I still haven't decided if Billy Beane is a genius or the biggest fraud of any GM in baseball, but the man sure makes the offseason interesting! If anyone had doubts about Billy's commitment to UZR, he empatically answered them by shipping Scott Hairston back to the Padres along with Aaron Cunningham for Kevin Kouzmanoff and prospect Eric Sogard. Billy accomplished two things with this trade: 1. He continued balancing his roster by trading from a surplus of OF's for a couple of IF's, including his biggest need, 3B. 2. He made a full commitment to defense, and the newer sabermetrics that measure it by keeping his 3 strongest defensive OF's. Billy didn't really need Hairston as a backup plan after he acquired Michael Taylor earlier in the offseason anyway.
The trade makes less sense for San Diego. Are Chase Headley and Scott Hairston really better than Kous and Headley at 3B and LF respectively? Maybe Hairston is a better defender in LF, which is important in Petco, but the Pads have better defensive OF's if defense is what they wanted.
The biggest losers in this trade are the Giants and Giants fans, since Scott Hairston is Giant Killer #1!
Fantasy Impact: Petco and McAfee Stadium are both very tough on hitters, so there is little impact from moving Kous and Hairston. The move would appear to give Rajai Davis an unconstested starting job in LF for the A's, so fantasy owners looking for steals may feel more comfortable drafting him. It also move Michael Taylor up the depth chart, so if any of the A's CF types prove to have no bat, Taylor would likely be next in line. Taylor should have an immediate impact as soon as he is called up.
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I think the Padres did this to open a spot for
ReplyDeleteKyle Blanks
Blanks can play OF and 1B. He's obviously blocked at 1B. Headley now moves from LF to 3B, but they acquired Hairston who is an OF himself. Unless Hairston is used strictly as a 4'th OF, it doesn't seem to have opened anything up. Maybe the Pads will flip Hairston to another team? They've already traded him once!
ReplyDeleteBTW, I read a not on mlbtradrumors.com that the Pads were talking to Scott Hairston's bro Jerry as a FA sign.
BTW, thanks for reading and commenting.