The Hot Stove fire died down a bit as the market seems to want to wait for the Sandoval decision before throwing another log on the fire. Meanwhile a series of 3 smaller deals went down, 2 of which were driven by the Rule 5 Draft. Although they did not generate headlines, these deals could become significant down the road.
Deal #1: Dodgers acquire veteran RHP Joel Peralta from the Tampa Bay Rays for fireballing prospect Jose Dominguez. The teams also swapped minor league pitchers with the Dodgers receiving LHP Adam Liberatore while sending RHP Greg Harris to TB.
Joel Peralta, RHP, 39 yo, MLB: 3-4, 4.41, 63 IP, 15 BB, 74 K, 9 HR. The Dodgers are obviously trying to bolster their bullpen. Andrew Friedman went after someone he knew well in Peralta. The dingers should come down pitching on the West Coast, which will help the ERA, but Peralta is 39 yo.
Adam Liberatore, LHP, 27 yo. AAA: 6-1, 1.66, 65 IP, 15 BB, 86 K's. The Dodgers desperately need a lefty or two in their bullpen and Liberatore put up great numbers in AAA. He was equally effective against RH batters. If he can carry that to MLB, this could be a bigger part of the deal than Peralta.
Jose Dominguez, RHP, 24 yo. MLB: 0-0, 11.37, 6 IP, 3 BB, 8 K's. AAA: 1-2, 3.24, 33 IP, 18 BB, 39 K's. Dominguez is a fireballer who can hit 100 MPH. The pitch tends to flatten out and he has command issues. His secondary stuff is marginal at best. He has 2 drug related suspensions in his past, the last one in 2012.
Greg Harris, RHP, 19 yo, low A: 7-6, 4.45, 87 IP, 28 BB, 92 K's. Nice K rate but marginal stuff.
Dodgers seem to get the best of this one as they get 2 potentially valuable bullpen pieces that can help immediately.
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Deal #2: Padres acquire minor league LHP Kyle Bartsch from the Royals for minor league OF Reymond Fuentes.
Reymond Fuentes, OF, 23 yo, AAA: .261/.337/.376, 13 SB, 17 BB, 27 K, 157 AB. AA: .324/.386/453, 4 HR, 12 SB, 16 BB, 37 K, 170 AB. Fuentes came to the Padres along with 1B Anthony Rizzo and RHP Casey Kelly in the Adrian Gonzalez trade. Fuentes hit .330 with 35 SB's in the minors last year but just .158 in a brief MLB callup. Kind of tough to believe the Padres did not want him on their 40 man roster but that was the driver of this trade. He profiles as exactly the type of OF the Royals are stockpiling.
Kyle Bartsch, LHP, 23 yo, High A: 5-5, 2.29, 55 IP, 12 BB, 52 K's, 7 Saves. Nice numbers but scouting reports say fringe-average velocity.
Royals are the clear winners of this trade. The Padres now have Andrew Cashner(acquired for Anthony Rizzo), Casey Kelly and Bartsch to show for the AGone trade. I would say that trade did not work out the way either side hoped it would, although Cashner could be an ace pitcher if he can stay healthy for a full season and Kelly probably still has some potential.
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Deal #3: Cardinals acquire minor league 3B Ty Kelly for RHP Sam Gaviglio.
Ty Kelly, 3B/2B, 26 yo, AAA: .263/.381/.412, 15 HR, 11 SB, 85 BB, 96 K, 456 AB. Holy moly! Just look at those K and BB numbers! Man, I saw this trade and thought to myself that Kelly would make a nice target if Pablo ends up leaving. Maybe one of the reasons the Cardinals went and got him was to prevent the Giants from getting him? More likely he was not on the Giants radar at all, but it's fun to think about.
Sam Gaviglio, RHP, 24 yo, AA: 5-12, 4.28, 137 IP, 46 BB, 126 K's. Nothing special here.
I would say the Cardinals were the clear winners of this swap of Rule 5 eligible players, although Kelly is blocked at both 3B and 2B in St Louis.
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I was reading your write up of corner outfielders and I have a quick question. Do you think we should get rid of Juaquin Arias? He is basically Juan Perez at 3rd. No bat, good defense, but not enough to make up for his lack of bat. I agree that ideally Perez is your reserve outfielder in Fresno, but it seems as Arias often escapes the same profiling even though he is a similar player.
ReplyDeleteIf you had asked me that mid-season, I probably would have said yes, but then Arias went out and hit .355 in the second half. If you look at Arias 2 prior seasons, last year's overall line was by far the worst of the 3. So no, I do not think Arias is the IF version of Juan Perez and he'll probably stick around. Again, it's a case of an upgrade being nice, but a player who is a significant upgrade would be a starter. Now maybe with a little time, Perez can become the OF version of Arias, and he did step up big time in the postseason. At this point, though, I would like to see the Giants try someone else in that 5'th OF role.
DeleteI do not understand all the hate that Arias has gotten this year. Yes, he had a very bad 1st half with the bat. But he had an equally awesome 2nd half, and his D was AT WORST, +, and more likely, ++. Then you look at his annual trending, and he has looked fin with no signs of the first half-bat being his new norm.
DeleteAnd yet, all over the blogosphere, everyone is calling for this guys head.
I just don't get it. In my eyes, he is one of the better utilities in the game.