2054.9: Bears Trade Roundup

[BaseClogger]

9/9/2054

I made several midseason trades before the deadline on September 1st. Below is a summary of those trades.

Traded 22-year old minor league LF Ming-yu Yip to the Calgary Pioneers, getting 27-year old LHP Michel Gautier in return.

I selected Gautier in the rule 5 draft and he had an ERA above 8 at the time of this trade if I remember correctly. He had decent peripherals, however, and I'm light on both lefties and relief candidates heading into 2055. So I chose to trade a prospect I don't care about to be able to send Gautier down to AAA for a time (where he proved he deserved a second chance). Michel's been better since getting called back up.

Traded 35-year old RHP Amayas Moelling and 32-year old RHP Juan Martínez to the Long Beach Surfers, getting 20-year old minor league RHP Lowell Cook and 19-year old minor league 2B Zhi-huan Lew in return.

Starting pitching is an area where I have some young depth so I was motivated to move Moelling. He's signed to a $1M contract so I figured he'd have some value on the trade market for a team needing an innings eater. The real get for Long Beach should be Martinez, who bumped significantly this season and has an affordable team option for 2055. His ERA hasn't been able to match the ratings this season though, so I wasn't bothered too much to also include him in the trade. In return, I get two prospects I really like.

Traded 29-year old RHP Edwin Harney (retaining 50%) and 37-year old RF Ramón Pagán (retaining 50%) to the Edmonton Jackrabbits, getting 28-year old RHP Juan Oliver in return.

I 'm bummed to miss out on having Pagan hit his 600th career HR in a Bears uniform, but outfield is a positional group where I actually have a few prospects worth trying out. Ultimately, this was a couple teams swapping players they figured they'd waive at some point. I was happy to end up with a reliever with options remaining and a little cleared salary.

Traded 28-year old RHP Ramón González (retaining 50%) to the Las Vegas Hustlers, getting 19-year old RHP Pete Morris, 33-year old C Ramiro Cherón, 26-year old 3B Ðlkay Berkes, 20-year old SS Etugrul Inonu, and 37-year old CF Rocky Allen in return.

Gonzalez is a fan favorite who I signed to a modest extension a while back. He's an enigma whose production has rarely seemed to match up to his ratings, K-rate in particular. With his inconsistency in mind, as well as the fact he can opt-out this offseason, I decided to make him available. He's been tremendous for Las Vegas since they acquired him and now I expect him to dominate for a couple of seasons for commish after signing an extension. Hopefully his price tag at least goes up.

In return, I get a few offsetting contracts off waivers who I don't plan to use much, Cheron and Allen. Berkes is soaking up PAs at 3B for me and his bat has been effective since getting his chance. Morris is still young and has good draft pedigree. Inonu is the centerpiece, legit prospect.

Hopefully these trades get me a reputation of being a willing seller who only asks for reasonable prospect returns.

[Jwalk100]

Gautier may have turned the corner but it is a small sample size. He just may be a late bloomer.

[Lane]

I forgot that Juan Martinez was in the Moelling trade! That definitely makes me feel better.

The Moelling signing for you was excellent and a great example for teams that are either not contending or on the edge of contending to grab useful guys like on cheap deals and then turn them into interesting prospects.

[Jess64]

Love to see the trade analysis

[chicoruiz]

Wow…I just looked at Ramon Pagan’s history. He’s changed teams about as frequently as I change razor blades…