- The Milwaukee Brewers get Shaun Marcum from Toronto
The Milwaukee Brewers get 29-year old starting pitcher Shaun Marcum to bolster their pitching staff in exchange for top prospect 20-year old second baseman Brett Lawrie. Marcum had his most productive season for the Blue Jays last season by going 13-8 with a 3.64 ERA. In 31 games started, Marcum struck out 165 while only walking 45 and giving up 181 hits in 195.1 innings pitched for a WHIP of 1.147. Tom Haudricourt of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel describes Marcum as being the following type of pitcher:
He is not an overpowering pitcher, usually throwing his fastball in the 87-89 mph range. But Marcum has an excellent changeup, a dependable slider and also mixes in curve balls on occasion. Thanks to that repertoire and his excellent control, he has been a strikeout pitcher (7.3 per nine innings) despite not being able to overpower hitters.
Marcum recovered nicely from his Tommy John ligament replacement surgery in his right elbow that kept him out of the whole 2009 season. Marcum is a good pitcher who kept the Yankees at bay a few games that I saw him pitch against them. I believe that he will compliment Yovani Gallardo in the Brewers rotation.
In return for Marcum, the Blue Jays get British Columbia native Brett Lawrie. In his second season in the minors with Double A Huntsville of the Southern League, Lawrie batted .285 with 8 Hrs and 63 RBI. He had 158 hits (36 2B/16 3B/8 HRs) and showed very good speed and aggressiveness on the base paths with 30 stolen bases while being caught 13 times. Jordan M describes Lawrie in his blogpost The Brett Lawrie for Shawn Marcum Trade at the BrewCrewBall.com webpage:
I've been on Brett Lawrie's bandwagon since he was drafted, and he's a talented hitter who put up a great year as a 20-year old in AA. But if anyone was expendable, it may have been him. I always felt that Lawrie would hold his own as a hitter even if moved down the defensive spectrum-- as a third basemen or corner outfielder, he would likely be an above-average offensive producer down the road. The problem is that right now, the Brewers have 5 players who fit that description (and yes I'm counting Mat Gamel). Lawrie's value to the Brewers was tied in his ability to stick at second base-- and the Brewers' willingness to trade him, I think, speaks about their confidence that he could do so. I think it also speaks about their confidence to get a deal done with Rickie Weeks, and possibly says something about how highly they think of Scooter Gennet.
Both teams seem to benefit from the deal though the Brewers seem to have the edge in benefiting from the deal in the here and now. We'll see how it plays out in the long haul.
- Click Here for Jordan M's article The Brett Lawrie for Shawn Marcum trade from BrewCrewBall.com dated December 6, 2010
- Click Here for Tom Haudricourt's article Brewers to Get Toronto Pitcher Marcum from the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel webpage dated December 5, 2010
- Click Here to access Shawn Marcum's career statistics from Baseball Reference.com
- Click Here to access Brett Lawrie's minor league statistics from BaseballCube.com
- Mark Reynolds traded to the Baltimore Orioles
The Baltimore Orioles made a move to improve their offense from the right side by trading right-handed relievers Kameron Mickolio and David Hernandez for Arizona's Mark Reynolds. In Reynolds, the Orioles get a batter who can hit for power and score runs but is heavily prone to striking out. In four major league seasons with the Diamondbacks, Reynolds has averaged 35 HRs with 100 RBI with 221 strikeouts and 75 walks. Reynolds has lead the league in strikeouts three years running with 204 in 2008, 223 in 2009 and 211 in 2010 while lowering his batting average from .260 in 2009 to .198 in 2010. In return Arizona gets 6'9" right handed power pitching reliever Kameron Mickolio and minor league reliever David Hernandez. In terms of the relievers Baseball Musings.com describes them as so:
Mickolio strikes out a ton of batters, but he’s wild. In the minors, his walks were high but okay. In the majors so far they are out of control. Hernandez is pretty much in the same boat. If Reynolds can get his batting average back up again, this trade will be a steal for Baltimore.
I guess if he can get his average back up in the .260 to .280 range then the deal will work for the Orioles. Maybe a change of scenery for all the players involved will be beneficial. Have to say this about Reynolds move into Baltimore, he is being traded into a division with some high powered pitching in Sabathia, Price, Beckett, and Lester to name a few and maybe Cliff Lee. He might feast on all the power pitching for the O's or he might just starve on his steady diet of Special K's (sorry couldn't help that one, LOL).
- Click Here for Dan Connolly and Jeff Zrebiec's article Orioles acquire Mark Reynolds from Diamondbacks from the BaltimoreSun.com dated December 6, 2010
- Click Here to access an interesting analysis on Mark Reynolds' at-bats from Baseball Musings.com
- Click Here to access Mark Reynolds' career statistics from Baseball Reference.com
- Click Here to access Kameron Mickolio's career statistics from Baseball Reference.com
- Click Here to access David Hernandez minor league statistics from Baseball Reference.com
- Melvin Mora signs with the Arizona Diamondbacks
Not waiting to fill their hole at third, the Diamondbacks signed veteran Melvin Mora to a 1-year $2 million dollar contract. In his 2010 season with the Colorado Rockies Mora batted .285 with 7 HRs and 45 RBI. He had 90 hits (12 2B/5 3B/7 HR) in 354 at-bats and struck out 53 times while drawing 35 walks. Mora will bring some stability to the infield and a good head at the plate than his predecessor. The strikeouts will decrease significantly and I believe that Mora will be more of a table-setter than a slugger for the Diamondbacks. (PHOTO CREDIT: Getty Images)- Click Here for Melvin Mora's career statistics from Baseball Reference.com
Ok folks, that's it for now. When I hear of any other moves and trades at the winter meetings, I'll post them.
FH
Some notes from the Winter Meetings by Gordon Eddes of ESPNBoston.com
ReplyDelete