RP Addison Reed to ARZ; 3B Matt Davidson to CHW

[torts]

The Diamondbacks announced that they have acquired Addison Reed from the White Sox in exchange for third baseman Matt Davidson. MLB.com's Steve Gilbert first reported that the trade was on the verge of happening (on Twitter).

 

Reed, 24, has saved 69 games for the White Sox over the past two seasons, posting a 4.20 ERA with 9.0 K/9 and 2.9 BB/9 in 126 1/3 innings in that time. Sabermetric stats such as FIP (3.38) and SIERA (3.33) feel that Reed's ERA should have been substantially lower in that time. The Diamondbacks will control Reed through the 2017 season and he is not arbitration eligible until next offseason, making him a highly affordable piece to add to the back-end of their bullpen.

 

Davidson, 23 in March, made his big league debut in 2013, slashing .237/.333/.434 with three homers in 87 plate appearances. The 2009 supplemental-rounder entered the 2013 campaign ranked as Baseball America's No. 88 overall prospect and MLB.com's No. 77 overall prospect. Davidson delivered on that praise by slashing .280/.350/.481 with 17 homers in 500 plate appearances prior to his promotion to the big leagues. He is controllable through the 2019 season and can't reach arbitration eligibility until at least the 2016-17 offseason.

[Warning Track Power]

Wow...seems like a great deal for both teams. Wish Henderson would've been younger as this is the type of deal I would have loved to see the Brewers make.

[trwi7]

Wish we would've gotten in on that with one of our relievers.

[jerichoholicninja]

Wow...seems like a great deal for both teams. Wish Henderson would've been younger as this is the type of deal I would have loved to see the Brewers make.

 

I'm sure Henderson could get something of value due to his service time but the team isn't going to trade him because they won't have a "proven closer" then.

[brewcrewdue80]

Nice trade here. Arizona had awful 8th/9th inning guys last year. Reed should finally secure the 9th inning role they've been searching for.

 

Davidson had no place to play in Arizona with Prado to play 3b. I knew this guy was going to be traded and it's really sad the Brewers couldn't find a way to get him to change our 3b situation beyond ARam.

 

I'm liking what Arizona has been doing, I don't care if some of their trades look like a loser because honestly they have made a number of trades that turned out great for them you wouldn't have thought so originally.

[TheCrew07]

Wish we would've gotten in on that with one of our relievers.

 

I certainly concur, I would have given up more if necessary to get him.

 

However why would Melvin trade for a young MLB ready 3B when he has Ramirez? That's way outside his MO...

 

I've been posting for a handful of years about "proven veteraness" pushing us farther away from our goals in the long term and I hate that Melvin is not proving me wrong in any way, he's been completely predictable. I'm sure there's a heavy dose of MA in there as well... but regardless, yuck.

 

At some point if we don't recycle the impact talent on the roster a complete rebuild is going to become necessary, not to mention we still lack young impact pitching to build a rotation around.

[jerichoholicninja]

Wish we would've gotten in on that with one of our relievers.

 

I certainly concur, I would have given up more if necessary to get him.

 

However why would Melvin trade for a young MLB ready 3B when he has Ramirez? That's way outside his MO...

 

I've been posting for a handful of years about "proven veteraness" pushing us farther away from our goals in the long term and I hate that Melvin is not proving me wrong in any way, he's been completely predictable. I'm sure there's a heavy dose of MA in there as well... but regardless, yuck.

 

At some point if we don't recycle the impact talent on the roster a complete rebuild is going to become necessary, not to mention we still lack young impact pitching to build a rotation around.

 

Hypothetically Melvin traded Henderson for Davidson, it wouldn't guarantee him a spot on the 25 man roster. They could easily keep Davidson in AAA and play Ramirez and then trade him at the deadline.

[PrinceEatMeat]

Trading a bat like Davidson for a closer is just plain stupid. Closers can be found pretty easily. And no, I don't care how young Reed is. It's not like he's Kimbrel or something. This is a great trade for the White Sox. They can roll with an in-house option like Nate Jones, or sign someone like Benoit to take over the closer's role. I really like what the Sox are doing this offseason. The Brewers should take note. I would love it if they shopped Henderson. Granted, he wouldn't bring back a return like this, but I'd take anything of value.

[LouisEly]

Wish we would've gotten in on that with one of our relievers.

 

I certainly concur, I would have given up more if necessary to get him.

 

However why would Melvin trade for a young MLB ready 3B when he has Ramirez? That's way outside his MO...

 

I've been posting for a handful of years about "proven veteraness" pushing us farther away from our goals in the long term and I hate that Melvin is not proving me wrong in any way, he's been completely predictable. I'm sure there's a heavy dose of MA in there as well... but regardless, yuck.

 

At some point if we don't recycle the impact talent on the roster a complete rebuild is going to become necessary, not to mention we still lack young impact pitching to build a rotation around.

[sarcasm]Exactly. Just like Melvin would never consider trading a 31-year-old proven closer having a great season for a 20-year-old 3B prospect. That's way outside his MO...[/sarcasm]

[nate82]

Wish we would've gotten in on that with one of our relievers.

 

I certainly concur, I would have given up more if necessary to get him.

 

However why would Melvin trade for a young MLB ready 3B when he has Ramirez? That's way outside his MO...

 

Its like Melvin didn't even ask for Davidson when the Dbacks asked for Gallardo last year oh wait that did happen.

 

Well there goes your theory.

 

The Brewers don't have anyone that profiles like Reed unless you wanted Melvin to trade Thornburg for Davidson is that what you are suggesting?

[JohnBriggs12]

.280/.350/.481 playing in Reno isn't that impressive. Career minor leaguer Brad Snyder hit .311/.370/.494 there last year. In 2011, Cody Ransom hit .317/.405/629 in Reno. The ball flies in Reno and pitchers have a hard time there. I once saw a game there in 1992 between Brewer Cal League affiliate Stockton and Reno which was an A's affiliate. Final score was something like 27-18. Never saw anything like that before or since, Stockton won. Matheny was only player on that team to have more than a cup of big league coffee. Somebody named Rob Lukachyk, who later had 2 ABs for Montreal, and Mike Harris, who later was on 95 Brewer "replacement team" that never got out of spring training, looked like Ruth and Gehrig in that game. That's not to say Davidson's not a prospect, but he's also not likely an All Star anytime soon.

[Warning Track Power]

The Brewers don't have anyone that profiles like Reed unless you wanted Melvin to trade Thornburg for Davidson is that what you are suggesting?

I might have done this trade given our absolute lack of anything resembling a stud at 1B/3B in MiLB. While Davidson is no guarantee at 3B, this would have allowed us to shop Ramirez for another piece to rebuild around.

[rwa12]

We kinda did the poor man's version of this by trading KRod for Delmonico. At least Melvin was on the same page.

[fondybrewfan]

We also traded a somewhat seasoned Axford for what hopefully is a competent bullpen arm in Blazak. Melvin certainly isn't afraid to trade a closer if he thinks he is getting a good deal. But if we trade Henderson this year there really is no experience behind him. I would assume Kintzler would be the de facto closer and I wouldn't be all that excited about that. Nor would I want to overpay someone to come in and close.

 

I am OK keeping Henderson; he is cheap and effective. Closers are always over rated at the trading deadline so Henderson may be a nice trading piece to have if the Brewers are struggling come July.

[brewcrewdue80]

While Davidson may not be an AllStar he would have at least been a regular at 3b when ARam is no longer manning it. Hart gone leaves a hole at 1b. ARam gone leaves a hole at 3b. Davidson was a guy that was ML ready and would have been very useful to have considering our 3b situation in the minors.

Did the Brewers have a pitcher like Reed to pull this move? Well no Henderson doesn't fit Reed's profile. But the notion of trading Gallardo last deadline for Davidson and maybe 1 or 2 other type prospects would have been ideal. Holmberg was already dealt and maybe you could have latched on to Jake Lamb for Gallardo. Sure our pitching would have taken a hit but who know how Holmberg would have turned out? Davidson would have been the 3b we needed(and maybe ARam would be dealt today) and Lamb has a promising looking RP ahead.

 

Now, Davidson isn't special? Well so what? you have Delmonico hopefully coming, Neuhaus/Coulter as future 3b considerations. 3 years of Davidson covering 3b at minimum can't be a terrible thing.

 

Anyway, I was liking the pairing with Arizona originally and Gallardo because what could have come in return. But Melvin fell asleep once again on pulling the deal...unlike Towers in Arizona.

[brosto1]

I like that Towers isn't afraid to overpay once in a while, but he doesn't have to do it every time. I do not like overpaying for relievers. I have been a big fan of Davidson since he was drafted in 2009. (A pretty good draft year for Rd 1 selections, except for Brewers' fans- Arnett, Davis, Heckathorn) Prospects are fun to hope on, but more often than not don't live up to the hype. Trading them for proven players is often going to be a good choice, but I just don't like dealing them for relievers, especially when there are still some good arms available in free agency.

[TURBO]

Nothing wrong with the Davis pick so far...

[jerichoholicninja]

Nothing wrong with the Davis pick so far...

 

Kentrail was the first round pick, not Khris, if that's what you were thinking.

[TooLiveBrew]

We kinda did the poor man's version of this by trading KRod for Delmonico. At least Melvin was on the same page.

Good point here. Definitely a tier or more lower in quality going both ways, but a useful comp.