Friday Morning Closer – Special Carlos Lee Edition

Texas Rangers Trade For Carlos Lee

Okay, this is big news, so this week’s Friday Morning Closer will focus on it.

This move doesn’t mean that the Brewers are conceding the Division.  It simply means that the Brewers are trading for positions of need.

Milwaukee Side Of The Trade

Francisco Cordero, a closer with great stuff, lost his job earlier in the season thanks to wildness, but he’s regained his control and will be an upgrade in the bullpen.  Kevin Mench will take Lee’s place in the outfield and has the capacity to be a slugging outfielder.  Plus, he’s got two more years of arbitration left and will be a Brewer for a while.  As for Laynce Nix, he’s an outfielder that has largely been average for the Rangers and could develop into a fourth outfielder for the Brewers.

All in all, not bad for the Brewers, who have filled some needs by the deal.  Still, Lee will be missed for the thunder that he gave the lineup.

Brewer Grade:  A

Texas Side Of The Deal

With the lack of pitching on the market (unless the Rangers are going to make a run at Justin Verlander ARGG, I #### UP Jake Westbrook) the Rangers could do the only thing they could do: upgrade the lineup.  And Lee was the best option available. 

The Rangers will receive Lee along with outfielder Nelson Cruz and a Player To Be Named, who will most likely be a pitcher, judging by Ranger trade history.  The Rangers had no use for Nix and Mench had lost his starting job weeks ago.  Cordero will be missed as far as a setup man, but the Rangers have options in the pen that they can plug in.  Still, Mench was popular and there will be some fan backlash for a little bit.  

However, Lee will be embraced for the fact that his bat will be well suited for the Rangers’ ballpark.  The Rangers will try to sign him to an extension, but if they do lose him, it would not be the end of the world.  For starters, they would gain a pair of high draft picks in return, which is not too shabby.   Plus, Cruz is a talented corner outfielder prospect with solid defense and some power, so the offense won't suffer too badly as people may think. 

Great trade by John Daniels.

Ranger Grade: A+

What This Does For The Market Now

What this now does is that now Alfonso Soriano is the best option available now for teams in need of a bat.  Many teams expected Lee to be on the market, and thus many of the offers were below what the Nats wanted.  But no one anticipated Texas jumping into the fray as quickly as they did to acquire Lee.  With no other contingency plan available, it’s almost certain that the Nationals will now be bombarded with calls to acquire the slugger.  Detroit is going to have to up the offer to upgrade the offense and the White Sox are going to have to decided quickly if they are going to attempt to block the Tigers by making a counteroffer.  I don't think the Angels are going to make a move simply because that's GM Bill Stoneman's style.  But even then, wth several teams now on the fringe of the post-season, Soriano is a potential differance maker for many teams.  The Nationals will find themselves with several teams willing to overpay in order to take him off the market.

Royals Taking Chances In Rebuilding Their Farm System

Royals GM Dayton Moore is wasting no time in restocking the Royals’ farm system with pitching prospects.

With the Royals bungling many of the No. 1 draft picks that they have had, the system is fairly lacking in quality arms.  And those that have had a chance to becoming something special were rushed through the system, damaging them beyond salvation (J.P. Howell is the most notable example.) 

So far, Moore has been aggressively moving parts of the organization that have no part in his rebuilding plan for arms.  Thus far, he’s done the following:

·          Traded closer Mike MacDougal to the Chicago White Sox for minor-league pitchers Tyler Lumsden and Daniel Cortes.

·          Traded reliever Elmer Dessens to the Los Angeles Dodgers for Odalis Perez and took minor league pitchers Blake Johnson and Julio Pimentel, both of whom still have some projection.

·          Traded utilityman Tony Graffanino to the Milwaukee Brewers for Jorge De La Rosa, a talented pitcher that hasn’t been able to translate that talent into results.

That’s five pitchers for the price of a pair of middle relievers that wouldn’t be with the team next year and a utilityman that really didn’t have much use for the Royals considering the fact that their team is essentially made up of “utilitymen.”

Will the trades work out?  Some will.  There’s a good chance that at least one of the players will turn out to be a reasonably good player.  Perez was given away by the Dodgers just to get him out of there.  Because the Royals are unlikely to contender for another few years, Perez is simply there to take up roster space and give the Royals someone to send out on the mound in the meantime.

Still, it’s got to be refreshing for Royals fans to see a GM that’s actually has a plan to make the club better.