Post by Pirates GM (TJ) on Jan 25, 2019 14:05:05 GMT -5
Pirates send:
2B Luis Urias (Padres) $0.3 1st
to Padres for:
OF Taylor Trammell (Reds) $0.3 1st
RHP Pedro Avila (Padres) $0.3 1st (currently unprotected)
Cap change:
Pirates: +$0.3
Padres: no change
Links:
Following the sturm and drang over the 2B round of Free Agency, I took a look at my roster and realized it was all my fault. I have 8 players who qualify at 2B this season, and between them I could fill an entire outfield plus most of an infield. I love depth more than anyone in this league including Rangers, but at a point it's too much. So I decided to move one.
Urias wasn't going to be the guy I moved. He's easily the most valuable asset I have that qualifies at 2B. I put him in the list because he was one of the 8, but I really was expecting to move someone else.
I particularly wasn't planning on sending Urias to a contender in my own league. With no hope of catching Kyler for the division crown, I need every advantage to grab that first Wild Card spot this season. And sending a very useful player to one of the teams I might fight for that WC spot seems like a terrible plan. If I was going to trade Urias at all (and I wasn't) then he should go to the AL where he can't hurt me.
But... here we are...
I'm sending Urias to the team where he is most valuable. The one that can claim a 30% hometown discount on him during the 2025 offseason after he has won two batting titles and blossomed into a 20-HR threat... Wait, why am I doing this again? This story needs to get a whole lot better in a hurry...
Oh yeah, Taylor Trammell. That's right. The guy I famously traded away for Ken Giles at the 2017 deadline because I was desperate to shore up my underperforming bullpen. That deal got me to the playoffs, but it's looked worse and worse ever since. Trammell has continued to develop and Giles couldn't even keep his job in Houston. Not that I'm bitter or anything.
Taylor is an elite talent. If he continues developing he's worth more than Luis Urias. But I am a firm believer that we really don't know anything about a player until he reaches AA. Baseball is full of five-tool wunderkinds who got lost when they finally faced real competition. Trammell isn't even a 5-tool guy, since his arm is softer than you'd like. But the four tools he does have are very very loud. He immediately becomes my shiniest toy in the minors, and I just have to hope he doesn't tarnish as he climbs through AA and AAA on his way to Make Great America Again Ballpark.
I'm also getting a lotto ticket pitching spec to help ease the pain of watching Bill pass me in the standings this season. Avila is roughly the 25th best spec in the Padres org. Which would probably make him either 2nd or 3rd on a team like the Mets or Orioles. I have to assume San Diego trades him away at some point, unless they've found a way to succeed with a 14-man rotation. But wherever he winds up, hopefully he turns into something.
Thanks for the easy talks, Bill.
And finally because I simply can't resist, a quote... from Bill... from May 21st 2016, when he originally traded Urias to Kyler:
"Urias is an interesting prospect for sure, but I'm playing for now rather than 2019."