A's Make A Deal
Well this was an exciting week. There were a few trades that saw some pretty big named players swap uniforms. The Arizona Diamondbacks were the team in the headlines. First they dealt a package of six minor leaguers to the Oakland A’s for ace Dan Haren. Then they dealt closer Jose Valverde to Houston for a three player package including Chad Qualls.
First we’ll take a look at the Haren move. Haren was shipped with minor leaguer Connor Robertson to Arizona in exchange for left hander Dana Eveland, outfielders Carlos Gonzalez and Aaron Cunningham, Left handed minor leaguers Brett Anderson and Greg Smith and first baseman Chris Carter. Oakland defiantly got a lot of pieces in this deal. Problem is, none of them have anywhere near the value of Haren. Carlos Gonzalez is the gem of this deal. Problem is he is not a typical corner outfielder. Typically you want your corner outfielders to have power, Gonzalez does not carry a powerful bat. Don’t get me wrong he could still turn into a fine player, but from reports I’ve read he may only carry 20 HR power with him. It’s just not enough for a guy like Haren. Eveland might be a stopgap for anybody that is decent in the A’s minor league system but the guy will not be a contributor on a good team. Cunningham is rated as a good 4th outfielder, Carter has power but is far away and anything can happen. Smith is nothing special, and the only other piece of this trade that has any value is Brett Anderson. He is a very nice looking LHP. Problem is he is in the low minors and is far away. If he pans out the deal might look ok, but for a guy like Haren, the A’s brought in too many question marks.
This deal could have a hug fantasy impact. Haren should be better this year than he was last. He dominated the “big boy league” as some analysts call it (the AL), and will now be moving over the NL. On top of that, he will be going to the weakest division within the NL. He will be the #2 on the diamondbacks, but will be a fantasy ace. Eveland will likely find a role with the big league club this year. He will likely compete for the last spot in the rotation in Oakland, but is probably more likely to come out of the pen, leaving him with little fantasy value. Gonzalez will be the starter in left field for the Athletics this upcoming season. He will be draft-able, no question, but don’t buy into the hype on him because he likely will not be a fantasy stud. Probably a guy that wont help you but wont kill you.
The Diamondbacks wasted no time making another move. In a surprise move they traded last season’s save leader in Jose Valverde to the Houston Astros for reliever Chad Qualls, Chris Burke and minor leaguer Juan Gutierrez. The Astros fill their hole at closer after dealing oft troubled Brad Lidge to the Phillies earlier in the off-season. The Dbacks end up with a very quality reliever in Qualls, a young talented player who can play 2b, and a nice young arm. Qualls will have a shot at closing, but is likely the back up option and top set up man behind Tony Pena. Burke may be nothing more than a utility fill in type guy this season. However, extension talks with 2b Orlando Hudson have not been going well and this move likely opens the door for Hudson to move on. Look for Burke to be starting at 2b in 2009. Gutierrez was a top 10 prospect for the Astros, although that isn’t saying much considering that the Astros have probably one of the 5 worst minor league systems across the league. Gutierrez was a starter throughout the minors, but pitched out of the pen this past season when he got a short stint with the big club. He pitched well out of the pen during that time and his future at the major league level is likely coming out of the pen.
The Astros also made a huge acquisition earlier in the week when they landed SS Miguel Tejada from the Baltimore Orioles. Tejada was acquired for 5 minor leaguers. The Orioles were able to pry Troy Patton, Matt Albers, Luke Scott, Dennis Sarfate, and Mike Costanzo. Although none of these guys are really all-star quality prospects, I still feel like it was a good return for Tejada. In my opinion this was a questionable move for the Astros. I know that they had a problem scoring runs in the past few seasons, but Tejada likely wont help that as much as a healthy Hunter Pence would have for a full season. Pence being healthy for a full year and batting in the three hole would have likely improved their offense a good amount. Now Pence will move to the 6th spot in the lineup and bat behind Tejada, Berkman, and Lee respectively. Sure this helps their offense, but at the cost of their defense. Tejada is slipping quickly defensively and the Astros may have been the only team that was interested in trading for him and keeping him at the SS position. Most teams wanted to move him to 3b. The main problem I have with this deal is the loss of young pitching for the Astros. Patton has fallen some from a few years ago. A few years ago respected sites such as Baseball America listed Patton as a #2 type starter with definite #1 potential. That was said as early as preseason last year. Now most analysts would say that he is a good #3, with some luck he’d be a lower end #2. That is the nature of prospects one questionable outing and their status drops that much. I have a hard time believing that this guy drops from a possible #1 to a solid #3 that easily. I’d say this guy still has potential to be a quality #2 pitcher. Albers before this season was listed as Houston’s #3 prospect by Baseball America and listed as a good #3 type starter. Houston improved their offense sure, but they left their rotation in shambles. Sure in the AL both Patton and Albers could end up being nothing more than quality back of the rotation guys, but that is a nice way to build. The Orioles are still years away from putting up any type of fight in that division, but they are going about it the right way. Building their rotation (granted they are probably going to deal their ace, but they will likely get some pitching back to help offset the loss). They got such a great return for an expensive, old, short stop (who should move to 3b). Great move for the Orioles.
- The Mariners signed Carlos Silva to a 4 year $44 million dollar deal. I’ve got to say that I don’t think Silva is worth $11 million per year. However this is the market for a pitcher of Silva’s “quality”. This guy should be a decent fit for the Mariners. They are in a pitcher’s ball park, that will help. Silva will eat innings and help get to the good part of their bullpen. The Mariners needed pitching help and they landed the best SP on the market this season.
- Fukudome signed with the Cubs. This guy is probably overrated like most Japanese power hitters. Many people compare him to Hideki Matsui at best. That is very quality but Matsui benefits from that powerful Yankees lineup, and my guess is that if Matsui weren’t in such a great lineup he wouldn’t be near as good. Fukudome got paid an average of $12 million per year to hit 20 HR, I’d say he is overpaid.
- Bedard’s likely taker looks to be either the Reds or the Mariners. The Reds are apparently willing to deal Homer Bailey in a deal, but the hold up is the Reds refuse to include Jay Bruce in any deal. The Mariners are offering some type of package of Adam Jones, Brandon Morrow and Jeff Clement. My Guess is the Mariners get him if they are willing to part with those guys.
First we’ll take a look at the Haren move. Haren was shipped with minor leaguer Connor Robertson to Arizona in exchange for left hander Dana Eveland, outfielders Carlos Gonzalez and Aaron Cunningham, Left handed minor leaguers Brett Anderson and Greg Smith and first baseman Chris Carter. Oakland defiantly got a lot of pieces in this deal. Problem is, none of them have anywhere near the value of Haren. Carlos Gonzalez is the gem of this deal. Problem is he is not a typical corner outfielder. Typically you want your corner outfielders to have power, Gonzalez does not carry a powerful bat. Don’t get me wrong he could still turn into a fine player, but from reports I’ve read he may only carry 20 HR power with him. It’s just not enough for a guy like Haren. Eveland might be a stopgap for anybody that is decent in the A’s minor league system but the guy will not be a contributor on a good team. Cunningham is rated as a good 4th outfielder, Carter has power but is far away and anything can happen. Smith is nothing special, and the only other piece of this trade that has any value is Brett Anderson. He is a very nice looking LHP. Problem is he is in the low minors and is far away. If he pans out the deal might look ok, but for a guy like Haren, the A’s brought in too many question marks.
This deal could have a hug fantasy impact. Haren should be better this year than he was last. He dominated the “big boy league” as some analysts call it (the AL), and will now be moving over the NL. On top of that, he will be going to the weakest division within the NL. He will be the #2 on the diamondbacks, but will be a fantasy ace. Eveland will likely find a role with the big league club this year. He will likely compete for the last spot in the rotation in Oakland, but is probably more likely to come out of the pen, leaving him with little fantasy value. Gonzalez will be the starter in left field for the Athletics this upcoming season. He will be draft-able, no question, but don’t buy into the hype on him because he likely will not be a fantasy stud. Probably a guy that wont help you but wont kill you.
The Diamondbacks wasted no time making another move. In a surprise move they traded last season’s save leader in Jose Valverde to the Houston Astros for reliever Chad Qualls, Chris Burke and minor leaguer Juan Gutierrez. The Astros fill their hole at closer after dealing oft troubled Brad Lidge to the Phillies earlier in the off-season. The Dbacks end up with a very quality reliever in Qualls, a young talented player who can play 2b, and a nice young arm. Qualls will have a shot at closing, but is likely the back up option and top set up man behind Tony Pena. Burke may be nothing more than a utility fill in type guy this season. However, extension talks with 2b Orlando Hudson have not been going well and this move likely opens the door for Hudson to move on. Look for Burke to be starting at 2b in 2009. Gutierrez was a top 10 prospect for the Astros, although that isn’t saying much considering that the Astros have probably one of the 5 worst minor league systems across the league. Gutierrez was a starter throughout the minors, but pitched out of the pen this past season when he got a short stint with the big club. He pitched well out of the pen during that time and his future at the major league level is likely coming out of the pen.
The Astros also made a huge acquisition earlier in the week when they landed SS Miguel Tejada from the Baltimore Orioles. Tejada was acquired for 5 minor leaguers. The Orioles were able to pry Troy Patton, Matt Albers, Luke Scott, Dennis Sarfate, and Mike Costanzo. Although none of these guys are really all-star quality prospects, I still feel like it was a good return for Tejada. In my opinion this was a questionable move for the Astros. I know that they had a problem scoring runs in the past few seasons, but Tejada likely wont help that as much as a healthy Hunter Pence would have for a full season. Pence being healthy for a full year and batting in the three hole would have likely improved their offense a good amount. Now Pence will move to the 6th spot in the lineup and bat behind Tejada, Berkman, and Lee respectively. Sure this helps their offense, but at the cost of their defense. Tejada is slipping quickly defensively and the Astros may have been the only team that was interested in trading for him and keeping him at the SS position. Most teams wanted to move him to 3b. The main problem I have with this deal is the loss of young pitching for the Astros. Patton has fallen some from a few years ago. A few years ago respected sites such as Baseball America listed Patton as a #2 type starter with definite #1 potential. That was said as early as preseason last year. Now most analysts would say that he is a good #3, with some luck he’d be a lower end #2. That is the nature of prospects one questionable outing and their status drops that much. I have a hard time believing that this guy drops from a possible #1 to a solid #3 that easily. I’d say this guy still has potential to be a quality #2 pitcher. Albers before this season was listed as Houston’s #3 prospect by Baseball America and listed as a good #3 type starter. Houston improved their offense sure, but they left their rotation in shambles. Sure in the AL both Patton and Albers could end up being nothing more than quality back of the rotation guys, but that is a nice way to build. The Orioles are still years away from putting up any type of fight in that division, but they are going about it the right way. Building their rotation (granted they are probably going to deal their ace, but they will likely get some pitching back to help offset the loss). They got such a great return for an expensive, old, short stop (who should move to 3b). Great move for the Orioles.
- The Mariners signed Carlos Silva to a 4 year $44 million dollar deal. I’ve got to say that I don’t think Silva is worth $11 million per year. However this is the market for a pitcher of Silva’s “quality”. This guy should be a decent fit for the Mariners. They are in a pitcher’s ball park, that will help. Silva will eat innings and help get to the good part of their bullpen. The Mariners needed pitching help and they landed the best SP on the market this season.
- Fukudome signed with the Cubs. This guy is probably overrated like most Japanese power hitters. Many people compare him to Hideki Matsui at best. That is very quality but Matsui benefits from that powerful Yankees lineup, and my guess is that if Matsui weren’t in such a great lineup he wouldn’t be near as good. Fukudome got paid an average of $12 million per year to hit 20 HR, I’d say he is overpaid.
- Bedard’s likely taker looks to be either the Reds or the Mariners. The Reds are apparently willing to deal Homer Bailey in a deal, but the hold up is the Reds refuse to include Jay Bruce in any deal. The Mariners are offering some type of package of Adam Jones, Brandon Morrow and Jeff Clement. My Guess is the Mariners get him if they are willing to part with those guys.
