Archive for the 'Trades' Category

Nick Johnson

The Marlins have traded for 31-year-old first baseman Nick Johnson, sending 22-year-old AA LHP Aaron Thompson to the Nationals in return. The Nationals will pay most of the $1.8M due to Johnson this season.

Johnson has hit .295/.408/.402 with 6 HR this season with the Nats this season. His slugging has dropped a bit but he’s still been getting on-base at a ridiculous pace. He becomes a free agent at the end of the season, so this is a two month rental.

This trade is a huge deal for the Fish. Having a .400+ OBP guy in front of Hanley as opposed to the lack of baserunner that comes with Emilio Bonifacio in the 2 spot is about as big of a change as you can think of. Now, this might hurt our defense a little bit, with Jorge Cantu moving across the diamond, but Johnson has been a plus defender at first base during his career and Bonifacio wasn’t exactly Brooks Robinson over there either, leading all of baseball with 14 errors.

Now, whenever you talk about Nick Johnson, you need to bring up his injury history. He has been on the disabled list 7 times in his career, with three times on the 60-day DL and has had a wrist injury (2002), fractured right hand (2003), back injury (2004), head injury (2004), heal injury (2005), broken femur (2006, out all of 2007) and a wrist injury (2008). There is a lot of thought that the wrist injury has dropped his power this year, with his ISO down .080 from what it was coming into the season. But it is worth mentioning that none of his injuries have been nagging, repeating injuries. Most have just been freak accidents, whether getting hit by pitches or having collisions with other players, so there is also a lot of thought that he’s just had terrible luck throughout his career.

As for who’s been sent. Aaron Thompson has a 4.11 ERA this season in 20 starts. His stock has really fallen in recent years with the club but can still be a solid arm some day.

Pavano back in Teal and Black?

According to a pretty reliable source on SoFlaMarlins.com, the Indians and Marlins are close to a deal to get Pavano back to South Florida. He says the details are being worked out, but that both sides want to get it done.

This guy he been on top of a lot of Marlins rumors thanks to a contact at FoxSports, and usually scoops Ken Rosenthal. He was all over the Manny stuff last year before it was being reported and has also been all over Cody Ross rumors recently, which have then come out, so take it for what it’s worth, I suppose.

Obviously want to avoid rumor mongering, just passing along what I’m hearing. Pavano would be a good fit.

http://sports.yahoo.com/mlb/news?slug=ge-tradenews072509&prov=yhoo&type=lgns

The Tigers have some interest in reacquiring outfielder Cody Ross from the Marlins and playing him in right field. Florida looked like they’d be in seller mode after being swept by the Phillies but have played well since and are on the lookout for bullpen help, with the Red Sox trying to interest them in Takashi Saito. If the Phillies acquire Halladay, though, the Marlins may stage a selloff, with outfielder Jeremy Hermida a likely bat to move. Triple-A infielder Gaby Sanchez might also be available.

Eh, not really sure there’s any reason for the Marlins to move Cody right now as he’s their 2nd best everyday player and certainly has more value ot the team than in a trade.

He’s pretty convincingly a better player than Nate McLouth, and the package the Pirates got for him wasn’t all that impressive. You want more than a couple of C prospects for a guy like Cody, who is really one of the better CF in baseball.

Also, not sure why it keeps being reported that we are looking for bullpen arms. None of the guys in the pen looks like he doesn’t belong, and in a worst case scenario (Ayala and Donnelly implode, Kiko’s arm falls off) we’ve got Lindstrom in the wings who could make the kind of impact he did in the 2nd half last year. In all honesty, the bullpen should be the least of our worries.

But then again, the front office seems pleased with Bonifacio’s work this season, so who knows what’s going on in their heads. Either way, this Braves series should decide once and for all whether the team is buying or selling.

Speaking of Bonifacio, the Gaby Sanchez’s time in the Witness Protection Program doesn’t seem to be ending, as he’s been up with the team and had a number of opportunities to see time over the last week and hasn’t had a single at bat.