Okay, I admit, I was pretty sour on this trade when I first heard about it, but I'm starting to warm up to it. The Braves rarely make dumb trades, so there had to be some sort of reason the Braves were keen on Will OhMan. Check out these numbers over the last three years:
Will OhMan home/road ERA splits:
| Year | Home ERA | Road ERA |
|---|---|---|
| 2007 | 8.66 | 1.45 |
| 2006 | 7.14 | 1.73 |
| 2005 | 4.43 | 1.57 |
Will OhMan average against splits:
| Year | vs Righty | vs Lefty |
|---|---|---|
| 2007 | .325 | .236 |
| 2006 | .243 | .158 |
| 2005 | .231 | .173 |
This makes the trade look a lot better, as long as we use him pretty much exclusively against left-handed hitters and never at Wrigley Field. Man, I knew Wrigley could be bad for pitchers, but I can't remember a pitcher who was this affected by the Friendly Confines. OhMan's home/road ERA numbers look like something out of late-90's Coors Field vintage.
I give the Braves a solid "A" for this trade. Yes, we got rid of a young bullpen fireballer, but we filled two stated needs; bullpen lefty and backup shortstop. Credit has to be given to Wren for buying low on OhMan, when the Cubs were just looking to get rid of him, and seeing his value when used away from Wrigley Field. If he can put up ERA numbers next year both at home and on the road like he put up in his away games last year, then we might have stolen a very good situational lefty from the Cubbies.
By the way, OhMan has a career 1.59 ERA at Turner Field.