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Trade Bait: Lidle is Traded to the Blue Jays
Toronto Blue Jays made a significant upgrade to their rotation early in what could be an interesting offseason. They acquired Cory Lidle for two minor leaguers.
The trade was obviously a salary dump for the Oakland A’s. ”I think there’s no question payroll was part of the motivation…” said A’s general manager Billy Beane. Lidle was slated to earn $4.8 million ext year, approximately 1/10th of the entire team’s salary. Your 4th starter is not supposed to take up that much of of team salary, simple baseball economics.
Blue Jays GM J.P. Ricciardi in turn significantly upgraded his rotation at an affordable price. His cost-conscious moves in the past year, including the dumping of the Mondesi and Gonzalez contracts have opened up more than enough room for the Blue Jays to take on the additional salary.
Lidle went 8-10 last season with a 3.89 ERA, including an August when he went 5-0. His overall record would have been better if he didn’t get off to a slow start. Supposedly, he had changed something that affected his delivery and reduced the amount of sink on the ball that his style of pitching depends on. Although I don’t think he is the ideal no. 2 starter (3rd would be just right), he should be much better than their current options.
Oakland won’t be hurting much from the loss. Though some reports have Aaron Harang in the 4th spot, I have more belief in Lilly to stay healthy than others do. He is also a better pitcher than Harang and could win 10-13 games next year.
Harang will be a good 5th starter or long-man if they want to bring up some stud like Harden, Arnold, Wood, Rheinecker or whatever stud they can pull out of their pocket this year.
The two prospects Oakland acquired in the trade are infielder Mike Rouse and right-handed pitcher Chris Mowday. They don’t look like significant prospects, just roster fillers for the minor league teams. Rouse could be a decent left-handed utility man with some pop though.
In the end, the only way Beane will come out bad on this deal is if Lidle gets 16+ wins and one of his three Cy Young winners goes down with a major injury. J.P. could look bad if he took on $4.8 million and Lidle falls on his face under the pressure of his position and being away from the friendly confines of Oakland’s ballpark.
