Blowing in the Wind 2058.2: Jacksonville Trades Bernie Stuart

[aaronweiner]

What's remarkable about Jacksonville's Bernie Stuart deal is not that it happened, or even how it happened: a huge sum of cash, prospects, and some future considerations. The Hurricanes, not in incredible financial shape to begin with, were heavily in the red after signing very expensive IFA Klaas Renders, and the fact that they took a deal that paid them a huge sum of money and added prospects was not by itself remarkable. What's most interesting about the deal is that it's exactly the sort of deal GM Aaron Weiner was famous for back during his incredible run with Rockville - from the OTHER side.

"Yeah, I've made a deal or two like this," said Weiner. "Remember Dempster/Cannon/Martin? Remember that I drafted NONE of those guys? We made a ton of deals that looked just like this one back then. It's interesting being on the other side of it."

Stuart, of course, has been maybe the best BBA pitcher who has never won a Steve Nebraska. Over the past three seasons with Jacksonville, only Hector Silva, Dave Corfield, and Carlos Flores have more pitching WAR than Stuart. He's the absolute perfect fit in Twin Cities, who has won 289 games over the past three seasons and desperately needed a rotation anchor. Stuart sounded pleased about the move.

"Playing in Jacksonville has been great, but to be honest we haven't had the success that I was hoping we'd have, and Twin Cities has won playoff series each of the last three years," said Stuart. "I'm excited to see what's next here."

However, there were multiple reasons to deal the righty. Stuart has an opt-out after this season, and the 33 year old righty may be legitimately underpaid at $14 million. With Jacksonville's financial state, there was likely no way they could have re-signed him to a long-term deal. Additionally, the Hurricanes might not be as good as they've been in previous years; the core of the lineup is aging, the youth isn't quite ready yet and they finished 11th in the JL last year in offense.

"It's going to be some interesting times around here for a few months," said Weiner. "We definitely still have an excellent rotation, and we might just try to win with what we have offensively."

Jacksonville made the playoffs last year with 87 wins, and projected for 92 by their run differential, which means they also had a little slack to play with - unless they keep making deals. It will be interesting to see what's next for the Hurricanes, who might still have a lot to do.

"It'll come down to what makes the most sense for the health of the franchise," said Weiner. "We want to be winners here for a long time."

[trmmilwwi]

3rd time he's been traded. Doing a trade chart involving him would be a fun exercise.

[Dington]

3rd time he's been traded. Doing a trade chart involving him would be a fun exercise.

It would be a lot of exercise and January is over so I can stop pretending to exercise.