Analysis of Peavy to White Sox, Cabrera to Twins, and Johnson to Marlins
In one of the oddest and boldest trades in recent years, the Chicago White Sox traded their best pitching prospect, along with three other prime talents, to the San Diego Padres for starting pitcher Jake Peavy, who is currently on the disabled list and may not return this season.
While the Boston Red Sox were busy trading for Victor Martinez, the Chicago White Sox were busy trying to acquire San Diego Padres ace Jake Peavy. The White Sox had one hurdle to climb: for the deal to be completed he would have to approve the trade, the same trade he rejected this past offseason. This time, Peavy, under contract through the 2013 season, approved the trade, realizing the Padres were going nowhere and that he would immediately join a contender, in a baseball town no less.
Under normal circumstances, the team’s players and fans would be celebrating his acquisition. Why, presumably, were they hesitant to praise the deal? Well, Peavy is currently on the disabled list and there is no timetable for his return. His season might be over.
ESPN’s Buster Olney said that Chicago’s trade for Peavy “is a stunner” for the simple reason that “the White Sox have no idea when he’s going to come back. His agent, Barry Axelrod, told them ‘Look, he can’t pitch now.’ They probably aren’t going to get a lot of contributions out of Jake Peavy {because of a torn tibialis tendon behind his right ankle}.”
If Peavy’s contract was up after this season or even the next, this trade would have been a terrible mistake by Chicago. But since he has five years left on his deal, the White Sox get a former Cy-Young award-winner who is only 28 years old and can contribute on an All-Star level for the coming years. So, if Peavy does return this season, even just for the playoffs, it will be an added bonus, given he’s one of the best pitchers in the National League when healthy.
So why would the Padres trade their best player in the prime of his career? In Olney’s words: “the need in San Diego is so desperate to move money that maybe they thought at some point that they could be able to move {first baseman} Adrian Gonzalez, maybe they thought they could move {closer} Heath Bell…they were not able to do those things, so maybe this was just the Padres trying to move any money they could.” So, in effect, because they didn’t find a trade partner for Gonzalez and Bell, they decided that the only way to shed salary was to move Peavy, their highest-paid player who could earn as much as $87.5 million over the duration of his contract.
Padres fans shouldn’t be too frustrated. Yes, their franchise’s best player is gone, but their team, in rebuilding mode, acquired plenty of talent in return. The White Sox second-ranked prospect, 22-year old lefthander Aaron Poreda, who made his debut this season and has a 2.45 ERA in 10 appearances, was the centerpiece of the deal. The Padres hope Poreda, who will probably join their rotation, could be the second-coming of Peavy. Given his electrifying stuff and how quickly he sped through the minor leagues, there is no reason why he can’t. Twenty-five year old starting pitcher Clayton Richard, who projects as a solid #3 starter in the major leagues, was also included in the deal along with 26-year old reliever Adam Russell and 22-year old righthanded pitching prospect Dexter Carter, who struck out an impressive 143 in 118 innings in Single-A.
As far as this year is concerned, the Minnesota Twins, the White Sox division rival, made the better deadline move, acquiring hot-hitting veteran shortstop Orlando Cabrera from the Oakland Athletics for minor-league shortstop Tyler Ladendorf. Ladendorf, 21, is a long ways off from making the major leagues, but is clearly highly thought of by Athletics General Manager Billy Beane, who is a great evaluator of young talent. Beane will turn Ladendorf into something and, by giving up their starting shortstop, he may think of him as their shortstop of the future.
While Oakland continues to build for the future, Minnesota filled their only hole and are now primed for the stretch run. Cabrera started the season cold, but has been on fire lately, hitting .373 in the month of July. He’s a great pickup for the Twins and fits their makeup perfectly as a solid, fundamentally-sound, scrappy hitter.
The Florida Marlins made a move that could have huge implications as well, acquiring first baseman Nick Johnson from the Washington Nationals, a division foe, for lefthanded pitcher Aaron Thompson, a 22-year old who ranked as the Marlins eighth best prospect.
The Marlins, in a surprisingly weak division, stand only six games behind the Philadelphia Phillies for first place. Johnson, who hit .295 with six home-runs and 44 rbi’s for the Nationals this season, gives the young Marlins a veteran in the middle of their lineup, a big bat they have lacked, a chance to make a run at the division crown.
Enough with the trades that were made. There was a huge, talent-laden blockbuster that almost went down, according to Sports Illustrated Jon Heyman. The San Diego Padres would have sent first baseman Gonzalez and Bell to the Los Angeles Dodgers for their 25-year old first baseman James Loney, who has 63 rbi’s this season, 26-year old catcher Russell Martin, 23-year old third baseman Blake DeWitt, 24-year old reliever James McDonald, and their sixth-ranked prospect, shortstop Ivan DeJesus.
That trade would have been incredible, with the Padres clearly getting the better end. I am sure the Dodgers pulled the plug, considering five of their best young players would have been sent within the division.
Though false, this is what the trade deadline is made of. Though many teams improved by making trades today, sometimes the trades that almost went down are the best.
