Sox acquire Adam Eaton from ARZ, deal Santiago, Jacobs

[RockRaines]

It's more like Jake Peavy, Alex Rios, Matt Thorton and Hector Santiago for Leury Garcia, Avisail Garcia, and Adam Eaton plus a ton of cash. We used the ton of cash and signed Abreu.

Exactly, but dont let facts get in the way of b****ing.

[bear_brian]

It's nice to pick and choose when you analyze trades, but Peavy, Rios, et. al has really netted us L. Garcia, A. Garcia, Abreu, Eaton, Paulino, Rosario, and an extension for Matt Lindstrom, with cash left to do a few other things if we want. I'd say that is pretty good, especially when you look at Peavy's downside, Rios and his ups and downs, etc.

[Buehrle>Wood]

Exactly, but dont let facts get in the way of b****ing.

You're just twisting what I said, though. Abreu wasn't part of those deals. I never said we shouldnt trade those guys and save cash, just that we only recieved less than a meaningful prospect for each.

[fathom]

It's nice to pick and choose when you analyze trades, but Peavy, Rios, et. al has really netted us L. Garcia, A. Garcia, Abreu, Eaton, Paulino, Rosario, and an extension for Matt Lindstrom, with cash left to do a few other things if we want. I'd say that is pretty good, especially when you look at Peavy's downside, Rios and his ups and downs, etc.

 

I still believe that the Rangers RIDICULOUS trade they made for Garza messed up everyone's expectations for what Peavy would net the Sox.

[Soxfest]

Jacobs no big loss. Still like the deal.

[Buehrle>Wood]

I still believe that the Rangers RIDICULOUS trade they made for Garza messed up everyone's expectations for what Peavy would net the Sox.

This is true too. Cubs absolutely fleeced there. It would be nice to see the Sox on the right side of a fleecing like that in the near future.

[SoxFan1]

Interesting (but not surprising) that these talks started with ARI asking for Sale.

 

Probably went something like this:

 

Towers: "Hey, we'd really like to bring Chris Sale to Arizona."

 

Hahn: "Sure, let's start with Archie Bradley, Tyler Skaggs and Adam Eaton."

 

Towers: "Ya know....let's explore some other options."

[Jake]

I still believe that the Rangers RIDICULOUS trade they made for Garza messed up everyone's expectations for what Peavy would net the Sox.

 

Of course, Edwards is the only player in that deal who still looks like he's worth a s*** and he's in A-ball.

[toasty]

Jim Callis via Twitter:

Soon-to-be #Diamondbacks OF Brandon Jacobs: Auburn RB recruit, plus RH power potential but inconsistent contact, solid run, LF arm.

(PTBNL) Edited December 10, 2013 by toasty

[CWSpalehoseCWS]

Jacobs isn't that much of a loss. Odd the Sox gave up on him so fast, but they must have seen something they didn't like. Plus the Sox have Trayce Thompson, Adam Engel, and Jacob May. All of which IMO have better value than Jacobs.

[WHarris1]

Jeff Sullivan on Fan Graphs

For the Sox, it’s basically a swap of Santiago for Eaton. The player to be named isn’t valueless, but he’s probably not a prospect of note, so it keeps things cleaner to think of this as a one-for-one. Santiago is a cost-controlled starter who can eat up some innings in the back of a rotation. Eaton, though, is a different kind of cost-controlled starter, and there’s a good chance he’ll be able to play a regular center field going forward. He even comes with an extra year before free agency.

 

Santiago’s strength is that he can miss some bats. The rest of his reality is that he doesn’t throw enough strikes or generate a high number of grounders, and you can see where this is going — his peripherals don’t come close to matching his sub-4 ERA, and in cases like this we always side with the peripherals. As a starter, Santiago looks below-average, with limited room for improvement. There’s some chance he ends up a reliever, which he was in 2012. He’s a potential long-term player who’s not a real long-term asset.

 

Eaton’s coming off a year of reduced stock, thanks in large part to an elbow injury that cost him playing time. There exist some questions about his defensive capability, and he’s a groundball guy more than he’s a power guy. What he does is make contact, run well, and mostly swing at the right pitches, which seems to establish something of a modest floor with limited upside. Of course, players like Eaton have failed before, but for a long time, for low prices, he could be average or a little better than that. That’s better than Santiago, which is the only thing that matters here.

[flavum]

https://twitter.com/DCameronFG/status/410552620357787648

 

The nerds like the trade.

[RockRaines]

You're just twisting what I said, though. Abreu wasn't part of those deals. I never said we shouldnt trade those guys and save cash, just that we only recieved less than a meaningful prospect for each.

He was though, and the Sox turned the saved money into what was basically a blockbuster FA deal for the Sox. Not only that but they have a cost-controlled core for almost 5 more years. Thats incredible.

[macsandz]

Of course, Edwards is the only player in that deal who still looks like he's worth a s*** and he's in A-ball.

 

Aside from delusional Cub fans I still don't see why people think the Garza deal was such a haul.

[macsandz]

He was though, and the Sox turned the saved money into what was basically a blockbuster FA deal for the Sox. Not only that but they have a cost-controlled core for almost 5 more years. Thats incredible.

+1

[Baron]

Hey Bucket whats the deal with this Juan Uribe rumor? Caused some confusion earlier.

[RockRaines]

Dont forget, if you have a younger cost-effective core and you are close to competing, you now have the money to buy an impact arm or bat.

[Buehrle>Wood]

He was though, and the Sox turned prospectssaved money into what was basically a blockbuster FA deal for the Sox. Not only that but they have a cost-controlled core for almost 5 more years. Thats incredible.

That's still not what I said though. Let me put it this way. The Red Sox could have given up their top ten prospects or one low A pitcher. Either way it would not have affected our signing of Abreu.

[Rowand44]

Eaton called himself a grinder.

[SoxFan1]

My buddy from Arizona: "He's going to be an absolute stud. Guy can hit for average, steal bases, is patient, and will be a great lead off hitter. (Juan Pierre when he was good with more HR)"

[Dunt]

Aside from delusional Cub fans I still don't see why people think the Garza deal was such a haul.

 

I think a lot of people saw Olt's name, saw that he was ranked highly, and did no research after that

[Reddy]

My buddy from Arizona: "He's going to be an absolute stud. Guy can hit for average, steal bases, is patient, and will be a great lead off hitter. (Juan Pierre when he was good with more HR)"

agreed

[BigEdWalsh]

Interview w/Eaton's parents

[Y2Jimmy0]

Keith Law is a fan of the Paulino signing and the acquisition of Adam Eaton. UH-OH haha.

 

Angels' haul

 

Hector Santiago gives the Angels a solid back-end starter option, a fifth-starter floor with the potential for more if he can continue to throw more strikes. Santiago is unique among major league starters as a practitioner of the almost-lost art of throwing the screwball, a pitch that can be hard on the elbow but is especially effective because major league hitters never see it.

 

His fastball is just average and he's been fly ball-prone, but the latter is less of a problem in Angel Stadium than in U.S. Cellular Field. Santiago's main issue has been lack of control, although he cut his walk rate from 13.1 percent to 11 percent from 2012 to 2013, and I doubt he'll ever be better than "adequate" in that department, but he can miss enough bats to be worth maybe 2 WAR and fill 180 or so innings, both of which fill a real need for the Angels in the short term.

 

Tyler Skaggs was originally drafted by the Angels and went to Arizona in the Dan Haren trade, making this the second time that Angels GM Jerry Dipoto -- who used to work for Arizona -- has traded for him. Still just 22 years old, Skaggs took a step back in 2013 as the Diamondbacks shortened his stride, resulting in a higher release point that cost him several miles per hour on his fastball and depth on his breaking ball. Lengthen him out so he finishes out over his front side again and he should be back to 90-94 mph again with the hammer he had as recently as 2012, when he projected as a potential No. 2 starter and was the best left-handed starter prospect in the game.

 

Both Skaggs and Santiago are pre-arbitration players, so the Angels save nearly $4 million in the transaction for 2014.

 

Chicago fills a need

 

The White Sox picked up a player who was a favorite of mine heading into the 2013 season, outfielder Adam Eaton, a scrappy, hard-nosed, grinder type who has worked to make himself into a good enough defender that he could be average in center with work on his reads and above average or better in a corner.

 

He has an outstanding approach at the plate, getting himself into a lot of hitter's counts with the ability to foul off pitches he doesn't feel like he can take. He's an above-average runner whose only real negative is fringy power that could end up as 15-plus homers in the White Sox's homer-friendly home park.

 

Alejandro De Aza is their incumbent center fielder, so Eaton could end up replacing Alex Rios in right, posting a .370-380 OBP with very good defense. Santiago has value to them, but they have more arms who can replace him (like Erik Johnson) while they don't have anyone with Eaton's OBP potential -- Rios led the team in 2013 with a .328 mark before he was traded.

 

Trumbo a square peg in Arizona

 

The Diamondbacks' end of this leaves me at a total loss. They acquired a player they didn't need who doesn't fit their current roster and gave up two young, cheap, controllable assets on whom they seem to have completely soured in the past 10 months. Mark Trumbo is a very limited player overall -- he can only play first base and his huge raw power (at least a 70 on the 20-80) scale is mitigated by his inability to hit breaking stuff, resulting in chronic sub-.300 OBPs.

 

With Paul Goldschmidt kind of OK over there at first, Trumbo will have to play left field, which will bring back memories of Ryan Klesko for those of you old enough to remember that adventure; I can picture the Diamondbacks' front office sitting there at Salt River Fields in late March and wondering what the heck they've done. The minor leaguers coming to Arizona -- one from the Angels, reportedly fringy relief prospect AJ Schugel, and one from the White Sox -- don't matter enough to change the fact this is a net loss of value for the Diamondbacks.

 

There could be a ripple effect for Arizona, as now third baseman Matt Davidson becomes a surplus asset with Martin Prado likely moving from left field to third base. The Diamondbacks also have two comparable shortstops in Didi Gregorius and Chris Owings, only needing to keep one of them, and could try to use these two players to fill any remaining holes.

[fathom]

I think a lot of people saw Olt's name, saw that he was ranked highly, and did no research after that

 

I'm not a fan of Olt. However, Edwards had an incredible season last year.