Welcome to Season 2 of This Week In Trades, where we work off our freshman fifteen and try to avoid a sophomore slump. Returning this year are your favorite the loudest trade analysts this side of the USBA blog, the obnoxious elitists from the PL, the Cheese and Chros! In this week’s episode we see the dismantling of Vancouver, we enter the Year of the Panda, and some other random stuff happened too, I guess. I hope your seat belt is buckled tight, you’ve got your snacks, and a bottle because we’re not stopping until we reach the end of this wild ride.
Quick editor’s note: We chose not to touch on picks for cash deals and will list them at the end of the article because honestly they’re not that exciting unless someone does a really big dumb.
| MON | RP Yuri Antonissen (R) 3B Alberto Zuniga (R) 2041 MON 1st Round 2041 MON 2nd Round 2041 MON 3rd Round 2041 MON 4th Round 2041 MON 5th Round | VAN | SP Kenny Aarnoutse (100%) LF Michael Malloy (30%) RF Gene Ricks (100%) |
A lot to unpack. Montana seems all in for now, trading their 2041 draft for guys who have helped Vancouver make the ToC in the past but not their contracts.
Antonissen is a solid reliever and Zuniga is only ok. The Pandas land a pitcher who is probably a 3L ace, a solid RFer who is an OBP machine, and Ricks who is rated well but hasn’t put together a good year yet… going to the 3L should help. The Pandas got a nice haul for those picks, although Aarnoutse and Malloy are both 32 so they need to win immediately. We’ll have to wait and see where those picks land but as of now I like this move for the Pandas
| MON | 2040 CHS 2nd Round | GRE | 1B Jimbob Ghostkeeper |
Another Greenville sale as a player reaches the end of team control. Jimbob has been used primarily vs lefties while with the 84s but could be poised for a big breakout season in the Montana Clown Park. He crowds up the Montana DH spot a bit but I can’t see either Jimbob or DeMarvion sitting with their hitting ability. Good pickup for a reasonable price and a very reasonable extension. Bosma probably sold a little low but this seems to be his MO the last few years.
It seems Montana is taking a flier on a lot of these type of players who are rated well but for whatever reason hasn’t put it all together. Ghostkeeper is another one of them, and they get him for almost nothing so it’s a nice buy low move. And from what we’ve seen, hitters love going to Panda Park to revitalize their careers.
| VAN | 1B Johan Kroening | NV | OF Jose Arras (AA) 2041 NV 1st Round 2041 NV 2nd Round |
I want to say Johan is worth more than Arras and 2 late round picks but I’m not sure many people were banging down Dave’s door for him. He had a down 2039 which likely hurt his value during this ‘couver fire sale. Arras has a big bat but my scout is not as optimistic as OSA. He should be a serviceable starter down the road or could easily make me eat these words.
It’s hard getting a ton of value for a 1B. I think VAN did well here to get as much as they could. Arras looks like an Adum Dunn type player with average contact, a high K rate, but good power and an elite eye. It appears NoVa may be moving him to the OF and that would have helped his value if he was developed there.
| STL | RF Eugene Bennett (100%) | LI | 3B Richard Barlow (A) 2040 LI 5th Round 2041 LI 2nd Round |
This feels like a big win for LI. My scout doesn’t like Barlow it looks like he traded his 2nd and 5th for 4.25m and got a potential tablesetter in Bennett who he immediately extended for 3 more years under 10m total. Seems like a good step towards being relevant again.
Bennett is coming off the best year of his career, and he’s probably going to hit .350 in the 3L combined with great defense. Not a fan of Barlow at all and love this deal for LI.
| CLE | CL Terry Lesage (A) 2040 CLE 1st Round 2041 CLE 4th Round | VAN | SP Arnie Harper RP Damien Morin |
Harper had a down year in 2039(along with most of Vancouver) after winning RotY in 2038. He and Morin are a good pitching combo add for Cleveland at a very respectable price. Good deal on both ends.
Harper’s bad year hurt his value, otherwise I would have liked a bit more for him. Seems like a fair deal for both.
| P76 | SP Gilberto Pontoja | PORT | 2040 PORT 3rd Round |
I’m not in love with Pontoja in the PL but he could fare passibly with a decent defense.
Fair deal for a decent back-end starter.
| HOL | RP An Jang-Yop RP Yeon-kyu Kim SP Cesar Sandoval (AAA) | MISS | 2041 MISS 1st Round |
Could I have found someone equal or better to Blanke in FA? Sure. Depending on how you value the 2041 MISS 1st, this could be a steal on either end. I wish all of these guys the best of luck in their new home.
If Mississippi wins the SL like they’re probably favored to do, they win this trade. The pick will be late 20s and they pick up two late game relievers and a decent backend starter.
| HOL | LF Robby Sinor (AA) SP Ron Plummer (R) 2040 CHS 3rd Round | P76 | 1B Karl Blanke |
Could I have found someone equal or better to Blanke in FA? Sure. Would I have found them at a similar price? Maybe. Did I want to risk waiting and having to scramble? No. I was not in love with any of the assets I gave up here and worst case scenario Blanke bats a lot vs LHP which we faced more times than any other team last year.
Hollywood tries to put an end to the narrative that they can’t hit lefties with this trade. Blanke mashes lefties but his overall numbers and struggles vs RHP kills much of his value despite the good ratings. Fair trade, Philly got some decent pieces.
| BUF | $2,500,000 | PORT | RP Keith Rojas |
Rojas is good but ‘spensive. Cash for a rental isn’t bad since I assume Buffalo had some wiggle room.
Portland clears over 8m in cash when accounting for Rojas’ salary, the going rate for some of the better relievers in FA. Fair trade, and I boost my pen without overpaying in a bad FA market for relievers.
| VAN | 3B Derek Corbin SP Sjoerd Reynoud 2041 VAN 2nd Round | NO | 2041 NO 1st Round 2041 NO 2nd Round 2041 NO 3rd Round 2041 NO 4th Round 2041 NO 5th Round |
Vancouver is going for a record for most draft picks next year, I guess. NO picks up more options for tinkering with, I guess.
Corbin looks like a solid young middle infielder, and Reynoud has been inconsistent but at worst should be a 4 or 5. Two ok starters for a bunch of late picks seems fair.
| NASH | 2B Nelson Jaramillo | NO | 2041 VAN 2nd Round 3B Pat Deakin (R) |
This feels like an overpay for an aging, fading Jaramillo. That 2nd round pick is nearly a 1st rounder. Deakin is a solid spec, could be a contributor in a few years for Nashville in the 3L.
Jaramillo is coming off a career year, but I wonder how he’ll perform in the PL. He also might struggle a bit vs righties. Nashville got good value here – Deakin is a nice piece and that pick should be an early 2nd rounder.
| DC | 2041 DC 2nd Round | MISS | RP Yeon-kyu Kim 2041 MISS 4th Round |
This seems like a sweet deal for Beau considering where his 1st round pick may end up and where DCs 2nd round may end up..he could wind up getting an approximate value of his 4th for Jang-Yp and Sandoval earlier. I really like this and also think it’s a pretty fair deal for DC too.
I don’t understand this move after win-now MISS traded their 1st for Kim and Yop, with Kim being the better of the two and by far the best arm in their pen.
| BUF | RP Amberlan Romubio C Eduardo Lucciardi (R) SP Carlos Olivares (R) | P76 | CL Kenji Aoki (60%) |
What a trash deal. This sucks so much for everyone else. THANKS MACK FOR GIVING CHROS THE BEST CLOSER IN THE GAME YOU JERK. I am not a huge fan of Lucciardi or Olivares, but Romubio is a legit and this seems like a pretty good deal for Philly. Gets a younger, live lefty arm and a couple of specs for a guy in his walk year. Paying 8m of Aoki’s salary isn’t great and definitely evens this out but when you’re rebuilding that money may as well get spent somewhere…
Happy to pull off this blockbuster on the eve of Spring Training. This was actually in the works before Haberdash got injured. I like Lucciardi and I hated giving up the 25 y/o Romubio for a 33 y/o, but Aoki is the best closer in the league and I’m banking on him staying that way for the next few years. The Buffalo bullpen can be scary when Haberdash returns
The rest
| BUF | 2041 BUF 1st Round 2041 BUF 2nd Round | CLE | $16,000,000 |
| MON | $4,000,000 | PORT | 2040 CHS 2nd Round |
| BUF | 2041 BUF 3rd Round 2041 BUF 4th Round 2041 BUF 5th Round | BOS | $5,000,000 |
| STL | $6,000,000 | PORT | 2040 LI 2nd Round |
| NV | RP Henry Henry (AAA) RP Keith Johnson (AAA) | CHS | 2040 CHS 5th Round |
| HOU | $8,000,000 | SEA | 2040 PORT 1st Round |
| VAN | $10,000 | MON | 1B Javier Sanchez SP Fred Olsen (R) |
| NV | 3B Eric Dewesee CF Scott Dourque | LV | 2B Laquvionte Gonzales (AA) RP Albertio Ramos (AA) |
| STL | CF Eikki Kankaanpera | MON | 1B Tony Randolph (AA) |
| P76 | C Gerold Olthof | CLE | C Raffaello Dichio (AA) SP Darren Henry (A) 2041 BUF 2nd round |
| DC | 2041 DC 3rd Round | NO | SP Jose Pacheco (AAA) |
| MON | RF Michael Warner (R) | NO | SP Raneem Zogby (AAA) |
| STL | SP Mike Bennett (A) | NO | SP Ralph Greer |
Strap in folks, I expect 2040 to get interesting as all 3 leagues look to be very competitive and only a few teams have already thrown in the towel. I won’t name names, but you know who you are JJ, Dave, Mack, and Brian.
Until next week!