Nineteen players, six different deals, five different teams.
It was quite the 24-hour period in the JLB as a simple outfield swap of J.D. Martinez and Yoenis Cespedes ignited the hot stove which had been quiet since November.
The Choo, of course, was at the center of four of the five deals.
In total, he sent Yoenis Cespedes, Shelby Miller, David Ortiz, Jose Berrios, Danny Salazar, Nomar Mazara, Prince Fielder and Matt Carpenter packing, along with the No. 1 overall pick.
In return, he brings in Noah Syndergaard, Robert Stephenson, Nolan Arenado, Nathan Karns, Dellin Betances, J.D. Martinez and Zack Wheeler.
Just your typical spring cleaning for the Choo. He can't start a baseball season with the same furniture in the house. He must dust everything off, post it on that new app "Let Go," and sell it quickly to make room for new toys.
Is he better?
He did ship off a lot to get what he wanted, but I think it worked. He has the best — or if your a fan of the Outs third base situation, one of the top three — third basemen in fantasy baseball, and he added a top-minor-league-eligible arm in Noah Syndergaard to take the place of Shelby Miller. He now will keep just two vet starting pitchers, and all three Yankees relievers. He also flips Cespedes for a right fielder with similar numbers, basically a wash on paper.
There are some pieces in there he may miss dearly, but his love for Arenado was too much to overcome. I know he wasn't alone in that.
In the other deals, it's the Sam Man — name still pending, I presume — getting two decent bats in Matt Carpenter and Prince Fielder to replace the production lost by Arenado. He also gets Nomar Mazara, who in the long run, may make this deal a complete win for Sam. It wouldn't be the first time Choo has traded the next great outfielder. That, and Danny Salazar still has the upside to make this deal a win-win-win-win for Sam.
His other deal, not so much.
Sonny Gray was an easy acquisition for the Old Steaks.
Corey Dickerson is ... well, I'm not going to waste much time on him. Just go back to last year's column on him, and then add in the fact that I was 1) correct about his 2015 season in Colorado, and 2) he only played 65 games. Of those 65, 42 were away from home where he batted .257 with a .272 OBP and a 42:3 strikeout-to-walk ratio. He played 23 games at home, batting .395 with a .446 OBP and 14:7 ratio.
I guess the good news is, the Rays are traveling to Colorado in July for a 3-game series, so there's a good chance you'll get a nice 5-for-12 showing.
The other players in that deal from the Over-the-Hill Steaks includes Gio Gonzalez and Carter Capps.
Gonzalez is a third keeper at best, so that's all we need to know about him.
Capps is probably the best player coming back in the deal after posting 16.84 strikeouts per nine innings. In total, he had 58 in 31 innings, so project that out over 70 innings, and you have yourself a very valuable fantasy reliever.
The only problem is, he's projected to toss just 30 innings again this year, which doesn't bode well.
All in all, I would have rolled with Grichuk in LF, kept Sonny Gray and drafted Carter Capps if I was that in love with him, but that's just me.
Overall, Sam's first day of trading earns him a B-plus. He made out really well for Arenado, but came up short for Gray.
Chalupa on face value may have come up short for Syndergaard, but Berrios and what will inevitably be Dansby Swanson could easily make the deal swing his way in the long term. Plus, David Ortiz had 108 RBIs last year, so added with Jose Abreu and Carlos Gonzalez, the Batman has some real pop in the lineup.
He'll have to focus on pitching in the draft, or in future trades, but the good thing is, he's going to have an offense that can swing with the rest of them in the American League.
Lastly, there's the Shelby Miller deal — pending JLB approval. For the Choo, he gets a reliever who struck out 14.04 per nine innings last season, and unlike Carter Capps, Betances will go out there for 70-plus innings. And that's huge, adding 125 strikeouts to your pitching staff without wasting a starting pitching slot.
Choo also grabs Zack Wheeler, who will come back in July, and keeps Jeff Samardzija with Clayton Kershaw and Noah Syndergaard.
Well, that is at least the plan right now. We all know Choo changes plans like Juan Uribe changes teams.
So does Shelby Miller. He's made the JLB rounds, but he's finally back home where he started. In 2012 he was traded from the Slammers to Choo, who then passed him around.
Now he joins Chris Archer and Dallas Keuchel to form a trio of keepers that could rival what the Outs will bring into 2016 — or at least, that's the goal.
The Choo, of course, was at the center of four of the five deals.
In total, he sent Yoenis Cespedes, Shelby Miller, David Ortiz, Jose Berrios, Danny Salazar, Nomar Mazara, Prince Fielder and Matt Carpenter packing, along with the No. 1 overall pick.
In return, he brings in Noah Syndergaard, Robert Stephenson, Nolan Arenado, Nathan Karns, Dellin Betances, J.D. Martinez and Zack Wheeler.
Just your typical spring cleaning for the Choo. He can't start a baseball season with the same furniture in the house. He must dust everything off, post it on that new app "Let Go," and sell it quickly to make room for new toys.
Is he better?
He did ship off a lot to get what he wanted, but I think it worked. He has the best — or if your a fan of the Outs third base situation, one of the top three — third basemen in fantasy baseball, and he added a top-minor-league-eligible arm in Noah Syndergaard to take the place of Shelby Miller. He now will keep just two vet starting pitchers, and all three Yankees relievers. He also flips Cespedes for a right fielder with similar numbers, basically a wash on paper.
There are some pieces in there he may miss dearly, but his love for Arenado was too much to overcome. I know he wasn't alone in that.
In the other deals, it's the Sam Man — name still pending, I presume — getting two decent bats in Matt Carpenter and Prince Fielder to replace the production lost by Arenado. He also gets Nomar Mazara, who in the long run, may make this deal a complete win for Sam. It wouldn't be the first time Choo has traded the next great outfielder. That, and Danny Salazar still has the upside to make this deal a win-win-win-win for Sam.
His other deal, not so much.
Sonny Gray was an easy acquisition for the Old Steaks.
Corey Dickerson is ... well, I'm not going to waste much time on him. Just go back to last year's column on him, and then add in the fact that I was 1) correct about his 2015 season in Colorado, and 2) he only played 65 games. Of those 65, 42 were away from home where he batted .257 with a .272 OBP and a 42:3 strikeout-to-walk ratio. He played 23 games at home, batting .395 with a .446 OBP and 14:7 ratio.
I guess the good news is, the Rays are traveling to Colorado in July for a 3-game series, so there's a good chance you'll get a nice 5-for-12 showing.
The other players in that deal from the Over-the-Hill Steaks includes Gio Gonzalez and Carter Capps.
Gonzalez is a third keeper at best, so that's all we need to know about him.
Capps is probably the best player coming back in the deal after posting 16.84 strikeouts per nine innings. In total, he had 58 in 31 innings, so project that out over 70 innings, and you have yourself a very valuable fantasy reliever.
The only problem is, he's projected to toss just 30 innings again this year, which doesn't bode well.
All in all, I would have rolled with Grichuk in LF, kept Sonny Gray and drafted Carter Capps if I was that in love with him, but that's just me.
Overall, Sam's first day of trading earns him a B-plus. He made out really well for Arenado, but came up short for Gray.
Chalupa on face value may have come up short for Syndergaard, but Berrios and what will inevitably be Dansby Swanson could easily make the deal swing his way in the long term. Plus, David Ortiz had 108 RBIs last year, so added with Jose Abreu and Carlos Gonzalez, the Batman has some real pop in the lineup.
He'll have to focus on pitching in the draft, or in future trades, but the good thing is, he's going to have an offense that can swing with the rest of them in the American League.
Lastly, there's the Shelby Miller deal — pending JLB approval. For the Choo, he gets a reliever who struck out 14.04 per nine innings last season, and unlike Carter Capps, Betances will go out there for 70-plus innings. And that's huge, adding 125 strikeouts to your pitching staff without wasting a starting pitching slot.
Choo also grabs Zack Wheeler, who will come back in July, and keeps Jeff Samardzija with Clayton Kershaw and Noah Syndergaard.
Well, that is at least the plan right now. We all know Choo changes plans like Juan Uribe changes teams.
So does Shelby Miller. He's made the JLB rounds, but he's finally back home where he started. In 2012 he was traded from the Slammers to Choo, who then passed him around.
Now he joins Chris Archer and Dallas Keuchel to form a trio of keepers that could rival what the Outs will bring into 2016 — or at least, that's the goal.
Comments