Okay, time to play some transactions catchup. Here’s what I’ve got:
The San Diego Padres trade RHP Scott Linebrink to the Milwaukee Brewers for RHP Will Inman, LHP Steve Garrison and LHP Joe Thatcher
This was kind of weird deal considering that neither team needed to upgrade it’s bullpen, as both San Diego and Milwaukee are both pretty good as far as firemen go. In any case, the Brewers did this banking on Mike Maddux’s ability to bring guys back around to form, which is what they’re hoping he’ll do with Linebrink. If they’re successful, then they’ll not only have a solid 7th inning guy to bridge to Francisco Cordero, but they can also reap draft pick compensation rewards, as getting Linebrink back to form will result in him being classified a Type A free agent. And they really didn’t give up a lot to do it. Inman is the biggest part of the deal, but really, he’s kind of a odd prospect, as he’s purely performance and very little as far as stuff. Still, in that wonky stadium, he could succeed and be a 4th man in the rotation. Thatcher will be replacing Linebrink in the bullpen and profiles similarly as such and Garrison is regarded to be a sort of long shot prospect that no one really expect much greatness out of.
Overall, what we have here is a collection of players that have kinda been rendered expendable by each organization, but San Diego comes out a bit ahead because of the salary relief, though I will say this. They could have gotten a whole lot more had they decided to deal Linebrink just a half season earlier.
Overall: Padres - B, Brewers - B-
The Texas Rangers trade CF Kenny Lofton to the Cleveland Indians for C Max Ramirez
This was probably the best the Rangers could do, with the lack of centerfield interest on the market. Nonetheless, they did do well, as Ramirez is a solid young catcher currently hitting .303 with 12 homers, 62 RBI’s and a good strikeout to talk ration (nearly 1 to 1). Ramirez is said to be able to hit pretty well, but he’s raw at catcher, though he’s improved enough where he’ll likely be able to stick. As for the Indians, they gain a versatile corner outfielder with speed and discipline that should make their lineup a little more free swinging. A trade that worked well for both parties.
Overall: Rangers – B, Indians – B
The Chicago White Sox trade 2B Tadahito Iguchi to the Philadelphia Phillies for RHP Michael Dubee
Kind of a disappointing trade for the White Sox. They traded Iguchi, one of their players that did merit interest from around the league for a Low A reliever. It would have been better to hold onto Iguchi and simply reap the Type B draft pick that they would have merited in exchange for him. The deals works well for the Phillies, who get a filler for the moment with Chase Utley out that can hit a bit.
They didnt trade Iguchi in order to get much in return. In Kenny Williams' press conferencde, he said that there was no interest at all until Utley broke his hand(or had his hand broken) and he pounced on the offer ASAP. THe other thing is that the Sox have ayoung second baseman, i forget his name, who is playing very well and they want to see if he can play.
hopefully, this will put to rest all the "trade whoever it takes to get kenny lofton" talk on the brewers message board.
as for linebrink, fans are mixed about the acquisition. some dont like it because of his recent struggles, some because they think we gave up too much.
i dont think we really needed him, nor do i think he'll make much of a difference down the stretch unless the team figures out they cant win simply by showing up to the ballpark.
didnt see the iguchi trade coming. all i'd been hearing was all the pitchers that were supposedly on the block for chicago.
I broke down the Linebrink deal on a sports forum -- bad for the Brewers, good for the Padres.
I put it rather bluntly for the Brew Crew: "Linebrink is a meaningless accessory to an already potent Milwaukee bullpen."
As for the Iguchi trade, I'm indifferent to it. We didn't give up much -- Phillies pitching coach Rich Dubee's son -- but in three weeks or a month, when Utley comes back, there's going to be a problem with finding room for everyone.
At third base, we're log-jammed with Greg Dobbs, Wes Helms, and Abraham Nunez. Iguchi will be the everyday second baseman until Utley returns, so Nunez will essentially be a third-stringer.
Knowing this, I think this all but closes the book on Wes Helms in Philadelphia. I think Gillick swaps him for a mediocre reliever before July 31.
Last edited by UltraMegaOK1988 on July 27th at 6:46 PM.
ultra- it's not quite that simple, but it could be.
turnbow has been up and down again lately, and the pen has been used way too much the last few weeks. if his arm is relatively fresh, and the team figures out how to win again, he could be valuable down the stretch. as for what they gave up, i have no clue about prospects other than what i pick up on the message board, and that's usually not worth a whole lot.
the way i see it is this is not the year to sell out for the chance to win it all. next year or the year after, but not this year....the team is just too young/inexperienced to start selling prospects.
chitownsfinest got it right... I heard the exact same news circulating here in Illinois; there was no interest in Iguchi until Utley got hurt as all of the contending teams had their secondbaseman set. This trade was about bringing up a player from AAA who is hitting .346 down there. Danny Richar... not sure about the spelling of that last name though.
I'd like to hear from The_Dan to explain how in the world Pat Gillick owns Kenny Williams. The White Sox fleeced Philly in the Garcia trade, even though Gavin Floyd for Garcia is a wash, they Sox freed up $10 million in salary they used to resign their own players (like Mark Buehrle). Plus, we don't know what Gio Gonzalez is going to do. He also got Jim Thome essentially for Aaron Rowand, which by far favors Chicago (Williams also convinced Gillick to pay half of Thome's salary. Any wonder why they had a tough time locking up Ryan Howard last year?). The Iguchi trade will end up a wash in the worst case scenario, as Williams wanted to dump Iguchi in the worst way since they are going nowhere this season and wanted to see what their AAA prospect could do.
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