The Vancouver Times - 2037, Issue 5

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The Vancouver Times - 2037, Issue 5

Post by StormZ_23 » Sat Jan 26, 2019 1:50 pm

Another trade has occurred in Vancouver! Was it like the trade from a few weeks ago where the Mounties got a couple nice prospects for a pitcher they didn't need? When we saw the alert on our phones, we assumed it would be another trade for a Vancouver rebuild. However, immediately our reactions we expect to be very similar to other Vancouver fans, mass confusion. Let's talk about the trade.

In this trade the Mounties traded Pablo Soto and AAA prospect Gustavo Herrera to the Omaha Hawks for J.J. McQuade. Now, why did the Mounties essentially trade a 20 year old prospect for a bad contract? At first, we were very confused as to why the organization made this trade. The 20 year old Herrera is having a solid year in AAA with a line of .273/.307/.460 in 67 games. He is a very good defender and has the potential to stay in center field as well. The Mounties traded him for a shortstop with a bad contract who is having a subpar season at the plate and for a so called "good defender" is not having a good defensive season. On paper this looks like a bad deal for the Mounties but let's look at what the GM might have been thinking when making this trade.

Looking at this deal, the Mounties are not necessarily losing a lot of money. McQuade is owed about $12.3 million next season, so the payroll would be similar to what we originally thought it would be. If McQuade can finish this season on a high note, maybe that could help persuade the owner to give our GM more money to work with and maybe try to go for the playoffs next season. The Mounties have many top pitchers injured right now and when healthy, this rotation has the potential to be one of the better ones in the league, especially seeing the great seasons from José Zamora and Juan Guerrero. With top prospect José Arellano having a great season in AAA, he is poised for a September call up and a rotation spot next season. Maybe José Ramirez and the newly acquired Keith Howard could make appearances next season as they are also having solid seasons in their respective leagues. Maybe this is wishful thinking but GM Taylor Bettencourt must be very optimistic for the near future and Gustavo Herrera was just a sacrifice to make. We also have to assume that he only sees Herrera as a fourth outfielder and is optimistic about his chances to re-sign Ki-seop Park and have 2037 first round pick Ángel González, a kid with all the potential in the world, take over Park's spot when he is ready.

That was all the best case scenario and knowing baseball, that is very unlikely to happen, but we've seen crazier things happen. A more realistic, while hopeful outcome of this trade is McQuade improves his hitting and is flipped next season to a contender for some prospects. Soto was never going to stay in Vancouver next season with his ridiculous contract so losing him was more to balance the deal. We wish all the best to Gustavo Herrera, but if Park does not re-sign and Herrera becomes a productive, everyday center fielder, we have only Mr. Bettencourt to blame. Furthermore, when it comes to the Mounties starting lineup, they don't exactly have a plethora of a great hitters other than Menne, Popo, and Park. On a very good day, this lineup is average and seeing that most of the great hitting prospects are in the lower minors, the lineup will be like this for at least the next couple of seasons. So, playoffs are very unlikely for next season, even if McQuade has a resurgence.

This trade has the potential to be a turning point in the tenure for Mr. Bettencourt. If McQuade can gain some extra motivation from this deal after realizing that he has dealt twice this season, Bettencourt will have either a trade chip, albeit a trade chip that would require retaining salary, or a super utility guy/starting shortstop that could help the Mounties rush to the end of their rebuild. On the other side, if McQuade flops and becomes nothing more than wasted money next season and Herrera becomes a 3-4 WAR player, questions will circle around about Mr. Bettencourt. We just have to wait to see what happens, but as a fan base we should be supportive yet cautious of our front office.
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Re: The Vancouver Times - 2037, Issue 5

Post by Ted » Sat Jan 26, 2019 3:04 pm

I like the idea of turning a bad contract into a trade chip by retaining some salary in a rebuilding situation. I think maybe some of us who have been around for awhile (by which I mean me) are still struggling with how you can use salary retention to your advantage. It's not exactly new, but we've been unable to do it for so long, that it's kind of a blind spot at time. I do wonder if Herrera could have been a strong side platoon starter. He's got one of those bating profiles though that does sometimes succeed in AAA but not in the bigs.

edit* I just realized I got fooled again by the way OOTP sorts minor league stats and piles stuff at different levels into one stat line. I'm a tad less impressed with Herrera now.
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Re: The Vancouver Times - 2037, Issue 5

Post by StormZ_23 » Sat Jan 26, 2019 3:51 pm

Ted wrote:
Sat Jan 26, 2019 3:04 pm
I like the idea of turning a bad contract into a trade chip by retaining some salary in a rebuilding situation. I think maybe some of us who have been around for awhile (by which I mean me) are still struggling with how you can use salary retention to your advantage. It's not exactly new, but we've been unable to do it for so long, that it's kind of a blind spot at time. I do wonder if Herrera could have been a strong side platoon starter. He's got one of those bating profiles though that does sometimes succeed in AAA but not in the bigs.

edit* I just realized I got fooled again by the way OOTP sorts minor league stats and piles stuff at different levels into one stat line. I'm a tad less impressed with Herrera now.
I see it as upgrading/buying prospects in a way, in this case I'm trading Herrera with the hopes that McQuade can be better and in turn get a prospect that is better than Herrera. Since I don't expect to use money to sign marquee free agents for a couple more seasons, why not use money to try to, in a sense, buy better prospects? It's risky and doesn't work a lot of the time but if I'm not using the money anyway, I don't really see it as a big deal. As for Herrera, I think it's unlikely that he will ever become starting center field caliber, maybe right field, but I doubt center field.
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Re: The Vancouver Times - 2037, Issue 5

Post by RonCo » Sun Jan 27, 2019 12:10 am

I definitely like the idea of trying to use your full cap.
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