSEAfan @ AZ Snakepit on Jan 8, 2008 12:45 PM EST up reply actions

Even if it's bad pitching...

...that means you have a greater range from which to select the least bad pitchers.

Come on, Sandy Baby, loosen up. You're too tight.

by DbacksSkins on Jan 8, 2008 2:53 PM EST up reply actions

Sure

And you are going to finish well out of the playoffs doing it this way. This sounds exactly like what the Cardinals did last year. They had a ton of horrible pitchers. Did them no good.

Bob Melvin Sucks

by nihil67 on Jan 8, 2008 4:03 PM EST up reply actions

Except

The Padres don't HAVE bad pitching. Not to mention the fact that bad pitchers become good pitchers at Petco.

Come on, Sandy Baby, loosen up. You're too tight.

by DbacksSkins on Jan 8, 2008 4:22 PM EST up reply actions

Adam Eaton

agrees.

by AZSEAfan @ AZ Snakepit on Jan 8, 2008 4:44 PM EST up reply actions

As do the Phillies.

Come on, Sandy Baby, loosen up. You're too tight.

by DbacksSkins on Jan 8, 2008 6:17 PM EST up reply actions

Cairo to the Mariners

The Mariners signed Miguel Cairo to "push" Jose Lopez at 2nd. They want improved offense from that position. Couldn't they just put Vidro at 2nd and take the same defensive hit?

Lopez was 5th out of all MLB 2B with a 5.14 RF and a .837 ZR.

Cairo had a .833 ZR and a 4.80 RF. Vidro had a .696 ZR and a 4.89 RF. Cairo also had a whopping .632 OPS last year.

Nice try, Seattle. You'd get better defense and a higher OPS by just using Willie Bloomquist.

Bob Melvin Sucks

by nihil67 on Jan 9, 2008 9:29 AM EST reply actions

Rockies 2B

Also, the Rockies have signed Marcus Giles as insurance at 2B. It sounds as if the plan is for Jayson Nix to be the 2B going into the year. Giles' deal is a minor league contract with an invitation to spring training.

This is how to push a young player, Seattle.

Bob Melvin Sucks

by nihil67 on Jan 9, 2008 9:44 AM EST reply actions

Where are they now file

Some Ex-Diamondbacks on the move...

Oscar Villarreal, traded to the Astros back in November, signed a 2 year deal worth $2.85 mil.
Andy Green signed a minor league deal with the Reds.
Elmer Dessens signed a minor league deal with the Pirates.
Mike DiFelice signed a minor league deal with the Rays.
Luis Vizcaino signed a 2 year deal with the Rockies back on 12/21.
Matt Kata signed a minor league deal with the Rockies.
Chad Durbin signed a one year deal with the Phillies.
Greg Aquino was claimed off waivers from the Brewers by the Orioles.
Jerry Gil resigned a minor league deal with the Reds.
Mike Koplove signed a minor league deal with the Dodgers.
Lance Cormier was outright released by the Braves.

Bob Melvin Sucks

by nihil67 on Jan 9, 2008 10:01 AM EST reply actions