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DePodesta makes his First Major Trade
A veritable cornucopia of trades have recently been completed in the major leagues that deserve a look at. Many of these trades are for tweaking a contending ball club while building the minor league system of another.
Yet one trade stands out amongst the rest in the amount of talent traded. While other teams were dealing for bench help or bullpen building, the Dodgers added a player of All-Star caliber (and Carl Everett disgruntledness). New Dodgers GM Paul DePodesta traded for Milton Bradley to improve an offense that was last in the majors in scoring at 3.54 runs per game. Milton will come in and immediately take over the centerfield job of Dave Roberts, the Dodgers mediocre leadoff man. Although the Dodgers moved Roberts over to left and placed Shawn Green at first base in their first game of the season, that plan of action may not stick. Green struggled at first during spring training and may be more relaxed in the outfield with Bradley and Juan Encarnacion. This would send Roberts to the bench and DePodesta looking for a leadoff hitter that can play the infield.
Sure, this trade will help the Dodgers offense immensely as Bradley has the ability to hit 20-25 home runs while stealing 30 bases and carrying a high batting average, but is it worth it? Milton’s explosive attitude has been well documented in both the Expos and Indians organizations. There are even reports that Bradley attached two baseball cards to his locker of those he had altercations with last year, one of which was Paul LoDuca.
As for the Indians, many baseball professionals are already lauding Indians GM Mark Shapiro for what he has received in the trade. Knowing that he must trade a player with a marked past, he still received a sizeable return for the good hitting centerfielder. In return Shapiro received Franklin Gutierrez the Dodgers 3rd best prospect and a player to be named later from a choice of three. Speculation is surrounding Joel Hanrahan.
Franklin Gutierrez is a legitimate 5-tool prospect, he can hit for a good average, with power, steal bases, play good defense and has a good arm. Last year Franklin hit .284/20/80 at A and AA levels while having 24 stolen bases. There is still a chance that he won’t amount to much since he’s still a prospect, but some are claiming that they traded a Sosa-like player away. To ease a Dodger fan on this thought, Willy Mo Pena has been compared to Sosa a lot too.
If Joel Hanrahan is the second prospect, the Indians would benefit from a good innings eater that is nearly ready for the majors. Last year at Jacksonville, Joel only allowed 117 hits in 133 innings, while striking out 130. He also carried a good 2.43 ERA in 23 starts for the Dodgers’ Double-A affiliate. While he will not be an ace, Joel could be a decent 3-4 spot pitcher in the Indians rotation.
While Bradley is a star, his volatile attitude could make him go from stud to dud in little time. He is a proven player though, with a low amount of service time in the majors that should keep his salary relatively low for a few years and the spark that he will provide to the lineup and the defense should have immediate impacts. Yet in Paul DePodesta’s first major trade, did he give up too much?
UPDATE: The Indians grabbed pitcher Andrew Brown instead of Joel Hanrahan as the PTBNL
Fearless Predictions
| AL East | |
| New York Yankees | Twins v.Yankees |
| Boston Red Sox | |
| Toronto Blue Jays | |
| Baltimore Orioles | |
| Tampa Bay Devil Rays | |
| AL Central | |
| Minnesota Twins |
Yankees v. Angels
|
| Chicago White Sox | |
| Kansas City Royals | |
| Cleveland Indians | |
| Detroit Tigers | |
| AL West | Angels’ v. Red Sox (wc) |
| Anaheim Angels | |
| Oakland A’s | |
| Seattle Mariners | |
| Texas Rangers | |
| NL East | |
| Philadelphia Phillies | Phillies v. Diamondbacks |
| Atlanta Braves | |
| Florida Marlins | |
| Montreal Expos | |
| New York Mets | |
| NL Central |
Phillies v. Cubs
|
| Chicago Cubs | |
| Houston Astros | |
| St Louis Cardinals | |
| Cincinatti Reds | |
| Milwaukee Brewers | |
| Pittsburg Pirates | |
| NL West | |
| Arizona Diamondbacks | Cubs v. Braves (wc) |
| San Diego Padres | |
| San Francisco Giants | |
| Los Angeles Dodgers | |
| Colorado Rockies |
In the end, the Cub’s beat the Yankees in extra innings on a double from Derek Lee during the sixth game of the World Series.
Subline: Wood Starts game and Prior finishes ala D-Backs ’01
NL MVP:
- Albert Pujols
- Sammy Sosa (Cubs to WS may tempt more votes)
- Barry Bonds (Alfonzo may be worse protection than Santiago)
- Jim Thome
- Richie Sexson
AL MVP:
- Manny Ramirez
- Garrett Anderson
- Vlad Guerrero
- Alex Rodriguez (Yankee Stadium not favorable to RH too many stars to vote on)
- Vernon Wells
NL Cy Young
- Kerry Wood
- Josh Beckett
- Roy Oswalt
- Brandon Webb
- Mike Hampton
AL Cy Young
- Javier Vazquez
- Bartolo Colon
- Kevin Brown
- Barry Zito
- Curt Schiliing
NL Rookie of the Year
- Khalil Greene
- Edwin Jackson
- Kaz Matsui
- Chase Utley
- Adam Wainwright
AL Rookie of the Year
- Joe Mauer
- Bobby Crosby
- Justin Morneau (qualifies?)
- Zach Greinke
- Alexis Rios
Comebacks as ranked by impact
- Jermaine Dye
- Corey Patterson
- Randy Johnson
- Junior Griffey
- Trevor Hoffman
- Freddy Garcia
Breakouts
- Josh Beckett
- Jake Peavy
- Mark Teixeira
- Larry Bigbie
- Jeremy Affeldt
- Jose Contreras
- Josh Phelps
- Carlos Zambrano
- Sean Burroughs
- Adam Eaton
Stars to Superstars
- Derek Lee
- Javier Vazquez
- Vernon Wells
- Brandon Webb
- Hank Blalock
- Aramis Ramirez
Fading Stars
- Andy Pettite (Minute Maid Park, overvalued as a Yankee)
- Hideo Nomo Velocity)
- Robb Nen (Shoulder problems may linger)
- Greg Maddux (Out of Turner Field (see Millwood/Glavine), age, k-zone)
- Pedro Martinez (Velocity)
- Raul Ibanez (Safeco)
- John Olerud (Age will finally creep up)
- Bernie Williams (Lower on batting order, platooning, mult. Injuries)
- Kenny Lofton (You actually think you’re going to play everyday with that team?)
Number of times Milton Bradley will blow up: 4
Number of time Lou Pinella will throw a fit: 7 (will kick the rosin bag once to increase the number of things kicked)
Number of losses by the Detroit Tigers: 98 (good initial recovery by Dombrowski)
Number of trades DePodesta will do for the Dodgers by next offseason: 32
If you want to make your predictions like I did above, send it to baseballopinion@hotmail.com and it could be posted in the Beer and Peanuts section.
