Nick Swisher to CHW, Gio Gonzalez, Fautino De Los Santos and Ryan Sweeney to OAK

[Beast Light]

http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/news/story?id=3179423

 

Oakland traded Swisher to the White Sox for Gio Gonzalez, Fautino De Los Santos, and Ryan Sweeney.

[davego]

Wow...the rebuild of the A's continues.

[RobertR]

Gonzalez AND De Los Santos? Wow.

It's very clear that Beane is holding a fire sale, but he's sure getting value back.

Swisher's a good return for the White Sox as well, although I don't see that it vaults them up with the Indians and Tigers. It looks like Kenny Williams has decided on the Ed Wade plan, throw everything at the short term.

Robert

[monty57]

My first thought is "How do these three compare to Brewers prospects?" Could we have put together a similar package to land Swisher? I would think that would have gone a long way towards landing us in the playoffs this year.

 

My second thought is what are the White Sox doing? Even with the addition of Swisher, they are going to have a hard time competing in the Central. I realize they've got a $100MM+ payroll, but have they just given up the future in order to finish 3rd instead of 4th in their division next year?

[PrinceFielder28]

Wow he would have looked good in our line-up...100 walks that is almost more that the entire team drew last year

[endaround]

It does mean the Twins are more likely to trade Santana than to roll the dice for the season

[Milltownhooker]

The arms the White Soxs are giving up is the major deal here. I'd say the crew trading Parra & Jeffress would be comparable

[JohnBriggs12]

The Brewers could have offered Parra and Gwynn which would have been close to Gonzalez and Sweeney but I'm not sure they had the guy out there that compares to De Los Santos.

 

Williams isn't done (while according to Haudricourt, Melvin is on vacation). There have been rumblings about Konerko and Crede to Angels for Figgins and Erwin Santana.

[rotoherb]

The Brewers don't have as many pitchers to do a comparable trade, but it would be something like Jeffress, Z. Jackson (probably need a better pitcher here but the Brewers don't really have a comparable) and Tony Gwynn, I believe. I kind of think that the Sox gave up a little too much for Swisher, especially since it doesn't appear like they have any chance to compete next season. They should really be trying to rebuild as much as the A's are rebuilding.

[sbrylski]

Ohhh, it would have been so nice to get Swisher. I honestly didn't think he would move - he's too "A's"-ish.

[homer]

"while according to Haudricourt, Melvin is on vacation"

 

 

The nerve!

[Tbadder]

I think the White Sox got the better of the deal, but man oh man, how does this help them? Does it really matter if you fall short of the Indians and Tigers by ten games rather than twenty games. Clearly the Sox have to wait for detroit to implode (probably in 2 to 4 years) or Cleveland to lose its players via free agency. Then they could've moved into the void. But how do you do that when you keep packaging your future?

[brewtank34]

Swisher's OBP is remarkable....Why oh Why couldn't have Melvin landed this one....This would have solved everything for us. Shoot.

[Brian the Automator]

Swisher's OBP is remarkable....Why or Why couldn't have Melvin landed this one....This would have solved everything for us. Shoot.

We really didn't have comparable prospects to give up on this one.

 

[TooLiveBrew]

Ohhh, it would have been so nice to get Swisher. I honestly didn't think he would move - he's too "A's"-ish.

I thought the same thing, sbryl. This one's shocked me. Great player for CWS, great return for Oak. Beane probably wins this one, but man - Swisher's sweet.

[JohnBriggs12]

Swisher's OBP is remarkable....Why or Why couldn't have Melvin landed this one....This would have solved everything for us. Shoot.

We really didn't have comparable prospects to give up on this one.

 

 

Parra is comparable to Gonzalez. Zach Jackson isn't close.

 

Had they held on to Inman, they might have had the other piece.

[bigredrobbo]

Oh, man. It seems as if every transaction this Winter has turned into a "why couldn't the Brewers have pulled the plug on this deal?" thread.

 

I guess that means that Kendall and Gagne aren't cutting it as far as improving the Crew among the fanbase, huh? C'mon, Doug, where's our shiny new gift?

[I Heart Brewers]

If the A's are having a firesale how much would it cost to get Chavez? His bat may be crap but he's a gold glover who would immediately upgrade the defense and get Braun in LF.

[Brian the Automator]

If the A's are having a firesale how much would it cost to get Chavez? His bat may be crap but he's a gold glover who would immediately upgrade the defense and get Braun in LF.

It would be a lot of money to pay for a guy who's had a hard time staying healthy recently.

 

[JohnBriggs12]

Chavez' offensive dropoff raises lots of questions in this baseball climate.

[Ennder]

Using minorleagueball.com as a guide it would be like trading Parra, LaPorta and Gillespie for Swisher. If they were just looking for top end pitching prospects we wouldn't have had what they wanted.

[I Heart Brewers]

If the A's are having a firesale how much would it cost to get Chavez? His bat may be crap but he's a gold glover who would immediately upgrade the defense and get Braun in LF.

It would be a lot of money to pay for a guy who's had a hard time staying healthy recently.

 

 

 

I do agree. However, isn't he less risk than Rolen?

[RobertR]

FWIW, why I like the trade better for the A's, I don't think the White Sox got completely hosed here. Swisher is a good player who's only 27 and it's my understanding he's not eligible for free agency until after the 2012 season. And his contract is very team friendly. He's not a star, but he's a good player and should remain so for the life of his contract and can be moved again for prospects if the White Sox go into a rebuild mode. The White Sox have a better chance to win in 2008 than they did before this trade.

 

The problem is that they've likely not improved enough. And their chances of winning in the near future don't look much better. Their minor league system might be Astros-bad now. Probably the worst case scenario is that they hang around just close enough to not have a trade deadline sell off but don't close the deal and finish out of the playoffs. If they don't win this year, which I find unlikely, I can't see them winning in the near future either.

 

Robert

[Glennron]

I can see Ozzie benching him because he doesn't swing enough or bunt well or something.

[Gopher74]

If the A's are having a firesale how much would it cost to get Chavez? His bat may be crap but he's a gold glover who would immediately upgrade the defense and get Braun in LF.

That my was my first thought. The thing is, Swisher made 400K last year, and while he's eligible for arbitration this year his value was certainly inflated a bit by his low salary. Chavez on the other hand you'd have to think would be a little easier to get given that he's still got 2 years left on a 65 million dollar deal.