Santana Moved 39.9

[handaspencer]

In what was a flurry of activity at Montreal headquarters on trade deadline day, Montreal was actively talking with several teams in the final minutes. Ultimately they only settled on making one deal when it sent Juan Santana to Phoenix to give them much need help in LF. Montreal received prospects Peter Crocker and Raul Gonzalez in return.

We really hated to lose Santana GM Spencer said, he brings a special skill set to an offense and we believe he will really help Phoenix. Ultimately we was forced into a position to make a decision on Santana. We have Jim Antolin in the wings in LF who should debut in 2040. Santana is limited defensively and we was not comfortable putting him in CF since both corner OF spots appear to be locked down going forward. We ultimately could have let him DH if we was contending, but we felt at this time getting some assets was best.

We really struggled with when do we move Santana because Antolin is really struggling in AAA this year and we will admit we are concerned. If we held onto Santana next year we risked the chance of injury or a bad season that would hurt his trade value or compensation return. We want to see some better numbers from Antolin before we bring him up in 2040 so we will be finding a short term stop gap in LF going into next season so we take the pressure off Antolin.

The addition of Crocker and Gonzalez will increase the depth we are building within our system. 2039 has been a miserable year for the Blazers but down on the farm we are making some progress. It was also reported that Montreal had 2 blockbuster deals on the table with one of them involving Vicente Lopez but in the final minutes the deals fell apart. We was a little more stubborn in the other deals GM Spencer admitted we wasn't going to just make a trade for fun we wanted it to be right for the Montreal organization. We ultimately like the direction this team is heading but patience is key.

[usnspecialist]

Holy shit antolin has ridden the bump train. Can't wait to see where that deal ranks on rectes all time list

[niles08]

This was a solid move on both teams part. Crocker & Gonzalez will be developed and waiting in the wings for the next strike force when Antolin is ready to go.

Antolin has bumped very well, I am just worried about his contact still a bit as his batting average of .200 this season has me a little shaky.

[shoeless.db]

Yeah, I liked this deal on both sides... made good sense.

[handaspencer]

I forgot Antolin was in the Hustlers system.

High strikeout and low contact guys scare me but I do think because his OBP is usually 100 points higher than the avg. due to that great eye he will come along. If we can get that average in the .240 range I think we might have something special brewing. The good news he has room to grow in contact, I am concerned if I rush him to the BBA with low contact and the way he strikes out he could flop. He is a solid defender in LF and I love that potential power so we will continue to wait him out.