Gallardo to the Rangers for IF Luis Sardiñas, RHP Corey Knebel, & RHP Marcos Diplan [lead post includes in-thread links to video & scouting reports]

[FVBrewerFan]

Yea, I'll be keeping an eye on Nelson and Thornburg. Nelson will never get deep into games as long as all he has is a plus straight fastball. If he can't add an effective curve or change, he's destined for the closer role at some point. Thornburg, I agree they need to see if he can hold up as a starting pitcher. He definitely showed signs he can get the job done if/when healthy.

 

I would love to see both of them (or someone else step up) so they can dangle Lohse of Garza and see what they can get.

[igor67]

In terms of pure contention for this year, if there is no corresponding FA signing the move is probably lateral, in that we get the IF options and a potential bullpen option, both with actual options. So there is improved depth and some flexibility there. Definitely lose some rotation depth, but by having the bullpen depth you open up some options with Jungman and Thornburg as back-up starters. If we take that money and find one of these veteran hybrid pen/rotation options the deal might be both a net long term win and a net short term win.

[bill hAll Star]

I'd be wary of dangling the remaining rotation guys, and I am fully aware of the limitations of Garza, Lohse, etc. but there will be an injury or two in the rotation. Assuming Nelson will perform, Peralta will repeat/improve, Fiers will be "figured out" again or whatever are all not givens. Dealing away depth of the rotation means one injury or player falter in 2015 and you can start planning for 2016.

[FVBrewerFan]

Dealing away depth of the rotation means one injury or player falter in 2015 and you can start planning for 2016.

 

Understood, but I guess I already am planning for 2016. I'm sensitive to Mark A's desire to compete every year, and more importantly the dangers of having a true fire sale with a 60-102 team. So I wouldn't trade everyone, but if it looks like the there's a couple arms that look good in Spring I would be tempted to move Lohse or Garza for the right deal.

 

I would rather struggle with a couple .500ish seasons and really build a strong, young rotation, continue to slowly improve the position players, and build up the farm system with true high ceiling guys. This team needs to hit it big with another Fielder or Braun from within at some point.

[MadScientist]

I'd be a lot happier with this trade if Knebel didn't have arm troubles. Instead of being the 2016 closer, I suspect he will spend 2016 rehabbing from TJ surgery.

 

Sardinas doesn't sound spectacular, but does sound very useful. Diplan is too far away to think about right now, since he hasn't even played in the US yet. However it never hurts to have high ceiling guys in the system.

[brewmann04]

we are weaker right now the future hopefully is better? But nelson still has a lot to prove at the Major League level.

[DoubleSwitch]

Thornburg just needs to get healthy this year I think. I wouldn't push him into a major of minor league rotation until at least next year.

 

I would be comfortable depth wise with Jungmann and a lefty swingman free agent. The available free agent options seem to be Paul Maholm, Joe Saunders, Franklin Morales, Randy Wolf(!), and Bruce Chen. I would have liked to bring Gorzelanny back in that role, but unfortunately he's a Tiger now.

 

If they need to dip beyond that level for any significant amount of time, then most likely it's not a playoff year and Lohse will be on the move as well. In the system you've got Wei Chung Wang, Jed Bradley, Tyler Cravy, Tyler Wagner, Drew Gagnon, Jorge Lopez, and Hobbs Johnson. None of those sound like particularly exciting options in 2015, but in a losing year hopefully a couple of them will have shown enough in the first couple months to earn a cup of coffee.

[bill hAll Star]

Dealing away depth of the rotation means one injury or player falter in 2015 and you can start planning for 2016.

 

Understood, but I guess I already am planning for 2016. I'm sensitive to Mark A's desire to compete every year, and more importantly the dangers of having a true fire sale with a 60-102 team. So I wouldn't trade everyone, but if it looks like the there's a couple arms that look good in Spring I would be tempted to move Lohse or Garza for the right deal.

 

I would rather struggle with a couple .500ish seasons and really build a strong, young rotation, continue to slowly improve the position players, and build up the farm system with true high ceiling guys. This team needs to hit it big with another Fielder or Braun from within at some point.

 

I'm always one in favor of a full rebuild, and if we're going to do that, I'd dangle almost any valuable player that we have.

[The stache]

I think everybody is really underselling Sardinas. I live in the metroplex, so I see a lot of Ranger minor league baseball. And, I tend to listen to read the Dallas Morning News, which does a good job of covering farm teams. I've known about him for a few years, and I am pretty high on this kid.

 

MLB.com's Jonathan Mayo ranked him as the #76 prospect in all of baseball prior to the 2014 season. In 2013, he ranked him as the second best prospect in the entire Rangers system. Now, Profar had lost his rookie status by then, and Gallo was obviously a little more of an unknown then. But there were still other talented guys in the Rangers system. Rougned Odor, Michael Choice, Jairo Beras, Nick Williams (whose bat I am really, really in love with). I talked to my dad last night, and he told me that we'd gotten two pitchers for Yo. When I looked this morning, and saw that we also got Sardinas, I did a little jig.

 

You guys aren't looking at his stat line carefully enough. No, his OBP wasn't all that hot in 2014. But you guys have to remember that in basically a year's time, he'd moved from high A ball to AAA. On July 31, 2013, he was playing for the Myrtle Beach Pelicans, the Rangers' high A class team in the Carolina League. On April 20th, 2014 he was up with the Major League team for three games. Then he moved to AA to play with the Frisco Rough Riders. In his first six games at Frisco, he was 10 for 25. He had an 0-4 and an 0-5, then was back with the Rangers, hitting .286 for 23 games with the Rangers. Then he played 60 games with AAA Round Rock, where he hit .290. Then he went back to the Rangers, where he hit .224 in 17 games.

 

Kind of hard to get settled in when you're ending 2013 at A+. Then, in 2014, you go from A ball to the Majors, down to AA, then back to the Majors, then down to AAA, and back up to the Majors. Outside of the last 17 games, I think he did pretty darned good. I think once he gets a chance to settle in a bit, the OBP will rise, and stabilize. In 2010, as a 17 year old at rookie ball, he hit .311 and had a .363 OBP. In 2011, also rookie ball, he hit .308 with a .367 OBP. In 2012, A ball, he hit .291 with a .346 OBP. In 2013 between high A and AA, he hit .288 with a .340 OBP. He didn't do real well at AA, because he was bouncing around a lot, but at AAA he hit .290 with a .310 OBP.

 

He also stole 32 bases in both 2012 and 2013. The only area I don't see developing is his power, but with his defensive prowess (glove and arm strength), his speed, and his switch hitting ability, I think he adds tremendous value to the 40 man roster.

 

I could, of course, be wrong, and if I am, I will be the first to admit so. But I think the buzz that surrounded him was justified. Let's see.

 

http://imageshack.com/a/img661/5310/NDm3k5.png

[BrewBalls]

 

I'm always one in favor of a full rebuild, and if we're going to do that, I'd dangle almost any valuable position player that we have.

We both know Mark A will not go this route. The closest we can hope for is to be completely out of contention by July so they can unload Lohse, Ramirez, Broxton and Parra for prospects. I would even consider covering a good portion of their remaining salaries to get better returns. All four are decent deadline trade chips and should net some solid prospects.

[bill hAll Star]

Yes, I know that they won't go with the full rebuild, which is why I discussed why if we are even "half contending" this year, I would not go in with the risk of depleting my rotation depth. If I would, I'd obviously go crazy.

[BrewBalls]

What about allocating $2-3M this season to sign Brandon Beachy? We could add one or two team options to the deal to keep him around if he comes back strong from TJ surgery. Might not be a bad way to spend some of the savings from trading Gallardo.

[brewmann04]

thanks for the inside scoop hopefully he blossom

[Polish Falcons]

I doubt this has anything to do with Shields or Sherzer. That's a made up rumor. The Brewers have some pitching depth for next year after which time Yo is a FA. Nelson is getting his chance. I can't wait to see the return. A utility infielder and good prospect would be worth trading for.

 

patting myself on the back for a nice prediction. Sardinas for the utility IF + Diplan as the good prospect, plus Knebel for the pen. The Brewers are concerned about Segura and Scooter vs Lefties as they should be. Don't be surprised if Sardinas is an everyday starter before the all star break.

 

At least one fangraphs writer, Jeff Sullivan, seems pretty unimpressed by the trade. According to him Gallardo is in decline and will be no better than average. Sardinas has a low offensive celing; Knebel has injury and control concerns; Diplan couldn't be further from the bigs.

http://www.fangraphs.com/blogs/rangers-to-try-yovani-gallardo-out-of-context/

 

I still think the Brewers come out ahead when you consider the prospect potential; the difference between Nelson and Gallardo could be minimal, and hopefully this means they have $9 million to spend on relievers or a good portion of it.

[wichmae]

http://rangersblog.dallasnews.com/2014/08/texas-rangers-scratch-alex-rios-from-lineup-shut-down-pitcher-corey-knebel.html/

Dallas Morning News from AUG 19th

Also, the club announced that RHPs Corey Knebel and Wilmer Font are both done for the regular season with injuries, meaning they won’t get to participate in the likely setting of the major league record for most pitchers used in a season.

 

Knebel, acquired from Detroit in the Joakim Soria, has a sprain of the ulnar collateral ligament in his right elbow, but is not expected to require surgery. If his rest and rehab program goes well, he could start throwing around November 1.

[TheCrew07]

I don't see much drop off from Gallardo to Nelson performance wise, and Nelson throws harder these days.

 

All of the young men acquired are intriguing for various reasons but I'm not really one to jump on the bandwagon of hard throwers with control and injury issues anymore, I was on the bandwagon of players like Luis Pena and Omar Aguilar in the past.

 

Diplan is far and away the most interesting player from where I'm sitting, here's hoping he's our version of Neftali Feliz.

 

I don't think the big league team is better or worse off for this trade, that depends on how the relief pitching shakes out. Maybe Knebel factors in, maybe he doesn't, but clearing Yo's salary allows the team to consider FA relief options which are still available. I will say that I like Diplan much more than either Hellweg or Pena from the Greinke trade.

 

I think this trade adds depth where it is needed for 2015, I'm not sure there is any impact potential in there at this time, but Gallardo just isn't what he was either, I think it was pretty reasonable deal on paper.

[fondybrewfan]

Dumb question here. What made Sardinas a consensus top 100 player going into 2014 and Arcia wasn't? By all accounts both are very good with the glove. Neither player did much with the bat in 2013; they are roughly the same age. What gives, is Sardinas strictly more projectable? Going into 2014 you would think Arcia would be the higher ranked of the two.

[DR28]

I think I'm good with not going after Shields now... Go with Lohse/Garza/Peralta/Fiers/Nelson and go really hard after Zimmermann in the offseason.

 

I would LOVE to see this rotation in 2016...

 

Zimmermann

Peralta

Garza

Fiers

Nelson

[Point Beer Is Best]

I guess the way I'm looking at this is there were three options:

 

1) Decline Yo's option and free up $13 mil (not sure of the rules, but would we have been able to extend the $15.5 mil qualifying offer in that case, hoping he'd decline and pick up a draft choice?)

 

2) Pick up the option and let him play out the year, then offering the QO hoping for draft pick compensation

 

3) Pick up the option and trade him.

 

If you look at what they did with option #3, in a sense they basically spent $4 mil to acquire those three players.

[3and2Fastball]

While I'm thrilled the Brewers seem smart enough to trade a starting pitcher for prospects, I think any talk of Nelson being just as good as Gallardo seems overly optimistic. I have hope that Nelson can develop into a credible starting MLB pitcher, he certainly wasn't one last year

[BrewBalls]

I guess the way I'm looking at this is there were three options:

 

1) Decline Yo's option and free up $13 mil (not sure of the rules, but would we have been able to extend the $15.5 mil qualifying offer in that case, hoping he'd decline and pick up a draft choice?)

 

2) Pick up the option and let him play out the year, then offering the QO hoping for draft pick compensation

 

3) Pick up the option and trade him.

 

If you look at what they did with option #3, in a sense they basically spent $4 mil to acquire those three players.

 

Considering Diplan recieved a $1.3M signing bonus, Knebel was a supplemental first round pick and likely received a signing bonus north of $1M. Signing players of this caliber would have easily cost the Brewers $4M. Receiving three solid prospects on top of saving $9M this season is more than I thought we would receive for Gallardo. Depending on how the Brewers decide to allocate the saving will just add more icing on this already frosted cake.

[pacopete4]

I think I'm good with not going after Shields now... Go with Lohse/Garza/Peralta/Fiers/Nelson and go really hard after Zimmermann in the offseason.

 

I would LOVE to see this rotation in 2016...

 

Zimmermann

Peralta

Garza

Fiers

Nelson

 

And/or maybe Jungmann is the real deal and we can move Garza for prospects, re-tooling the farm system once again.

[DoubleSwitch]

Dumb question here. What made Sardinas a consensus top 100 player going into 2014 and Arcia wasn't? By all accounts both are very good with the glove. Neither player did much with the bat in 2013; they are roughly the same age. What gives, is Sardinas strictly more projectable? Going into 2014 you would think Arcia would be the higher ranked of the two.

 

coming into last season Arcia was:

 

>a year removed from missing a season due to injury

>had only played at low A, while sardinas had played most of a year at high A and a month at AA

>hadn't shown much with the bat yet

 

He's a couple years younger than Sardinas, but at that point he hadn't shown enough to be a prospect on the national radar yet. Right now I think he's a better prospect than Sardinas was a year ago, but he did a lot to improve his stock in 2014. A year ago he still had too many question marks.

[pacopete4]

While I'm thrilled the Brewers seem smart enough to trade a starting pitcher for prospects, I think any talk of Nelson being just as good as Gallardo seems overly optimistic. I have hope that Nelson can develop into a credible starting MLB pitcher, he certainly wasn't one last year

 

 

What makes me optimistic is how he pitched until he hit his innings mark from the year before. Remember how Fiers flamed out at the end of his season, it happened with Nelson too.

 

In the MLB his first 7 starts were in his innings of the previous season here is his stat line:

 

7 Starts (2-3), 42IP (6 innings per/start), 18 ER, 34 K, 11BB, 42 H or 3.86 ERA/1.261 WHIP

[TooLiveBrew]

Things to like:

 

Sardinas was as the #72 prospect in baseball prior to 2014. MLB.com had him at #76. He was in the 80s the previous year. No, he's not a 25 HR hitting 3B, and perhaps his star dimmed a bit last year, but the guy is still fairly well regarded. He provides depth at SS (providing an alternative if Segura falters), and a right handed bat to platoon with Scooter (if the team decides that's best). Depth is crucial to teams like Milwaukee. If we want to make the playoffs, we can't afford to keep trotting out guys who playing badly.

From what I've read about him so far (admittedly all via BF.net), it sounds like the best summary of Sardiñas is that his floor is a utility IF with ++ defense, & his ceiling is a top-tier defender/second-tier hitter starting SS. Seems like a pretty solid addition, and like you also note, the pitchers have promise as well.

 

This deal reminds me of the Aoki-Smith deal last offseason. Trade a declining but solid vet with one year left under contract... for 5-6+ seasons of young talent that isn't completely unproven but needs more of an opportunity to shine.