Trade Talk (II) with tk21775

1. The Brewers and Expos meet up, exchanging 24 year old P Daniel Heiserman and 31 year old 2B Benjamin Hawkins. Hawkins brings his $3.8M one year contract to the Brewers major league team where he looks to help out at 2B or CF as a defensive player that will hit lefties. The Expos will call Heiserman to the majors where he looks to come out of the pen or close games for them. He’s got low stamina so he’s not going to pitch a lot for them but he’ll be a nice pitcher to send out to the mound against righties in close games.

   Owner mlhutch on the trade: “This happened quickly. Montreal posted Hawkins availability and I saw that he would be an improvement over our current 2B. So I sent over an offer with Heiserman because I don't particularly like low stamina RPs. Hawkins should offer us great defense at 2B.

2. The Brewers were far from done, this time hooking up with the Florida Marlins in a three player deal. The Brewers will receive 30 year old SS Clint Sierra and his one year, $4.1M contract where he looks to handle the SS position for the Brewers with his defensive glove and brings a decent bat for that position. The Marlins receive 21 year old P Tony Montanez who will go to AAA ball to develop his arm. He’s got very low stamina but with his control and splits, along with two great pitches he’ll be a nice lockdown closer someday. The Marlins also receive 22 year old 3B Charles Nixon who will join Montanez at AAA. He’ll help with the defense along with an average bat to the position.

   Owner mlhutch: “Improving our SS situation was another high priority for the off-season. Landing Sierra was actually beyond our expectations as his bat is solid for such a defensive gem. He will serve as a nice bridge until the SS prospects are ready. The prospects we gave away are solid but didn't fit in our long-term plans in Milwaukee.” Owner cnsmuck: “Picked up two future ML players a solid Relief Pitcher and a 3rd baseman for an expensive Defensive wiz at SS that wouldn’t have seen much playing time this season.”

3. The Tampa Bay Rays and Montreal Expos shook hands that sent 22 year old P Enrique Manto to Montreal and 30 year old LF Bo Mills to Tampa Bay. Mills is locked in for one year at $3.2M where the left-handed batter will bring some pop to the plate with a nice bat. Manto gets shipped to AAA where he’ll look to develop into a SP for the majors some day, looking to have great control with one outstanding pitch and 3 solid ones.

   Owner mexd781 on the deal: “After swinging and missing on several big time OF's, I used one of my mid tier SP prospects to get Bo Mills. Mills won't be an all-star, but he will be a formidable bat in the lineup and filled the need at LF that I traded away previously.”
   Owner ekoontz41 had no comment

4. A big trade gets approval with the Los Angeles Dodgers and Anaheim Angels. Anaheim receives 24 year old DH/C Eduardo Ayala, 20 year old P Doug Jackson, and 20 year old SS Paul Dillon (who will be traded) for 26 year old P Larry Leach and 23 year old P Denny Andrews. Andrews gets sent to AAA where the SP may get called up this season with his ratings. If not, he’ll be called up soon enough where the young pitcher will have great control and be a force against right-handed batters. Leach will jump right into the starting rotation at the majors where the young pitcher has outstanding control and great splits along with nice pitches all around. These two pitchers will help bolster the Dodgers pitching staff for many seasons to come. The Angels send Ayala to the major league club where we’ll see what they do with him. He’s got the arm strength to play the C position but he’s a little light on his accuracy. He’s got some time to develop on that and his pitch calling will not stop him from being behind the plate. His bat is a great one where he’ll be a tough out for opposing pitchers and will hit the ball deep as well. Jackson will begin in AAA where the young pitcher will work on his arm to join the major league in a few seasons. He projects to very nice control and decent splits along with 3 good pitches. Dillon will be included in another trade.

   Owner rawkd27 on the big deal: “Ayala, Dillon, and Jackson were dealt to Anaheim in a deal that I felt was a no brainer for me. Ayala is built to be a DH in my opinion. Having him in the NL was not beneficial. Tha ability to package him with two prospects for 2 young, quality SPs in Leach and Andrews was a deal I couldn't pass up. Pitching is what this team was lacking but with the trade I feel I more than addressed this need.
   Owner allright on the new deal: “Leach and Andrews are outstanding pitchers. The Dodgers got the better of this deal. I got Ayala (just needed his bat), Dillon ( a very good prospect), and Jackson (a pitcher whose pluses fit the ballpark. Part of the consideration for me was Dillon's trade potential ,(Sure enough, got two good pitchers in return in a later deal), next year's budget, and the "come hither" look I got from rawdk27's secretary.”

5. The Seattle Mariners agreed to a 5 player trade with the Colorado Rockies. The Mariners will receive 29 year old P Jeff Carter and his 1 yr. $3.7M contract along with 20 year old P Julian Porter. In exchange the Rockies will receive 21 year old 3B Bernie Paniagua, 21 year old DH/C Felipe Mesa, and 21 year old 2B Dario York. York was the centerpiece here for the Rockies and they’ll start him out in AAA. He’ll be an interesting player and he can play 2B, 3B, RF, or CF. He’ll have some speed on the bases, his contact and eye are nice with avg. splits. Paniagua will start in AA where he’ll work on his defense but should make it to the majors as a 3B with a nice bat someday. Mesa has a power bat and will hit left-handed pitchers very well; he’s got the arm to crouch behind the plate but his pitch calling is a little weak. Porter will begin his Mariners career in low A ball where the young pitcher will be dominant against right-handed batters. He’s got outstanding control and has 5 great pitches. Carter will help at the majors in the starting rotation this season where the pitcher has very nice control and decent splits along with 4 good pitches.
   

   Owner anml34 on making the deal: This could turn out to be the best deal that we have made this offseason. Here we pick up a great bat for either DH or 1st in Mesa and our SS/3B of the future in Terry. Carter was a little too old for our plans and Porter just didnt have a good enough groundball percentage for Colorado.”
   Owner jakaitis on how the deal was done: ""We were hesitant to sacrifice so much talent for one arm on the wrong end of his twenties and another so far from the bigs, but we felt they represented more well-rounded players than the the three prospects we were surrendering. It was a tough choice and we don't look forward to facing York or Mesa in Colorado in the future."

6. The Colorado Rockies started to heat up on the trade block, this time agreeing to terms with the Oakland A’s. The A’s will receive 24 year old CF Desi Ontiveros and 28 year old 3B Luther Becker in exchange for 27 year old SS Julio Gimenez, 25 year old P Edwin Henderson, and 23 year old SS Anthony Terry. Terry begins his career with the Rockies in AAA where the young SS will be someone to keep an eye on. He’s got the range and glove to play the position however his arm strength is lacking a little to play SS, or he’d be a great defensive 3B with a decent bat to him. Gimenez and Henderson both will join the major league club in Colorado with Henderson looking like he might help out in the long relief role or possibly help out at times in the starting rotation. He’s got great control and decent splits although his pitches are all a little low. Gimenez will help out at the SS position or he can lock down the 3B position where he’s got a nice bat but little power. Oakland lands Luther Becker but will trade him at a later date and they’ll start Ontiveros at AAA where he looks to be a 2B type player with an average bat on him and some great speed.
   

   Owner anml34 on getting the deal worked out: “Another case where we were looking to get younger and to pick up a couple of prospects. York was the key to this deal but once the deal was placed we were pleased to pick up Henderson as a future #3 or #4 starter in the bigs. We didn’t want to trade Becker but his health concerned us.
   Owner train on the deal: “I'm rebuilding so acquiring Becker seems counter intuitive, but I couldn't pass up the value he represented. I eventually flipped him for a couple pitching prospects anyways, so he helped in the rebuild effort.”

7. The Expos are once again making moves happen and they get it done this time with the Colorado Rockies. The Expos will send Hipolito Iglesias, Esteban Albadladejo, Emmanuel Pujols, and $1M cash in exchange for Bill Park. Park will start out in AA where the young pitcher will work his way up to the majors. He’s got pinpoint control and outstanding splits. He’ll be joining the Expos shortly in the majors to face opposing teams. Iglesias will join the Rockies at the majors where he’ll help out at the catcher position although his pitch calling is a little weak. He’s got an amazing bat though so it will be tough to keep him out of the lineup. It won’t matter whose pitching against him, this guy can flat out mash the ball all over the place and will be a force in Colorado. Albaladejo will join him at the majors where he looks to handle the SS position and brings a great bat himself, especially for the SS position. Pujols will be sent to AAA where the young RF will take a little time to develop. He’s got an average bat but has a lot of speed once he gets on base.

   Owner anml34 on how the deal got worked out: “This deal came out of nowhere but has put this franchise in position to dominate for years to come. We are sure that we have picked up a future MVP in Hipolito and with Esteban's bat and glove, we knew we had another piece that could be moved for value.”