Hanigan to BoSox, Middlebrooks to Pads

[patrickgpe]

http://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2014/12/padres-red-sox-nearing-deal-to-swap-hanigan-middlebrooks.html

 

Preller may be out of control, but I like this move for the Padres, got Middlebrooks cheaply while his value was low.

[Bombers]

What is going on ... I seriously cannot keep up with all this movement. The ink is barely dry on Preller's contract he signed in August. What went on in the Padres personnel meetings? I can only imagine that it went something like:

1. Preller to assistants: "We need to make some moves and shake up the team, anyone got any ideas"

2. Assistant A: "How about A for B?" .... Room Moderator (In my best auctioneer voice:): "We got A for B, anyone want A for B" ... Preller: "Sold! Lets do it!"

3. Assistant A: "How about C for D?" .... Room Moderator: "We got C for D anyone want C for D" ... Preller: "Sold! Lets do it!"

4. Assistant A: "How about E for F?" .... Room Moderator: "We got E for F anyone want E for F" ... Preller: "Sold! Lets do it!"

5. Assistant A: "How about G for H?" .... Room Moderator: "We got G for H anyone want G for H" ... Preller: "Sold! Lets do it!"

 

Bud Black: "What the h*!! just happened. We got 3 RF's, 2 catchers and a partridge in a pear tree" .... or something like that

[patrickgpe]

who knows if its going to work out, but its much more fun to be a pads fan these days then a brewers fan (not that that isn't necessarily a good thing, its just that the brewers are on the other end of the spectrum where we get excited about trading a double a catcher for triple a fodder.

[bill hAll Star]

Middlebrooks will have such bad numbers there. Guy should probably be in AAA for them.

 

I feel like this GM is making "casual fan" moves to get the casual fans out of the doldrums. Middlebrooks is a "name" failed prospect that was never very good. Norris' numbers/value were bumped by a platoon. Myers hasn't proven anything yet. Kemp's got issues that may really hurt his value...and on and on.

[bill hAll Star]

who knows if its going to work out, but its much more fun to be a pads fan these days then a brewers fan (not that that isn't necessarily a good thing, its just that the brewers are on the other end of the spectrum where we get excited about trading a double a catcher for triple a fodder.

 

That's the gist of this trade.

[brewcrewdue80]

Considering all the Catchers they've been acquiring, the move makes sense. The Padres acquire at least a defensive Backup at 3b. But yeah not someone I'd be excited to have at the plate. Glad he's with SD so now the Middlebrooks trade suggestions to Milw can stop.

 

With all that that lineup card is filling out to be, Does it really matter if that 3b in front of the Pitcher barely beats their Batting numbers? Middlebrooks isn't going to be residing anywhere in the top 6 of a batting order. 7th or 8th when he's playing. At least makes stomaching a .200/.280/.365 batting line a little easier.

[danzig6767]

What is going on ... I seriously cannot keep up with all this movement. The ink is barely dry on Preller's contract he signed in August. What went on in the Padres personnel meetings? I can only imagine that it went something like:

1. Preller to assistants: "We need to make some moves and shake up the team, anyone got any ideas"

2. Assistant A: "How about A for B?" .... Room Moderator (In my best auctioneer voice:): "We got A for B, anyone want A for B" ... Preller: "Sold! Lets do it!"

3. Assistant A: "How about C for D?" .... Room Moderator: "We got C for D anyone want C for D" ... Preller: "Sold! Lets do it!"

4. Assistant A: "How about E for F?" .... Room Moderator: "We got E for F anyone want E for F" ... Preller: "Sold! Lets do it!"

5. Assistant A: "How about G for H?" .... Room Moderator: "We got G for H anyone want G for H" ... Preller: "Sold! Lets do it!"

 

Bud Black: "What the h*!! just happened. We got 3 RF's, 2 catchers and a partridge in a pear tree" .... or something like that

 

Not just Kemp, Myers, and Upton, they still have Smith, Quentin, and Maybin under contract. Preller has also traded for and away a total of five catchers. I can't recall ever seeing anything like the incredible flurry of moves he's made in a short period of time and he can't be done given what the Padres roster looks like currently.

[The stache]

The only addition from all these moves the Padres have just made that would excite me as a Padres fan is Myers. This guy was a legit top 10 prospect in baseball. MLB.com has him as the #3 prospect in baseball on their 2012 top 100 prospect archive. I assume that was their year end list. Baseball America ranked him as the #10 prospect to start the 2011 season, #28 to start the 2012 season, and #4 to start the 2013 campaign.

 

http://net54baseball.com/picture.php?albumid=627&pictureid=15478

My 2010 Bowman Chrome Wil Myers prospect auto.

 

I don't know if he hasn't proven anything yet at the Major League level. He won the 2013 AL Rookie of the Year Award, hitting .293 with a .354 OBP and a .478 SLG. In 335 ABs, he had 23 doubles, 13 home runs and 53 RBI. And .831 OPS as a 22 year old rookie is pretty darned good. Now, there were some real things to work on, for sure. 91 strikeouts in under 375 plate appearances is just too many to me. He struck out a bunch in the minors, too, but he made up for it by hitting north of .300 with really easy power. But I felt his splits were really encouraging. He hit .292 against righties, and .293 against lefties.

 

I don't know, I guess I'm irked that a GM who clearly doesn't know what he's doing got Myers. I think this kid is going to be a special hitter. His bat speed is just sick, and while he'll lose some home runs playing at Petco, he'll still get plenty. He'll jack 25-30 out. I think he's a .300 hitter, and he's going to up his walk rate some. I like him at about a .375 OBP.

 

Why aren't we ever the beneficiaries of these stupid trades? Myers could hit 40 home runs playing his home games at Miller Park. Grr.

 

It will be interesting to see how bad the rest of these moves play out, though.

[pete]

It could be distortion, exaggeration or just false or just doesn't matter, but there's a guy who is sometimes on the Fangraphs fantasy podcast who lives in the area and follows the team pretty closely (that was my impression) and had a fairly long list of things Myers did that made him sound like a head case or prima donna.

 

Sorry I can't remember his name.