Madison/Seattle Trade Analysis

[indiansfan]

This trade looks like it will be a good deal for both clubs. Madison in the short term and Seattle in the long term,

Madison is willing to trade the farm (literally) to improve their chances at winning the Championship this year. Already a very strong club they have made two deals to make them even better, at the expense of their farm system. This was the first deal and the second was the deal for Roland Carroll.

In this deal Madison got a premiere starting pitcher in Jim Brochthrup. Coming off back to back All Star appearances, Brochthrup will definately give the Wolves a great 3 man rotation for the playoffs. However, he is 34 and comes with an $8.6 million salary. Brochthrup 11-8 with Seattle should improve on that record given that he is allowing a baserunner an inning and striking out more than that. Also coming over in the deal was infielder Jack Eoff who will give the Wolves a great fielding sub at any infield position.

Long term, Seattle clearly gets the best of this deal. Madision paid heavily in prospects that should make a big difference for Seattle in the future. First they got SP Cedric Ayers, 15-3 and only 26 years old, Ayers is having a breakout year resulting in his selection to the All Star game. Ayers is also on a very team friendly contract. In addition to Ayers the Storm got a great SP prospect in Grady Powers. Powers looks like a can't miss guy, with a little work needed on his control. Slick fielding 3B Shawn McClure should be able to compete for a starting job next season. McClure should be a .270, 25 homer guy a year. The final piece of the deal is minor league SS Abdi Jumbe. Jumbe has a great glove at all the infield positions along with RF. Like McClure he should be ready to play in the bigs next season.

So to conclude. Madison gets what may be the missing piece to its rotation for a championship run this year. Seattle gets a good young ML starting pitcher in Ayers, a guy that should be in their rotation in 2 years in Powers, a starting 3B for next year in McClure and with Jumbe they got a utility man to replace Eoff that has a better upside. If Madison wins it all it will be worth it. Personally I think that when you have a shot at a championship you have to go for it and Madison is clearly doing that this year. Seattle made a great deal by getting four players that should be major contributors for many years.

[jumpmancol]

Excellent write-up, and hit the nail-on-the-head in terms of how I was approaching the deal. This is all about next year and beyond, and I think I got some pretty good pieces to work with.

[7teen]

Excellent recap. If Madison can finally win the title, then it will all be worth it.