Red Sox trade Jon Lester & Jonny Gomes to A's for Yoenis Cespedes

[bill hAll Star]

It's analysis of the trade. It's better than linking Peter King articles where he talks about Beane letting go of a "big hitter" for Lester. We are actually objectively analyzing this thing.

[danzig6767]

I like this trade for Oakland.

 

Cespedes is a bigger name than great hitter and he's a free agent after next year. The A's will figure out a platoon in LF to get at least close to what Cespedes provided offensively and they add Lester to an already very good rotation. Besides all of that, Beane was able to avoid giving up prospects which he needs in that market.

 

Interesting that Boston traded Lester and Lackey for just veterans instead prospects. They clearly expect to be much better next year.

[vegasbrewcrew1993]

Tough decision for the A's, but they were going to lose Cespedes anyways after 2015. He's getting a fat deal soon and Oakland wasn't going to be able to afford it. It was either hold on to Cespedes for 1 more year or trade him now and get an ace in return. Not a bad deal. This is why baseball is always going to trail the NFL. Poor teams develop players and end having to get rid of them since they can't afford to keep them. Brewers would still have Fielder if they weren't a small market team. I'm certain the A's would have kept Cespedes if they could afford to.

[vegasbrewcrew1993]

I like this trade for Oakland.

 

Cespedes is a bigger name than great hitter and he's a free agent after next year. The A's will figure out a platoon in LF to get at least close to what Cespedes provided offensively and they add Lester to an already very good rotation. Besides all of that, Beane was able to avoid giving up prospects which he needs in that market.

 

Interesting that Boston traded Lester and Lackey for just veterans instead prospects. They clearly expect to be much better next year.

They soften the blow by picking up a solid player with great defense in Sam Fuld and a solid pinch hitter in Johnny Gomes. They still have Craig Gentry, who is pretty solid. Lester, Samardzija, Gray, Kazmir is scary.

[logan82]

I don't know a single knowledge fan who DOESN'T use BA as a useful statistic.

There are many on this forum alone.

[DuWayne Steurer]

That's a lot of walks. I wish the Brewers had a number even close to that.

51 of 128 Walk difference is purely due to the DH vs P batting

 

I don't think that's entirely true. Lucroy leads the Brewers in walks, and only 2 guys on the Brewers have taken at least 30 walks. 6 Oakland batters have taken at least 30 walks. That's not something you can say is just because of the DH. The DH is only one spot in the order.

 

Segura, Gennett, Davis, and Ramirez all have really terrible walk rates. Braun and Gomez have pretty bad walk rates themselves. This is just a team that doesn't walk much, period.

[bill hAll Star]

They soften the blow by picking up a solid player with great defense in Sam Fuld and a solid pinch hitter dynamite platoon hitter in Johnny Gomes. They still have Craig Gentry, who is pretty solid. Lester, Samardzija, Gray, Kazmir is scary.