Hot Stove Update: Pirates Dump Josh Bell to the Nationals

 Hey team!  Hope everybody is having a peaceful and safe holiday season.  The Pirates gave their fans a lump of coal to put in their Christmas stocking with a Christmas Eve trade of Josh Bell 1B to the Nationals for a couple of second tier pitching prospects, Eddy Yean and Will Crowe.  Bell had a breakout season in 2019 hitting 37 HR's but 27 of those came in a huge first half.  He's been in a sustained slump every since and slashed just .226/.305/.364 with 8 HR's in 223 PA in a shortened 2020.  On top of all that, Bell is 1B only defensively and not a good one at that with strongly negative defensive metrics for his full career.  Although he is a switch-hitter, he has a severe split favoring the left side of the plate(.271 to .233) which further limits his effectiveness.  

Given all that, it's not surprising Bell did not bring more back in return.  He is arbitration eligible for 2021 and 2022 and is due a raise on his $4.8 M salary from 2020.  The Pirates did not want to take that one and were willing to accept a couple of arms in return.  On the Nationals end, they are taking a relatively small risk on some big upside if Bell can return to 2019 form.  They can still re-sign Ryan Zimmerman as a RH bat off the bench and R side of a 1B platoon.  If the DH is here to stay, Bell's potential value increases even more.

Wil Crowe is a high floor/low ceiling former 2'nd round draft pick.  He had a rough 3 appearances in the majors in a 2020 MLB debut but projects as a 4/5 SP who can eat some innings.  Yean is a hard-throwing 19 yo RHP who has not appeared above A ball.  He may have a higher ceiling than Crowe but a longer path to reach it.

Overall, this is a reasonable yet disappointing trade return for the Bucs which does not seem to do much to jumpstart their rebuild while the Nationals did not give up much to take a chance one some serious offensive upside, especially if the DH comes back to the NL in either 2021 or 2022.  The Giants could use Bell's power potential, but don't have roster room for another 1B-only type right now, so this trade does not impact them.

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The Rangers signed the less well known Japanese FA pitcher, Kohei Arihara, to a 2-year contract for $6.2 M.  They will pay an additional 20% posting fee of $1.24 M to the Hokkaido Nippon Ham Fighters which keeps the total package under $10 M.  Arihara reportedly has a 7 pitch mix with a FB that sits in the low 90's.  He depends on command and deception to get results which are modest by Nippon Professional Baseball League standards with a career ERA of 3.74 with a 6.7 K/9 and 2.1 BB/9 which is close to his 2020 season line.  Arihara's signing is within the price and peformance range that the Rangers have shopped in over the past several seasons.  He should keep the Rangers in most games he pitches and eat significant innings for a modest price.  The Giants could use a pitcher of like Arihara but there are still lots of other options on the FA market for a similar price.

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I hope everybody is staying vigilant practicing social distancing and mask wearing.  For those of you who recall my posts early in the pandemic, nothing happening now is even slightly surprising.  The fundamentals of SARS-2 Coronovirus have not changed a bit since Day 1.  It is a virus spread through respiratory droplets which is approximately twice as contagious as seasonal influenza and 10-100 times as deadly. That is really all you need to know about it.  Hospitals across the nation, especially in California, are packed with extremely sick patients and in danger of running out of nursing staff and, get this, oxygen!  Yep, when we are blowing 40 liters per minute per patient that is a whole helluva lot of the life-saving gas! I don't want to even think about the consequences of running out.

I got the first dose of the vaccine through my hospital on Monday.  I barely felt the injection going in but woke up that night with a very sore shoulder.  The discomfort was already starting to wane by morning and was completely gone by 72 hours.  I did not experience any fever or constitutional symptoms.  Most of my colleagues have had very similar experiences.  The vaccine rollout is going much slower than expected with only approximately 2 million doses given out of 10 million shipped  and out of the 20 million target for the end of the year.  Unfortunately the biggest barrier to a higher vaccine rate is hesitancy on the part of potential recipients.  Since the main initial target is healthcare workers, I find this deeply disturbing.  We should know better and set a positive example.  I strongly urge all of my readers to get vaccinated as soon as possible unless you have a specific contraindication which should be listed clearly on consent forms and online information sites.

Stay safe, everybody!