35.8. A Pair O' Trades

[agrudez]

In a continued effort to gear up for a playoff push in 2035, the Phantoms went out and made two deals today.

The first, with Long Beach, brings in Baez, a solid (though unspectacular) Southpaw reliever that posted a 3.75 FIP last season in limited usage. In a good 'pen, the young hurler likely would have trouble finding a home, but even after all of Huntsville's quick-turnaround remodeling the Phantoms bullpen is still pretty terrible - so he will be a welcome addition. It also feels important for the LHB-paradise stadium they play in that their best left-handed reliever isn't the enigmatic Contreras, too. In return, Huntsville parted with one of their many solid relief prospects, this time being Salcido. With an elite cutter that he was capable of throwing 101 MPH, Phantoms management liked him ALOT more than OSA seems to - and there even had been rumblings of management considering a SP conversion on him in the vein of what they just did for Chavez. Of course, that won't be happening now - at least not in Huntsville.

In the second deal, the team executed a much larger deal in scope and importance by acquiring Sullivan from California. One look at this player and it shouldn't be hard to tell what we like in him. A solid LHB vs. RHP and the ever-rare 10 infield range make him an ideal candidate to be the team's SS of the future - and he even adds elite base-running ability (if that's your thing). With Guzman in the fold, most fans weren't expecting SS to be a target this offseason; however, Sullivan represented an opportunistic add for the franchise and 'Carp' - despite being brilliant last season - is looking more and more like a 2B anyway. This, of course, has the further result of pushing Wilfer permanently to 3B and Templeman (whom accrued nearly 2 WAR last season) permanently out of the starting lineup - much to *his* chagrin, no doubt.

At the end of the day, this acquisition is probably an overall net wash offensively between Sullivan and Templeman, but a clear defensive coup - upgrading from a mediocre SS and poor 2B to a great SS and great 2B on that side of the ball... an especially important note for a team that emphasizes groundball pitchers. In exchange, the team parted with their 2nd best SP prospect behind Chavez in Vega and 2 solid, well developed lottery ticket teenagers in Reed and Kobayashi - each of whom have yet to have bumps, but profile perfectly as players that could (ie. exceedingly young and nearly fully developed).

[Lane]

I probably should have made a stronger offer for Sullivan. My SS situation for 2035 is shit.

[Ted]

I probably should have made a stronger offer for Sullivan. My SS situation for 2035 is shit.

Sorry, man. I never know where the line is between letting another GM know you found an offer you like, or trying to run a guy up. I usually just take the first one that makes me feel comfortable.

That being said, none of these guys may amount to anything.

[Lane]

I probably should have made a stronger offer for Sullivan. My SS situation for 2035 is shit.

Sorry, man. I never know where the line is between letting another GM know you found an offer you like, or trying to run a guy up. I usually just take the first one that makes me feel comfortable.

That being said, none of these guys may amount to anything.

Oh it's fine. I'm honestly not sore about it, you have to take the package that you like, wherever it comes from.