Trades

[Yankees]

Guardians traded Guardians Draft Pick 5 to Padres for Tsung-Che 19-Cheng

Braves traded Braves Draft Pick 5 to Padres for Jack 21-Neely

Cheng and Neely are both real guys who may have real value as soon as next year.

I'm just overloaded in inf & rp, so moving some players for roster flexibility is a plus for me.

[Yankees]

Padres traded Nathan 0-Lavender, Guardians Draft Pick 5 to WhiteSox for WhiteSox Draft Pick 5

Lavender will no doubt be pitching in the pros soon.

Cleaning up the roster and I move up in the 5th round.

[Yankees]

Padres traded Royals Draft Pick 2 to Mariners for Nick Pratto, Mariners Draft Pick 5

2nd round pick in this draft is really good...

...but I've been after Pratto for a while. While he is coming off two bad, bad years, I still believe there's thunder in the bat and I'll pray that he either has a Witt breakout next year or leaves KC. I'm buying extremely low, and while that is probably for a good reason...it's a fun, fun upside.

[Yankees]

Marlins traded Jose Miranda, Xavier Edwards, Ryan Walker, 2023 Draft Pick 25 to Yankees for Alexis Diaz

Despite some end of season struggles, Diaz emerged as a very solid young closer this past season. He's really, really good.

In my rebuild, closers are a bit deprioritized because they pitch one inning...and I like what I get back. The first round pick is solid in a good draft. It'll be either another good asset or a trade piece. Walker has been a really good MiLB pitcher until he had a very strong year as a swing pitcher for the Giants. He should be a fun piece with an awesome k rate. Love Szymborski's take on Edwards after he got a good sim. Play him in CF! Love his speed, bat, and versatility...would love to see him get real run at cf. I've been obsessed with Miranda's bat for a while...unfortunately taken a big turn for the worse since that time. I'm open to see what he can continue to do, but the window is closing rapidly.

[Yankees]

Yankees traded Bryce 21-Miller to Phillies for MacKenzie Gore, Ryan 22-Clifford

There were some strong offers on Miller...no doubt. One of the hardest trade decisions I've had to make in my 20 years. He's a good young pitcher who just got a very strong SIM. He's a no-doubt 3/4, with real upside for some more.

Clifford is either on or close to top 100 lists. He burst onto the scene last year with incredible power for a youngster...just juiced exit velos. He's got some swing and miss to his game that he'll have to clean up, but he is super interesting...and a '22. Gore is someone that finally put together a healthy, normalish year. He upped his k rate and lowered his bb rate by 1 in each positive direction. He also lowered his hard hit and line drive rates, too. All great. Unfortunately his fly ball rate JUMPED...as did the homers. If he can find the happy medium towards keeping the k/bb rates & even somewhat curbing the big flys...he's still just 24 and very interesting.

[Yankees]

BlueJays traded Andy Pages, Benny 21-Montgomery, Ceddanne 0-Rafaela, Matt 20-Mervis to Yankees for Matt Strahm, Nolan Jones, Anthony Maldonado

Jones is clearly the big get here. He had an all-star type season between aaa/mlb and looks to be fantastic, multi-positional player moving forward. Nice to see a big time prospect get knocked down and come back stronger. Strahm is 32 but just keeps getting better as a reliever. He'll also have an sp rating, which will be helpful. Maldonado is a relief prospect who just got a great sim, but still is yet to make his debut at 26. Hopefully he gets it in 2024.

The biggest thing moving Jones was to get a haul I could see making an impact...and I think I got four guys to help with that. Pages was a rising prospect until he tore his labrum last year. He played well when he came back, just with some of his prodigious power missing. Hopefully this off-season helped him find it. Mervis broke out in 2022 and slugged his way to the majors in 2023. He sucked at the MLB level and he's 25, though. Here's hoping the Cubs find him some extended time in 2024 to see what we've got. Montgomery was a near top 100 prospect who had a good pro debut before he struggled a bit in an aggressive assignment in 2023. He rebounded with an outstanding AFL as he continues to work on consistently elevating his swing path. There's a very real prospect here if he can make that adjustment. Rafaela was a big get for me. He's a potential gold glove winner who the SIM likes and already found his way to mlb. He's a Red Sox, so that sucks...but I can get over it. He's a super fun prospect.

[Yankees]

Yankees traded Christian Walker, Eddy Alvarez, Allan Winans, 2023 Draft Pick 133, 2023 Draft Pick 138 to Padres for Miguel Vargas, Trystan 22-Vrieling, 2023 Draft Pick 95

Eddy Alvarez and Allan Winans both are solid players who got really good sim's that will help teams win. Jim nets out a draft pick, too. But the get is obviously Walker. He's an all-star 1b who makes a positive impact offensively and defensively.

My end nets me out a round and a half on the draft picks. Vrieling has absolutely nasty stuff, but he couldn't get college hitters out consistently, is hurt, is already 23 and has only pitched professionally in the AFL. He's a lottery ticket at best...but he's interesting and a Yankee. The get was clearly Vargas. Vargas crushed aaa again and improved in his 2nd mlb stint at the plate. There are still some questions about the swing and miss and no true positional home, but people still believe there's an impact bat here. I've been trying to load up on true, potential impact bats...and he's absolutely still one of them.

[Yankees]

Yankees traded Jacob Lopez, Kerry Carpenter, 2023 Draft Pick 150 to BlueJays for Josiah Gray, Christofer 21-Torin, 2023 Draft Pick 129

Lopez is a nice TB arm who got a fine SIM. Pick 150 barely exists in the draft...yet it does. Carpenter is clearly the get. Despite two straight MLB seasons of 120+ ops+, he got a solid...yet unspectacular...SIM. Big year for him on the zips front. If he puts up another great season, his value will vault. If he is who the sim says he is, he'll stagnate or get worse with limited defensive value. Will be an interesting watch...but a good bet at this point.

129 moves me up most of a round. Torin is a really interesting prospect. Most see him as a + contact, solid power, true SS...but others don't think the power will come and a thick lower half will move him off the position. Few doubt he'll hit enough to make mlb, but it will be down to the positional value & game power that will make the difference between a solid utility player or above average mlb shortstop. Gray had another solid season, another season of bad secondaries, and another season of an entirely mediocre sim. He has the stuff, so the k/bb rate HAS to get close to 3 for the stuff to truly play. I'll bite on the continued progress and prospect pedigree.

[Yankees]

Yankees traded Ceddanne 0-Rafaela, 2023 Draft Pick 95 to Guardians for Trey Cabbage, Daulton Varsho, 2023 Draft Pick 139

Not going to add a ton that Pat didn't cover in-depth. Rafaela had an awesome year and is a fantastic outfielder. He's got more upside than Varsho, but he does have a ways to go to see it out. He's also a Red Sox player...a profile of player that I hope to almost always have none of.

As Pat pointed out, Cabbage had a 30/30 year that led him all the way to the mlb level. While he's already 26 and his swing & miss might just make him a aaaa player, there's still a lot of fun upside to him. He's multi-positional, he can steal a base, and, since the pandemic, he has done nothing but absolutely destroy milb pitching. Angels turning to youth should give him a real shot at consistent at-bats so we know what we've got. Varsho gives me a true slugging lh bat that I think Yankee Stadium will push his ops+ percentile up the ladder, while being an important defensive presence all over the outfield. Looking at his batted ball & bb/k rates, Varsho was actually a little better in 2023 than his breakout 2022, just needs to get back to pulling it a little more and having a touch more luck on his babip. Neither impossible...and zips sees it similarly.

[Yankees]

Yankees traded Owen Miller, 2023 Draft Pick 144 to Cardinals for 2023 Draft Pick 122

Owen Miller is a fun, young, multi-positional player. The sim loves his D and thinks his O is fine.

I have 476 infielders, so picking up almost a round in the draft was fine by me.

[Yankees]

Yankees traded Matt Moore, Patrick Wisdom, 2023 Draft Pick 25 to Twins for Will Benson

The big get for Jason is getting back into the first round. Good pick, strong draft. Moore got a solid sim that included an sp rating, so he's valuable as a middle inning arm or swingman. Wisdom keep hitting bombs and playing a representative 3b and having multi-positional value, too. Fills a couple holes on top of the 1st rounder.

Benson was a 1st rounder in 2016 as a toolsy high schooler...and he's starting to really make good. His milb ISO found its way to his 2nd mlb stint which helped make some terrific results. His big breakout was 2022 when he slashed his k rate, but it elevated again at the mlb level. If he can keep cutting that while making continued hard contact, he can be a beast. He's a lefty who crushes righties, which plays in my stadium, and he's not unplayable against lefties...but progress there couldn't hurt either.

[Yankees]

Yankees traded Bryse Wilson, Dauri Moreta, 2023 Draft Pick 122 to Brewers for 2023 Draft Pick 57

Wilson was a well thought of prospect who just never truly stuck as a starter at the higher milb levels, but really had a terrific year last year in relief. He may not get a killer sim, but he's still young and one more of those types of years away. Moreta, like Wilson, was a pickup for me, but he's a little more dynamic. Sim likes him, advanced metrics like him, and he closed the year like a house on fire to tie the primary metrics a little closer. He's a very good 7th/8th inning arm.

As I've mentioned, rp's are not a super priority for me right now, so moving up 2.5 rounds for two of them was good business for me...and the depth filled one of the few holes on the IBC Brewers squad. Good deal for both.

[Yankees]

Phillies traded 2023 Draft Pick 50 to Yankees for Clarke Schmidt, Ryan Walker, 2023 Draft Pick 129

Even if Yamamoto signs, Schmidt looks to have a place in the Yankees rotation next year. I think while everyone was looking for him to be a little more efficient, he kept giving the Yankees usable starts game in, game out. Walker got a very good SIM and had a great debut as a 28 year old rookie.

For me, I get to move up almost 3 full rounds and continue to add to a strong grouping of assets.

[Yankees]

Astros traded Nick 20-Yorke, Marco 20-Raya to Yankees for Zach 22-Dezenzo, Jeter 22-Martinez, Ben 21-Rice

Ben Rice was a terrific pop-up prospect in the Yankees system this past year. He had a terrific year at the plate but will have some issues staying behind the plate defensively. Jeter Martinez is an interesting arm who's a ways away but had good results and still some upside. Dezenzo was the key piece. He absolutely stings the ball and can hold his own at 3b. There are big swing and miss issues...but he his upside is a true middle of the order hitter.

I'm a huge fan of Raya. He has electric stuff and he made aa at 20, but he's thrown just 127 ip's in two years and the Twins are moving at a glacial pace with him. There's a reliever possibility, but the starter upside is worth the risk. And while I don't love collecting Red Sox, I do really like Yorke's profile at 2b. After a tremendously down 2022, Yorke was good again in 2023 and he profiles as an above average 2b who'll hit homers, get on base, and steal a couple bases.

[Yankees]

Yankees traded Ryan O'Hearn, Penn Murfee, 2023 Draft Pick 113 to Pirates for 2023 Draft Pick 76, 2023 Draft Pick 74

If Penn Murfee can ever stay healthy he has nasty stuff. That first part is a problem though, but the SIM is still bullish whenever he does pitch. O'Hearn can hit, smash righties, and the sim is clearly intrigued. He's kept a lot of young Orioles in the minors because the dude didn't stop hitting. Good sim, solid player.

I've got some roster cleanup and both guys just are just better for the present than my future. For that, I jump a round and a half twice and solidly improve my chances to hit in the upcoming draft.

[Yankees]

Yankees traded Tyler Wells, 2023 Draft Pick 128 to Cardinals for 2023 Draft Pick 43, 2023 Draft Pick 107

Wells is really good. He tired at the end of last year, but finished with a great K rate and whip. He ended poorly on some secondaries, but that really only happened at the end. Those were good most of the year, too.

As I clean up my roster, I was hoping for a pick in the 30's for him, so I'll take one in the 40's and an almost full round jump later on.

[Yankees]

Yankees traded Dominic Canzone, 2023 Draft Pick 139, 2023 Draft Pick 107 to Angels for 2023 Draft Pick 68

Canzone had a massive milb campaign last year. He can smash righties...but work to be done to be more than a aaaa player or platoon bat.

I asked for a pick for him and I got it. Yea!

[Yankees]

Yankees traded Josh Sborz to Padres for Gavin 22-Cross

Maybe Sborz' primaries revert to his peripherals and he's a legit shut down rp? Maybe he just gets hit too hard to ever reach his potential?

Maybe Cross' hit tool will take a jump in his 2nd pro year? Maybe the hit tool is just not good enough?

CHALLENGE TRADE!

EDIT: To add a little color, Sborz is a solid sim reliever who does still have some upside in real life and a nasty k rate.

Cross was one of my absolute favorites in the '22 draft and was a little bummed he went to KC. Now I'm super bummed...but still believe there's the foundation of an all-star...but a ton of work to do to excavate it.

[Yankees]

Cardinals traded Everson 0-Pereira, Keaton 0-Winn, Yoniel 0-Curet to Yankees for Daulton Varsho, Andrew 0-Saalfrank

JP undoubtedly gets better short term. Saalfrank is a nasty left handed reliever who has a good starting point SIM and should only build off it moving forward. Varsho is about as plus a glove as you can get, and despite a horrid last season in Toronto offensively, there's real pop and real eye there. I imagine a solid bounceback season coming.

Even when I posted that on Varsho I didn't truly expect to make a trade. My goals are to be more competitive this year (not hard), and put myself in position, talent-wise, to have some real dudes moving forward. Each of the guys I traded for have real boom-or-bust potential on that front. Start with Winn, who had a solid run at the mlb level at the end of last year. To quote BP, he has 'capital S-stuff'. His fastball nears triple digits paired with one of the nastiest splitters seen in a while. His stuff has been compared positively to Kevin Gausman, but he needs to stay on the field and find a way to dominate to make that a reality. Pereira hits the ball as hard as anyone in the minors...when he hits it. He stayed healthy(-er) and slugged his way to the majors featuring absolutely elite exit velocities...until he was super exposed by mlb pitching. He's not even 23 yet, so he's got time...but his swing decisions need to take a big step forward for his incredible power to truly play. And then there's Curet. Few prospects in the minors feature his pure stuff. His swinging strike rate was 5th in the entirety of the milb. But he needs to put the ball over the plate more consistently. 6.0 bb/9 worked when he was flying through A, but 7.2 bb/9 gave him some real issues at HA. He's a mid-rotation starter if his command gets to 'not super shitty' and he's a top flight starter if it gets to even 'solid'. The problem is that 6.3 bb/9 is just not going to cut it, no matter how good the stuff...which portends to a reliever...which is a tremendous loss on his potential value. He's only 21, so he's got time...but, also, not like a TON of time.

Overall, I just love the top-end talent I brought in for two really, really good players. For me to be competitive in the near future, I'm going to have to hit on some talent...and I like each of these bets.

[Yankees]

Yankees traded 2023 Draft Pick 57 to Phillies for Chandler 22-Simpson, Julian 21-Aguiar

Good draft, I have a lot of picks around 57. I didn't like giving it up...but Nick held on it and I bit.

And I bit because I like both players coming back. My sp depth is not where I wanted it, and Aguiar was someone I wanted back. He's an almost across the board top 10 in a decent Reds system. He has a starters build and a quality 4-pitch mix. His fastball is probably his only true plus pitch, but all four are quality. He also induces a lot of grounders, which will be important for a righty in Yankee Stadium.

I was top and bottom heavy on my draft picks last year, but Simpson was a guy I was intrigued with and this gave me a chance to get him. He's, jokingly a '90 runner with 10 power' on the 80-20 scale. The reason he's a little more intriguing, though, comes down to two huge things; his defensive versatility and he doesn't swing and miss. He walked 54 times, struck out 44 times, and stole 94 bases. You don't have to put the ball over the fence to impact a game...and Simpson was a beloved contributor in each of his stops so far. I mean, he's almost certainly a bench player...but there's a little more to it, and, as a slap-and-dash hitter myself, I would like to see how it nets out.

[Yankees]

Cardinals traded Jordan Hicks to Yankees for Ezequiel Duran

Good challenge trade all around. Duran plays 6 positions and has excellent power. He makes some questionable swing decisions, but when he played consistently he was awesome. When the Rangers bounced him around, he did not. Will be interesting what his future looks like.

Hicks has two dirty pitches and is coming off a pretty dominant year in the bullpen. The Giants are transitioning him into a starting role, which is something the Giants do well. The question is how well Hicks will respond to it. It didn't stick the last time the Cards tried it, but he's older and better. Let's give it a whirl.

[Yankees]

Mets traded Victor Vodnik, 2023 Draft Pick 16 to Yankees for Estevan Florial, MacKenzie Gore, Emmanuel Rivera, 2023 Draft Pick 76, 2023 Draft Pick 74

Florial had a great year last year at aaa and got a good, solid sim. He's got a chance with the Guardians that he would never have with the Yankees for full-time ab's. Rivera is interesting, too. He had a solid first breakout season before struggling a little more last year. He was still excellent when getting consistent ab's at aaa and got a solid sim. The two draft picks are mid 3rd rounders. Gore was the big get. He still has outstanding, outstanding stuff, but he's got to throw it over the plate and have it stay in the park. He's an awesome talent and his success last year is worth continuing to bet on.

I've been trying to get Vodnik for a while. Genuinely believe there's a closer in there. Don't love the Denver part, but I'm willing to gamble on the talent. I also think there's a real gap in the draft at ~#20, so if I was going in, it had to be in that range.

[Yankees]

Yankees traded Miguel Sano, Angel Perdomo, 2023 Draft Pick 16 to Cardinals for Caden 22-Dana, 2023 Draft Pick 77, 2023 Draft Pick 20

JP gets better in the draft and better on his roster. Sano sim's for 30 homers. Perdomo has a crazy great k rate when he gets back. And, for me, 16 is right in a sweet spot for the draft.

For me, while pick #20 will have me sitting on pins and needles, it's still a good pick in a good draft. For moving back 4 spots and giving up two guys better served sooner than later, I pick up a mid-3rd rounder and a prospect I really like. Dana was a later round draft pick in '22 as a cold weather prep arm. He hasn't performed like one, though. The 19-year old dominated a before holding his own in ha as the youngest arm in the league...even improving his k rate. He throws 4 solid pitches and has #4 starter potential right now...but there's always a chance with a cold weather prep arm that everything steps forward at some point. Time is on his side...and the '22 roster flexibility is nice.

[Yankees]

Phillies traded Robert 20-Hassell III, 2023 Draft Pick 95 to Yankees for 2023 Draft Pick 68

This is a really good draft. Every round counts and Nick gets to move up a full round here.

But I'll take a round to buy a chance at Hassell's pedigree. He was the #8 pick in the draft, has been an almost consensus top 30 prospect, and still has the raw athleticism and skills to make that pedigree good. But two huge problems persist: 1) He strikes out WAY too much and 2) He can't elevate the ball. While those seem like damning issues, he does give you reasons to believe that the raw potential is there and adjustments can be made. I'll take the draft hit to see if the changes in the AFL have any positive carryover to this coming milb season. This could look like an equally amazing or terrible trade in a year.

[Yankees]

Yankees traded Jordan Hicks, Brett Baty, Nick 20-Yorke, 2023 Draft Pick 20 to Giants for Isaac Paredes, Gregory Soto, 2023 Draft Pick 34

Fun trade! I was thrilled when Eldridge fell to 20 and I was ready to pounce...until I saw a message from Jake. In this deal he gets the 3b backfill in Baty, a solid 2b prospect in Yorke, a Giants starter in Hicks, and the pick to get Eldridge. That's definitely a haul...especially for someone looking for bats.

I like Soto a great deal. Glad to have him. The two things I really wanted in the deal was a late 1st/early 2nd and an impact player. I believe I got both here. The #34 pick continues to put me in a great range...but this deal was about Paredes. He was a well thought of prospect in the Tigers system before being moved for Austin Meadows. The consensus was that it was to clear a lane for Josh Lowe, but Paredes has done nothing but hit since he's been with TB. He's still just 24 with room to grow and I'm so pumped to think I've got my 3b solution long-term.