The Ol' Ballfield

Trade Breakdowns

The stove just got a little hotter:

1. The San Diego Padres traded second-baseman Josh Barfield to the Cleveland Indians for infielder Kevin Kouzmanoff and right-hander Andrew Brown.

Barfield had a good rookie year; despite an underwhleming .318 OBP, he was still about an average hitter with a 94 OPS+. Barfield also plays a good second base. If he can become more patient and develop a little more power, and if Jhonny "Not a Typo" Peralta can scrape back together his dynamite season of 2005, the Indians would boast an impressive lineup that also includes Travis Hafner, Grady Sizemore, Victor Martinez and Casey Blake. Ryan Garko could also make the Benjamin Broussard trade look great for the Indians with a big 2007.

The Padres receive the much-touted Kevin Kouzmanoff, who went absolutely ape in the minors last season, OPSing 1.109 in AA and 1.056 in AAA before disappointing in 16 games at the big-league level. So far in the Arizona Fall League, Kouzmanoff is continuing to put up great numbers, going .409/.490/.682 with two homers. The Padres are hoping that getting him out of Cleveland will remove whatever curse it looked like they were playing with last season, and he will develop beyond his projection as the 13th-best prospect at third in 2006.

In Brown the Padres receive a good young starting pitcher with a 96 mph fastball that put up nice numbers in the minors last season, going 5-4 with a 2.60 ERA and .228 BAA. He struck out 53 batters in 62 1/3 innings, which doesn't look as overpowering as the Padres would like, but at age 25 Brown could be a valuable pickup.

My take on the trade? Good for both sides. Cleveland has enough young lineup talent to let Kouzmanoff go for a more sure-thing Barfield, and San Diego gets two very good prospects in return for the somewhat overrated-in-his-rookie-year second baseman. Let's face it, Barfield could have a Jeff Francoeur-type 2007 and really hurt his team, or he could shift more towards the Dan Uggla side of things. My first reaction to the trade was that Cleveland gave up too much, but looking at their lineup they still figure to be a contender in the Central next season.

2. The Detroit Tigers traded right-handed pitching prospects Humberto Sanchez, Kevin Whelan, and Anthony Claggett to the New York Yankees for right-fielder Gary Sheffield.

"Yankees win! Theeeeeeeeee Yankees win!"

That's my take on the deal, right up front. There was no spot for Sheffield on the Yankees, they had seemingly no upper hand in trade negotiations because everybody knew that they had to get him and his huge contract outta there. Everyone except Dave Dombrowski, apparently. Of course, a small tip of the cap goes to Dombrowski for bringing in Sheffield without giving up ace-of-the-staff Jeremy Bonderman.

Sanchez has been compared, not always favorably, to Bartolo Colon. He was named 41st-best prospect in 2006 by scout.com, which also provides us with this analysis:

He also throws a bit like [Colon], which is to say hard, and occasionally wild, and often up in the zone.

"If he had that nasty curveball every start, and spotted his fastball every start, he'd win 20 at any level," our NL Scout said.

In Sanchez's last start of the AFL season, he showed why. Against a Phoenix Desert Dogs lineup that included studs Jarrod Saltalamacchia, Stephen Drew, and Andy LaRoche Sanchez threw seven shutout innings, allowing just three hits and striking out four. That came after a five shutout inning stint against the Grand Canyon Rafters the week before. Sanchez's AFL ERA was a sparkling 2.15 for the season. Among the league leaders.

"He's the real deal," our Senior scout said, "if he can stay healthy he could dominate."

In 11 starts in the Eastern League (AA) this year, Sanchez dominated, with a 1.76 ERA, a .190 BAA and 86 K's in 71 2/3 innings. He did end his season with a minor injury, bringing back memories of injury-marred 2005, but all reports were that Sanchez was nasty this year. He continued to impress in nine starts in AAA, posting a 3.86 ERA and .260 BAA. Next season he will be 24.

Whelan is not as strong a prospect, but is beginning to blossom as a pitcher, to which he converted from catcher in college at Texas A & M. He recorded 27 saves in the Florida State League in 2006, posting a 2.67 ERA and .178 BAA. He throws four different fastballs, and is comparable to Brent Cox, a reliever the Yanks took in the second round as a possible successor to Mariano Rivera. Whelan 22 years old, which means he's been pitching for less than five years. This prospect could have tremendous upside for the Yankees. Won't see any pinstripe time in '07, but you gotta like having this guy in the works if you're a Yankee fan.

After a less-than-impressive 2005 in the New York-Penn league, Claggett has bounced back in 2006. With West Michigan of the Midwest League (A), he put up a 0.91 ERA and .174 BAA in 59.1 innings, striking out 58 and collecting 14 saves and 14 holds. He's the youngest of the three pitchers in the deal, and also the only one still in A-ball, so again, don't expect to see him in pinstripes any time soon. But with three pitchers putting up these numbers, the odds that at least one or two will work out for New York are pretty good.

And then there's Gary Sheffield. The last time Sheffield was a below-average hitter was when he was an infielder with Milwaukee in 1991. That being said, with Sheffield missing most of the season in 2006, we didn't get a real good look at just how fast he is regressing at this point. His numbers have been going steadily downward since a career season with Atlanta in 2003, but not downward enough to make him not worth a gamble. (That was quite a sentence.) 2006 was the first season since 2002 in which Sheffield did not finish in the top ten in MVP voting. If Sheffield had played a whole season in 2006, he would have been in line to hit 23 or 24 home runs, less than normal but still impressive. His EqA? Above .300 every year since 1993. The Tigers know what they're getting, and what they're getting should help out their lineup, provided he can stay healthy. Sheffield has been a slightly below-average fielder for most of his career, but he has a storied throwing arm, and his hitting more than makes up for his fielding.

Again, a good deal in principle for both teams, both getting what they wanted. But Dave Dombrowski is right when he says "we gave up a lot." The Tigers want to win now, and they are showing it with this deal. And the Yankees are the closest to (gulp) rebuilding as they will ever be with the Boss at the helm. This could turn out to be one of Brian Cashman's defining moves in office.

posted by Carnival @ 11/11/2006