A's trade log

[Giants]

Rays Receive
Blake 7-Beavan
Clayton 7-Mortensen

A's Receive
Jason Giambi
Brian Bogusevic
Robbie 8-Ross

Persistence pays off. As soon as it became apparent that Jason Giambi was heading back to Oakland I sent Pat the following message: With Giambi apparently headed back to the real life A's it looks like your bad luck that I'm going to have to hound you for him til you give him to me (just ask Kelly how that goes Very Happy), there must be someone on my roster who's going to be more useful to you than a 37 year old 1B/DH. Let me know.

Three weeks of fun negotiations later here we are. Giambi obviously fills a massive hole for me, and continues my trend of having the real life A's aging DH in my lineup (Thomas 2006 Piazza 2007 Thomas 2008 Giambi 2009, that's a good trend). Pat and I both believe that Beavan is a terrific bounceback candidate considering how well he pitched without his best stuff, which we both believe will come back this year. Mortensen is a very low risk prospect who at worst will be a ROOGY and at best a decent SP, but I am overstocked on arms and understocked on bats. So we bring in some more lefty mashers, which should help since the division is full of tough right handed pitching. Giambi is pretty self explanatory, and I'm a big fan of Brian Bogusevic, the only prospect of note who was at Tulane when I was there. I've got a number of longer term prospects on my roster right now (Villalona, Stanton, Inoa, Melville, d'Arnaud and Valle are 2+ years away), so it's nice to add some closer to MLB ready talent. He's not as high upside as Michael Taylor, but he has a chance to be a good CF, and you can never have too many of those. I really want to thank Pat for ensuring that one way or another I will at least have fun this season.

[Giants]

Cardinals Receive

Danny 8-Espinosa
Ryan Raburn

A's Receive

Vernon Wells
Brock 7-Huntzinger

I don't know if anyone remembers this, but when I took over the Rangers they were actually built around Vernon Wells. This was pre-OOPSS, so I can't find the exact details of the trade, but I think I traded him for Randy Winn and Jimmy Rollins or something like that (I don't think either player was even on my team opening day, and then there was a minidraft after that season anyway). So it's a bit of a homecoming for Vernon, who I still like. He's been a bit of a BABIP victim this year and I'm hopeful that he turns it around some, and with Mike Cameron aging and Brandon Crawford hitting AA in his full-season debut I thought it was a worthwhile gamble to give up Espinosa for Wells. Not sure how much he'll play this year, but I'm happy to have him.

[Cardinals]

I saw Crawford play on Saturday. He throws from SS to 1B like a girl. He'll be a 2B.

[Giants]

Interesting. I saw him throw strikes in San Jose, they definitely promoted him too fast.

[Dodgers]

Actually, it was Friday. He looked lost at the plate too, some of the worst swing and misses of the game.

[Giants]

A's get:
Brian Tallet
Rocco Baldelli

Pirates get:
Kiko Calero
Dave Ross

Rocco Baldelli and Kiko Calero might be the two most useful players who can't get any love in the MLB, if either guy doesn't sign one of us will look dumb, but we do what we can. I liked Calero, but was a little disappointed by his Zips, and with Ziegler's projection I'm really deep from the right side. Tallet I'll almost certainly use as a reliever, though the starter projection could be useful if I have the same kind of injury run I had last year. Baldelli is a depth pickup for me, I realized that if something were to happen to Mike Cameron I had nothing in centerfield, Baldelli gives me a 100 OPS+ and AV defense, so basically I get an average player instead of a crappy one, and he's always a guy with some upside. JP wanted Ross for his arm (no reason to want his bat after he got jobbed by Zips), and I have 2 VG arms in Posey and Wagner so I felt like I could make this deal.

[Giants]

Well that last trade turned into a bit of a bust. At least I got Calero back. In any case, made a couple of trades with Nick that are worth updating here, moving out some this year pieces to bring in some next year pieces. I'll just treat the two trades as one deal.

A's Get:
Cody Ross
Jason Vargas
Kyle McClellan
Blake Tekotte

Phillies Get:
Chad Qualls
Casey Blake
Ben Francisco

Nick's holes in the bullpen are well documented, and while Qualls has struggled this year (though his peripherals suggest he should be better), he's still got a pedigree as a solid closer and he should be a solid piece for the rest of the year. Casey Blake is another solid sim vet who's on the wrong side of the 30, and so the chance to get value for him while he still has value was exciting. Francisco basically replaces Ross for Nick as a righthanded corner OF bat, and he has a surprisingly solid projection for this season (not that it did me any good).

On my end, Kyle McClellan may well better be a better reliever than Qualls going forward, I like his potential. Cody Ross is something of an answer for what happens after Mike Cameron, and Blake Tekotte is a nice little CF prospect who's not as good as his Cal league inflated performance but who's definitely a high floor guy and a pretty good shot at a solid career. And then I can add a mid rotation starter for next year on the back end? Sign me up for this one and Nick I hope those guys do more for your playoff run than they did for mine.

[Giants]

A's Get:
Adam Dunn
Brandon McCarthy

Padres Get:
Chris Archer
Travis d'Arnaud
Robbie Ross
Michael Ynoa

First of all, I've got six eggs so I'm counting on at least 10 chickens once they hatch (in my head this is very funny, sorry if it doesn't work for you). The great white whale is gone. Basically if you look at my team you see glaring holes at the corner infield spots and the need for a left handed power hitter. With Brett joining the division said left handed power hitter needs to be no fucking joke. I'd more or less resigned myself to selling pieces and looking to the future, and suddenly Adam Dunn is available. Basically the only guys that would have made me change my rebuilding tune would be Dunn, Votto, Howard, or Chipper circa 2003. This has been an offseason of cockblocks for me, and I wasn't going to be denied Dunn.

Archer was my best trade chip as well as the Cubs (ironically enough on the same day), Travis d'Arnaud I expect to be an above average big league regular by 2013, and Robbie Ross should be a solid mid rotation starter alongside the ultimate lottery ticket in Ynoa. I feel really good about this deal for both sides, I needed one more bat to feel like I had an honest chance against Brett and now I've got him. I wouldn't say I'm discounting Seattle either, and I think with this trade we're suddenly going to have an AL West race we can be proud of (when was the last time that happened?). Stephen, good luck buddy!

[Giants]

A's Get:
Andrew Miller
Jason Giambi

Pirates Get:
Brett Myers
Jason Bay

So what a weird trade on the surface, but here's where I'm at. Grand slam yesterday not withstanding, I've seen a fair bit of Jason Bay this year and I'm pretty sure he's done. I've got a suspicion that guys by and large never come back from those kind of concussions (before Morneau went down he was equally providing evidence on this point), and with God alone knows what is happening to Dunn I couldn't risk having two useless albatrosses like that (and I have a lot more faith in Dunn coming back than Bay).

I also have been talking about selling off pieces and building for next year, but it's really hard to do that when you're up by 5.5 games and one rival loses his ace pitcher and the other loses his cleanup hitter. So dumping Bay made sense, but no one was offering me anything for him, however, and JP was interested in Brett Myers. I really like Andrew Miller and was bummed that JP beat me to him (after JP cut him, son of a bitch lol), and I think Myers is on the way down, Liam Hendriks has been simming well, and I've got Zito healthy now to take the rotation spot with the same ERA+ projection. I also don't think Myers will be one of my top 5 starters next year, and I don't like the velocity drop.

Anyway that brings me to the second part of the trade, why the hell do I want Giambi? The answer is, I'm 5.5 games up, so I'm going to have fun. I needed some more lefty pop in the lineup anyway, so I'm going to install Giambi at DH, Pudge at C, and give 1997 one last run. When that falters badly and Brett wins 15 straight I will then happily sell of all my pieces in July

[Giants]

A's Get
Renato Nunez
Raul Alcantara
#thelegend

Red Sox Get
Andres Torres

So the problem with taking a bunch of high ceiling youngsters is the inevitable roster crunch, which I think I was able to benefit from here. Andres Torres looked pretty bad last year, and somehow I don't think he'll do well in the glare of the NY spotlight, but he does have an EX defense projection and a legitimate bat so he should be a real useful piece next year as Pat tries to take down JB. Meanwhile I get to add some youth and ceiling to my farm system, I'm particularly excited about Alfaro, and it is fun to have two more real life A's prospects.

[Giants]

A's Get:
Jackie Bradley
Kyle Crick

Reds Get:
Santiago Casilla
Ryan Doumit

So done with watching Ryan Doumit go on the DL every year just when I need him. These were actually two separate trades for individual second round picks, but now that all the picks are made I figure I'll just lump them into one here. Already said plenty about Bradley and Crick, my essential point is that this trade is once again a bit of a youth movement thing. Let's see how it plays out, I hope I'm not too high on Bradley.

[Giants]

A's Get :
Hector Sanchez
Casey Crosby

Angels Get:
Mason 10-Williams

Mason Williams was probably my second best prospect after Bogaerts, but he's also incredibly far away, and I really needed to balance out my system with some closer to the majors types. Hector Sanchez is going to get the first crack at being Buster Posey insurance, he raked in the VWL, and the Giants track record with Venezuelan switch hitting catchers who jumped from A+ to the majors is pretty terrific. I believe the real gem of this deal is Crosby, who I've read positive reports on, seems to finally be healthy, and just needs to get his command back under control (likely to come now that he's more than a year out from TJ), before he's ready to be a pretty nice pitcher in a rotation.

[Giants]

A's Get
Johan Santana

Nationals Get
Chris Davis
Tony Watson

I'm definitely taking a risk on this trade, but what I saw last year with Santana was a guy working his way back from surgery who ran out of gas, and I believe he'll be back to form next year and will give me a couple of years of really solid production. I've been a huge fan of Chris Davis, but I've already got two of him in Adam Dunn and Brandon Moss, with a third on the way in a couple of years in Dan Vogelbach. In other news, my rotation next year will for the first time in the eight years I've been in the league have 5 pitchers who actually start for their teams in real life (assuming no trades or injuries).

[Giants]

A's Get:
Walker 12-Weickel
Jeff 11-Ames

Phillies Get:
Brandon Maurer
Thomas Field

As I mentioned in the draft thread I'm very high on Weickel, so as soon as he stopped falling I started bugging Nick about him. Maurer is a nice prospect who should be in a major league rotation soon, and he has some upside, so I think Nick got a nice piece from me. Field is a utility infielder who will get a SS projection and that should be helpful as well (if I didn't already have Crawford and Arias as backup SS's he'd be here still)

On top of Weickel I am very excited about Ames. At the beginning of the year the reports seemed fairly negative on him, but he was lights out in the NYPL and age appropriate at 21. I'm betting on the Rays pitching development pipeline to unlock Ames potential, I think we'll be hearing a lot more about him in the next couple years.

[Giants]

A's Get:
Todd Helton

Yankees Get:
Edward Salcedo

With Chipper Jones, the last active member of the 1997 all-star team, heading off into the sunset, I decided to honor the memory of the concept by trading for the last active guy who debuted in 1997. In all seriousness, have you guys been watching the projections? OBP looks like it's at a super premium this year, and Todd Helton looked like the cheapest source of OBP I could find. He also allows me to move Moss off of 1B and into a platoon with Cody Ross, which turns LF from an average spot to a potential plus in the lineup. Salcedo is a nice lottery ticket, but I just picked him up last week and I have a bunch of lottery tickets so I figured I'd cash this one in for the future hall of famer.

[Giants]

A's Get:
Chris 12-Stratton
Travis Blackley

Reds Get:
Ryan Vogelsong
Patrick 12-Wisdom

This trade was about righting a wrong, as I was totally preparing for Stratton to be my 1st round pick in this past draft. Unfortunately Ken grabbed him early at 15, guaranteeing that I'd be bothering him for some length of time. Several people have asked me if I'm dumping Vogelsong pre-injury, I don't think Vogelsong is hurt I think he's having absurdly bad HR luck. However, my park is turning anyone I throw into an ace, and if you can trade a 35 year old 3rd starter into a top 100 prospect I think you have to do it. Vogelsong bolsters Ken rotation this year, and really should give him at least another year or two after this one, and as for me I hope that Stratton will join Brandon McCarthy at the top of my guys who've been hit in the head by line drives and lived to tell about it rotation.

[Guardians]

A's Get:
Chris 12-Stratton
Travis Blackley

Reds Get:
Ryan Vogelsong
Patrick 12-Wisdom

This trade was about righting a wrong, as I was totally preparing for Stratton to be my 1st round pick in this past draft. Unfortunately Ken grabbed him early at 15, guaranteeing that I'd be bothering him for some length of time. Several people have asked me if I'm dumping Vogelsong pre-injury, I don't think Vogelsong is hurt I think he's having absurdly bad HR luck. However, my park is turning anyone I throw into an ace, and if you can trade a 35 year old 3rd starter into a top 100 prospect I think you have to do it. Vogelsong bolsters Ken rotation this year, and really should give him at least another year or two after this one, and as for me I hope that Stratton will join Brandon McCarthy at the top of my guys who've been hit in the head by line drives and lived to tell about it rotation.

Wait, you're rooting for Stratton to get hit in the head? You're sick, man. Real sick...

[Giants]

It happened last August!

http://blogs.clarionledger.com/msu/2012 ... itcher-ok/

[Guardians]

It happened last August!

http://blogs.clarionledger.com/msu/2012 ... itcher-ok/

I'll get Happ back and send him your way...

[Giants]

A's Get:
Lance Berkman

Indians Get:
Ty 12-Bloch
Renato Nunez

As much fun as the Micah Owings game has been, I'm definitely interested in bolstering my offense. I've been having nightmares about striking out 24 times in a playoff game (obviously Posey won't strike out but the rest of my lineup is pretty much a strikeout machine), and Berkman adds some much needed OBP along with a little pop, and he should still be a useful piece next year. Nunez is a really nice lottery ticket and Bloch is a good high floor prospect (who I literally picked up less than a week before I traded him, love when that happens), this is basically the kind of trade that both of our teams should be making. Hope it works out!

P.S. for those of you still miffed about the Arbitrary Spring Training Preview cliff hanger I've got something in the works to make up for it.

[Nationals]

P.S. for those of you still miffed about the Arbitrary Spring Training Preview cliff hanger I've got something in the works to make up for it.

Still miffed, still waiting

[Giants]

A's Get:
Pablo Sandoval

Mariners Get:
Kyle 11-Crick
Andrew 12-Heaney

The odyssey is over, I feel like I've loosely been chasing Panda since he emerged onto the scene, lost him to Pat T, then Ken, then gave up when he ended up in my division, but here we are. Third base is traditionally an offense heavy position, but those of us paying attention have noticed that 3Bs only hit as well as 2Bs on average, and this year only 12 3Bs have been worth more than 1 WAR through the first half of the season. You'll notice that Sandoval was not one of these, he's been hurt and he's been fighting a low BABIP, but his K rate hasn't spiked so I'm optimistic for a bounceback. I'd now put the young core of my lineup up with Posey, Stanton, Panda, and hopefully Xander next year up against anyone in the league. This was also definitely a bit of a win now move, as Panda is one of the top 10 3B, but it's rare you can add a 26 year old win now piece.

As for Ropers the deal makes sense, both Crick and Heaney should be top 100 prospects this year, he has Olt in the wings and he needs to rebuild. To be honest I wasn't expecting him to be willing to deal Panda in the division unless he was bending me over, but I think we ended up with a really fair deal here.

PS Check back All-Star Weekend for the promised make up for the Arbitrary previews

[Athletics]

PS Check back All-Star Weekend for the promised make up for the Arbitrary previews

Better be a damn good makeup with the wait we have had to endure.

[Giants]

A's Get: Danny Espinosa
Cardinals Get: Dale Thayer

Not much to say here. 2B is a black hole in my lineup, Espinosa will provide acceptable offense and VG defense, as opposed to my choice between Descalso and Ellis providing one of each. Who knows, he may not suck next year. Thayer is nice but the pen is a strength and I'm usually good at turning up random 7th inning guys from the waiver wire (like Thayer was earlier this year).

The funny part of this deal is that I sent Espinosa to Aaron for Vernon Wells in a deal much like this one. Full circle and all that.

[Giants]

A's Get: Tanner Roark, Joan Gregorio

Tigers Get: Jorge Alfaro, Hector Santiago, Dan Winkler

Hell yeah I'm biting on Roark. Santiago is an intriguing mid rotation SP as well, but I think Roark is going to be a solid contributor for a while. Hated giving up Alfaro, but lottery tickets exist to be cashed in and I think I got another one in Gregorio, a 6'7 21 year old who struck out 84 and walked only 17 in his full season debut (69 IP, had some blister problems). I'm also a sucker for Giants prospects. This looks like a fun deal for both of us.