OT: Report - Tigers trade Justin Wilson and Alex Avila to the Cubs
The idea is to make your team bad by trading MLB players for prospects, not getting bullpen arms who have a fraction of the value.
They're all failed starters.
well Avila wasn't a very good pitcher anyway...
but I believe that Tigers pitching staff ERA is lower with Avila catching compared to other catchers catching for them. That's the value of Avila's ability to call the game right there.
I agree, but some of that is from his knowledge of AL hitters. How much of that will carry over to the NL? Unless the Cubs make it back to the WS.........
The Cubs badly needed a veteran catcher. Both catchers currently on the roster are under 25. Avila will be Willson Contreras' backup.
Wilson is under team control through next year, so he has quite a bit of value.
Look at the Tigers farm system. Most of the top prospects are pitchers. They need position players badly down there.
Thinks this means Nick C, Jose, and Kinsler are all gone before next season starts.
Dump Alex Avila while his value is still high. Next year he could hit .230 for all we know. At least we got something out of it unlike JD Martinez where we got next to nothing from the Dbacks.
Avila's contract is up at the end of the year. Doesn't matter what he hits next year. There is a good chance that he is back with the Tigers next year. Just a rental.
I'm a Cubs fan. Paredes is a shortstop now but isn't projected to stick there. Candelario is MLB-ready. There's nothing left for him to prove at AAA.
Marginally. But at least it's something good to be said. Gonna be a bleak next few years for the tabbies.
It always surprises me when someone trades something of value - even a lottery ticket prospect, much less two - for a non-elite bullpen arm. You can usually take your sixth starter (or even your top AAA starter), put him in the bullpen and tell him not to worry about more than two innings, and watch his pitching get better.
The Cubs are set for years in the infield, barring misfortune, and need a push for this year, and Wilson is signed for next year too, but I like this deal for the Tigers.
Go Cubs Go!!! Thanks for backup catcher
I always liked this Steve Goodman Cubs song over that one.
giving up nothing off of the 25-man roster. Epstein is amazing. This is highway robbery. And Avila just took it.
That's not how you rebuild and that's what they're looking to do.
Kinsler
Iglesias
A. Wilson
JV - can be dealt until August 31 as he likely passes through waivers
Trade everyone.
As a Cardinals fan (only by geography, Tigers are still MY team...) I'm really not sure how I feel about this one. Having Avila, who has a history of less than stellar hitting, although he seems to be doing better this year, and Wilson...I'm a bit torn on that part of it. HOWEVER, to the Tigers...this just isn't what I'd hoped for out of this season.
"Everything reduced" is a godawful way to tank and rebuild. You don't just empty everything out and hope to "build through the draft", that's not how a baseball team is built.
Have you paid attention to what Houston did? And the Braves are ready to re-emerge. Yes, you need to augment through a few shrewed trades and need to hit a a Free Agent, but Houston, Colorado, and soon Atlanta all have (or will) built their teams through solid drafting and Minor League coaching.
Yes, I have.....and the truth is, Houston's roster was built mainly through non-tanking methods. Carlos Correa and Alex Bregman were top-ten picks, and they got their closer Ken Giles by trading near-bust top-ten pick Mark Appel. Joe Musgrove was acquired in a major sell-off trade - not, I would note, a just-dump-everyone fire sale. Lance McCullers is borderline....he was a compensatory draft pick. Bregman isn't a major part of their roster yet, though.
On the other hand, George Springer was a pre-tank draft pick. Jose Altuve and Yuli Gurriel were Latin American FA signings. Nori Aoki was a lucky waiver claim. Josh Reddick and Charlie Morton were a FA signings. Marwin Gonzalez was acquired in a pre-tank schmo-for-schmo trade. Mike Fiers was a deadline pickup two years ago for a bunch of guys who weren't top draft picks. Evan Gattis was the result of an offseason minor-leaguer swap. Carlos Beltran, obviously not a guy you pick up during the tanking process.
Point is, the Astros were not built by just dumping everyone for peanuts, sucking for a while, and getting high draft picks. They were built the same way you can build a team without doing that. You don't need to win 55 games to draft well and identify good prospects to trade for. The correlation between Houston's time in the cellar and their current good fortune is minimal. And, I note, they haven't really won anything yet except a wild-card game two years ago.
Much better return in this trade than the Martinez trade. Happy with this one.
You load up on talent in the minors.. no matter where it is.
The Tigers have one of, if not the worst farm systems right now. They can't afford to be picky.
Can't afford to be picky, but also can't afford to just take whatever is offered (like the Martinez trade). But this is a pretty solid return for a bullpen arm IMO.
Did you read any of this thread before posting? As mentioned many times, most talented infield prospects are shortstops that can be moved to other infield positions after they mature.