We Got Wood - 46.14 - Portland Trades for de' Medici

[7teen]

At this point, the moves General Manager Chris Wilson and assistant GM Kate Fiscus make probably make little sense. Hell, one wonders if they even make sense in their own head. But to those in the Portland front office, they make sense to them and I guess in the end it's all that matters. Today, the Portland front office announced that they had struck a deal for Lorenzo de' Medici from Nashville. de' Medici, a perennial all-star caliber pitcher with a high strike out total and a candidate for the league's top pitcher year in and year out, will hopefully bolster a pitching staff that Wilson thinks could be tops in the Pacific very soon.

But does trading three prospects, one of which is considered a top 20 prospect by some reports, make sense for Portland at this point?

"We are eyeing 2047 as the year we start to make our move in the division" commented Wilson today announcing the trade. "Some may look at Lorenzo and just see a reliever. We look at him and see what other see. A 4 to 5 WAR player who will eat over 150 innings out of the bullpen. The draft the last few years has set things in motion. Phase II is starting to come together."

The success or failure of this deal for Portland likely hinges on the development of 20 year old prospect Hasheem Makin. Makin, one of the key components of the Robert Menzies trade with Charlotte, is the key piece going to Nashville. Despite being currently ranked as the 19th prospect in the league, not everyone in the POrtland front office was sold on Makin.

"He's 20 and still at Short-A" added assistant GM Kate Fiscus. "He's not shown an ability to make contact consistently and nor hit homeruns in the farm system. He's supposed to be a power hitter. Truth be told, this might be more of a trade to get something valuable out of a shiny looking prospect rather than wait around and watch him do nothing. If he develops, then Nashville wins the deal. If he doesn't, then we win. And if we make a push for the division over the rest of this decade, with the arms we have coming soon, then we'll feel a lot better."

Fiscus and Wilson both commented on the fact that de' Medici is another piece to the pitching staff that the front office has extremely high hopes for over the rest of this decade. Chris Thompson appears ready to debut any day now, though some are speculating the team will wait until next season or September to call him up. The recent draft acquisition of Ken Sparks gives Portland yet another ace caliber arm to add to the rotation later this season or as early as next. When you add in a developing Felix Vidaca with current rookie Steve Warren, Portland may have the horses needed to shut down opposing offenses.

de' Medici helps close the door in the later innings.

Portland also sent former 2nd round pick and corner outfielder Matt Garrison to Nashville along with 3B prospect Steve Hooper, a former 3rd round pick.

[Dington]

If I don’t flip Makin, I’ll be hoping he gets a bump in AVK. Big risk for me.