Zack Godley

[NievesNoNO]

How serious does Arizona really want/need an OF? Would they give Godley for Santana?

[JosephC]

Between Fangraphs and Baseball Reference, Santana was a 3.15 WAR player last year and is projected to be a 1.7 WAR player next year. Godley was a 3.95 WAR player last year and is projected to be a 1.9 WAR player next year. Godley has one less year of service but Santana is younger (Godley = April of 1990 while Santana = August of 1992). Godley had an awful 6.39 ERA in 2016 but that's deceptive as his xFIP was 4.20 the same season. Last year Godley had a 3.37 ERA and a 3.32 xFIP so it looks pretty legitimate. He's not a real hard-thrower (91.5 MPH) and only throws his fastball about 33% of the time, lots of times guys like that just don't get the respect they deserve. The extra year of service makes me believe that Godley is the more valuable player but a straight-up swap is not an unreasonable suggestion.

 

Things that make me think it's a real possibility is that Godley only projects at their fifth starter, and moving him would allow them to put Archie Bradley back in the rotation which is something it sounds like they want to do in the future (or maybe now?). But I've also heard read some stuff that they could use a corner outfielder now, but would prefer it if that outfielder could also play center to give them some insurance in case they lose A.J. Pollock next off-season, that would obviously work against Santana because I don't think anyone views him as a centerfielder even though he has played there.

[reillymcshane]

Godley is an interesting player. He was a reliever in the minors before being converted to starting in 2015. So he doesn't have a ton of mileage on his arm. He put up some good numbers last year, but was pretty awful in 2016.

 

I guess the times I've seen him he's not been very good looking, but that's only a few games. I guess I'd like to know what other people think about the guy.

 

If Arizona likes Godley, he would seem like the least likely type of player they'd want to give up. They need cheap, controllable pitching - just like us.

 

But who knows.