Trade reviews
In a year when relatively few deadline moves happened, the M’s were fairly active — and reviews are starting to come in. Jayson Stark lists the M’s as one of two “sellers who did it right.”
It may be true that the Mariners dangled so many players on their roster, it was tough at times even for clubs dealing with them to figure out who was available for what price.
But in the end, Seattle did just fine — unloading three replaceable pieces (Randy Winn, Villone, Miguel Olivo) for two new catchers (Yorvit Torrealba and Miguel Ojeda) and a bunch of fresh arms (Bazardo, Flannery, Jesse Foppert and Nathaniel Mateo).
“I thought they did all right,” said one scout. “They got rid of some money. They cut their losses. They got kids back. And they got some arms back.”
The most intriguing arm is Foppert, who was once the Giants’ top pitching prospect and is inching back from Tommy John surgery. The jury is still out, but as one scout put it: “Everyone else comes back from that operation. I don’t see why he wouldn’t.”
Some reports from other bloggers are out now, too. Fish fans are happy to get Villone, even if they’re also high on Bazardo. Speaking of our man Yorman, check out Jeff Sullivan’s take on him if you haven’t already.
McCovey Chronicles on the Winn deal: “It isn’t often that a trade can help your favorite team, and still leave you discouraged.” Fair enough, if a bit Morrissey-inflected.
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54 Responses to “Trade reviews”
The BP reviews of the M’s trades with SF and SD are pretty awful.
Where did Kahrl get the idea that Randy Winn had a ton of trade
value — and that other teams thought he could play center field? Everything I’ve heard is that Bavasi wanted Sean Henn and Scott Proctor from the Yankees and was turned down and that New York wasn’t sure Winn could handle CF in Yankee Stadium. I’m happier with what the M’s got from the Giants than if we’d gotten Henn and Proctor. We needed a catcher who could catch the ball (Torrealba) and we needed a pitching prospect with the potential to be more than a back of the rotation guy (Foppert). It’s a gamble but definitely one worth taking.
And blaming the trading of Miguel Olivo on the acquisition of Torrealba is outright stupid. If the M’s wanted to keep Olivo they could have kept him and Torrealba (and sent down Wiki). The Mariners traded Olivo because he sucks and because he has sucked for 13+ months as a Mariner and the organization was convinced that he was not going to make it in Seattle. He’ll be arbitration-eligible this winter and they figured if they weren’t going to tender him a contract in December then they may as well get something for him.
The M’s did everything they could, including having an extra coach (Roger Hansen) traveling with the team the entire last month just to work with Olivo. It wasn’t working and it wasn’t going to work. In 312 at-bats over 104 games with Seattle Olivo hit .176. No major league team puts up with that kind of production at any position, even if you’re a perennial Gold Glover and Olivo was far from that (28 passed balls in 268 career games vs. 3 passed balls for Torrealba in 208 career games). I’m just shocked that a team in the middle of a pennant race not only traded for him but immediately declared him their #1 catcher. I know the Padres are desperate for a catcher with Hernandez out, but that’s just wishful thinking that Olivo will be the answer for them.
Actually BP’s review of the Mariners side of the trade with SF was awful, but so was their review of SF’s side of the trade. I know it was two different writers, but it can’t be both ways.
I’m more curious to know about Kahrl’s contention that Foppert’s mechanics are “awful”, a “mechanical mess”, when in the paper today he was described as “mechanically perfect”. The accompanying photo isn’t much to go by, and it’s not even dated, but he looks like he’s in good position to me. Glove in the right place, head focused on the plate, shirt popping with the thrust forward.
So who can tell me about Foppert’s mechanics for real?
From the San Diego Union-Tribune re the Olivo trade: “The Mariners again proved a handy trade partner for the Padres. In return for Olivo, Seattle accepted 30-year-old Miguel Ojeda, a shaky defender who was no longer in San Diego’s plans, and Nathanel Mateo, a fringe pitching prospect who was bypassed by 29 clubs in last year’s Rule V draft. The deal also was surprising in that Ojeda is guaranteed $375,000 next season, while Olivo, 27, has no guaranteed money past this season.” Who got screwed? Kevin Towers is shrewd and I’m afraid the Ms may have gotten a bunch of nothing for a guy who all of a sudden is hitting and well above average defensively.