M’s Trade Rhodes to Marlins
The M’s have traded Arthur Rhodes to Florida for RHP Gaby Hernandez. This is about as good a haul for Rhodes as you could expect. Hernandez isn’t a prime prospect, but he’s got a decent arm and there’s some potential there. He was the Mets 3rd round pick in ’04, went to Florda in the Paul Lo Duca deal, and has split time between Triple-A Albuquerque and Double-A Carolina.
His ERA isn’t good, but that doesn’t matter – his walk, strikeout, and ground ball rates are all right where they’ve been his entire career. The ERA is inflated by a high BABIP, which is probably just a combination of park effects (Albuquerque is a great place to hit), bad defense, and luck.
He throws 90-93 with a four seam fastball and uses a cutter, has a curve and a change that are both average-ish, and okay command. He’s just 22, and there’s room for growth, but right now, he projects as a #5 starter or good reliever.
Nice pickup by Pelekoudas.
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JP Arencibia!
Lowrie would be tempting, to be sure… From what I’ve read about him, he’s virtually a Pedroia clone, but with a touch less power and a touch more speed. Good glove, and a sparkplug of a player. Wouldn’t mind having him here… but I wouldn’t trade J.J. for him. Not straight up, anyhow. Gimme a pitcher in the deal, too, and we’ll talk.
Raul to the Jays would be interesting. Not a bad park for him (~.900 OPS there the last three years), and he seems to be a decent fit all-around. Wonder what we’d get back for him?
My God. “Center field is an easier position to play than right field.” Steve Phillips somehow got me to write yet another post about him.
I just love the (longshot?) idea of a rotation that includes “Gaby and Felix, Los Hernandez Bros” There’s a bobblehead promotion to turn up for! (They might even overshadow Seattle’s more famous Los Bros Hernandez….hey, maybe they could do a limited edition comic for the M’s. There’s a promotional item that could really appreciate in value.)
Jed Lowrie will be the type of player you write in at SS for ten years and bat 2nd. Superstar? No. Move a runner up? Steal a base? Lay a bunt? Make every play and be a team leader? Yep. If the Ms somehow got Lowrie I would be both shocked and pleased.
Lowrie sounds intriguing, but without Fields signed, I’d be very afraid that Morrow would be forever stuck in the Closer role.
56- Maybe we could try and get Hansen as well. The Red Sox expressed a little interest in Washburn. So we could throw Wash in there too, and get Hansen.
What – no they didn’t. Stop making stuff up.
http://minors.mlblogs.com/archives/2008/07/yo_gaby_gaby.html
I find the Jarrod Washburn discussions interesting. I also think that it’s a no-win situation for Pelekoudas. If he doesn’t trade Washburn, most will be all over him for not making a move. If he does trade Washburn, the criticism will be that he didn’t get enough.
Frankly, I see no reason for Pelekoudas to be in a hurry to move Washburn. First, today’s deadline is an artificial one as far as Washburn is concerned, as I doubt anyone will try to claim him on waivers, and if they do, the M’s can decide then whether to let him be claimed or not, effectively doing the same thing as if they traded him the Yankees. The other alternative is to try to work something out with the team that put in a claim.
Second, since Washburn is not a free agent after the year, there isn’t much to be lost by exploring trading him during the off-season. While the Washburn contract hasn’t proven to be a good one, it’s not like #4 or #5 starters are without value. Every off-season, teams seem to fall over themselves to sign the next mediocre free agent starter to a long-term, multi-ten-million dollar contract. Compared to the likely free agents, Washburn might be an attractive trade option to a team trying to fill out their rotation without having to commit $50 million.
Finally, Washburn’s recent “improvement” may be temporary, but I find it interesting that it coincides with the M’s team defense improving over the past month or so. The team DEF has jumped recently, and the improvement looks like it is largely the result of moving Ichiro to RF and putting the Reed/Bloomquist platoon in CF. Whatever the offensive results, the outfield defense is improved. As the starter with the highest ratio of fly ball outs to ground ball outs, Washburn would likely benefit the most among our rotation. So, maybe the improvement is more sustainable than we think if the M’s can continue to realize that the defense they put behind the pitchers is important.
No one will criticize Pelekoudas for “not getting enough” if he trades Washburn for nothing in a pure contract dump. We’ll throw a parade in his honor even if the Yankees were to offer nothing more than a warm bottle of spit.
I heard they did a couple nights ago on espn.
I, for one, would not criticize him for not getting enough. If we got rid of Washburn and his contract but got no players in return, I’d count it as a success.
Two things – If Pelekoudas can manage to get Travis Snider back to Everett (well, I’d settle for 1st and Royal Brougham), that would be tremendous.
Secondly – The Reds are reportedly interested in Nelson Cruz. What do the M’s have of interest that would pull him in?
That doesn’t make it true. The Red Sox have so many starting pitchers that they’re converting guys like Justin Masterson into relievers for the rest of the year to use them all.
Good job Lee, you have now pulled off the same number of good trades/free agent signings as your predecessor.
52- Whoa! The way J.J’s been pitching, I would start doing backflips if we somehow mananged to swap him for Jed Lowrie.
Toronto would need Lind, though. If their goal is to improve their offense, Lind is part of the solution. The guy they want to replace is Wilkerson (why they don’t just play Stairs everyday I have no idea).
Forgive me, but I’ll need to see a link from now on when you want to report a trade, buddy.
OK, Dave, you won’t criticize Pelekoudas, but a lot of the media and fans would. But don’t you agree that keeping Washburn past today doesn’t necessarily mean that Pelekoudas is making a mistake?
You can’t believe 95% of what ESPN puts out as “rumors” for baseball this time of year, especially from Olney of late…
Most obvious sign that it wasn’t true? ESPN was the only one reporting that, except for a few outlets saying “ESPN is reporting that…”
Apparantly Junior has agreed on a trade to the White Sox for two prospects.
If LP has the opportunity to dump Washburn’s contract right now and isn’t doing it, then yes, he is making a mistake.
Forgive me, but I’ll need you to check the Times, PI, TNT, ESPN, SI, MLB.com, or Yahoo, buddy.
Good point.. my bad.
Rays won the Bay sweepstakes
Wow, they really mean it this time around, huh?
Plus, we need to clear room in the starting rotation for the triumphant emergence of Brandon Morrow as heralded by official Mariners press lackey Jim Street!
If you’re the one doing to posting, it’s up to you to provide a link.
My point was that there’s easily a dozen or more easily accessible sources that have been reporting it all day. If he’s checking here, he’s probably been to at least one of those, too.
Cdowley is right, they aren’t f***ing around anymore. I like it.
Wait… What time is the line? I thought it was tonight… now it sounds like its at 1.
80 –
It’s been at 1 all along… just like it has been for years…