The Cardinals traded OF Randal Grichuk to the Toronto Blue Jays for RHP Dominic Leone and RHP prospect Conner Greene. Grichuk's once promising career had plateaued in St Louis. He hits for power and is not a defensive liability but that comes with a sub-.300 OBP and a 30% K rate. 2018 would have found him buried down in the Cardinals depth chart. The BJ's have a crowded OF situation of their own and it's a bit difficult to see how they have upgraded it with this trade.
Leone is a quality RP who averages 95 MPH with the FB and pitched to a 2.56 ERA over 70 IP in 2017. He will strengthen the Cardinals bullpen and could even close for them as it is hard to imagine them going with Luke Gregorson in the 9'th inning all season.
Conner Greene is a lottery ticket who throws hard(Fangraphs rates his FB a 70) but struggled with an ERA north of 5 with poor peripherals at AA last season.
I see this trade as a clear win for the Cardinals who took a player they had no use for and turned him into a valuable bullpen piece which was their area of biggest need.
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I had been wondering about Grichuk and why he hadn't been discussed for the Giants. Seemed like a possible fit to me. But this trade suggests that it would have taken Strickland plus a prospect to get him. Too much; I'm glad they let that cup pass them by.
ReplyDeleteGrichuk never learned to cover the plate. He's a got a hole in swing that's, basically, 75% of the strike zone. Make a mistake and put it in his wheelhouse and he'll rocket it out of the park. Mostly though... Not so much.
ReplyDeleteWith Toronto having a surplus of outfielders, do you believe the Giants should go after Kevin Pillar? He would provide superior defense in center and bat eighth in the lineup. His lack of offense should keep the price down and Steven Duggar could come up later in the season, provided he does well in Sacramento and platoon with Pillar in center field. Pillar would give the Giants a solid defender at every position.
ReplyDeleteI can understand that centerfield defense is a top priority for the Giants and setup relievers are expensive in this market, but the comment at at some point they have to rely on their system to cover the back end of their rotation instead of signing a low cost veteran to compete seems like a big risk, and might come back to bite them.
ReplyDeleteLG
Could trade Panik for a good D CFer who can hit at least some. They could cover 2B with Tomlinson or Vielma or someone in their system.
ReplyDeleteTo each his own, but to me that's a really bad idea. You give up at least as much as you gain in that scenario.
Delete......and probably more.
DeletePillar?
DeleteI'd be OK trading for Pillar, but not at the cost of Joe Panik.
Delete