Tales of Plunder 2020-3 Trade Review #5

[indiansfan]

Trade Review #5

8-1 CLG-TSC - Calgary got MR Johnson Walter - Tucson got SP Julian Lara, SP Angel Calderon, RF Lee O'Herlihy

In the final deal of the night Calgary got a player they have coveted for a long time in Walter, but they may have bit off too much salary for their own good. Tucson got rid of his salary and got some younger pieces.

Johnson Walter was built for Calgary's ballpark. He is a sinkerballer, with great movement and keeps the ball on the ground. While a closer in Tucson he was brought in here to pitch middle relief and provide injury insurance in case one of the other relievers went down. In 2018 for Tucson he was 8-5, 31 saves, 3.07 ERA for a bad team. In 2019 he was 4-4, 16 saves, 3.86 ERA before the deal. For Calgary he was 1-1, 1 save, 2.30 and was very good in the playoffs. The problem is his salary. He is getting closer money which is $6.6 mil in 2020 and a team option in 2021 for $8.5 mil.

Tucson got Julian Lara a 23 year old SP/MR that may make it to the majors but more likely get stuck at AAA. The more promising pitcher is 19 yr old Angel Calderon. Calderon has the potential to be a useable lefty reliever with a good fastball and sinker. He is still a couple years away. Tucson also took on Lee O'Herlihy and the final year of his contract to make the money work. He hit like crap after the trade and they wisely let him walk away after the season.

Evaluation - Tucson didn't get much, but they did get out of Walter's 2020 and 2021 salary. This will free up cap space for them to use on younger players. They got a couple of pitchers that might turn into something but don't keep your hopes up. Calgary got a good reliever for the 2019 season who might turn into a 1 year rental. The team would like to keep him but may need to move his salary. If he stays through 2020 they will certainly not pick up his big option. In a deal to make the playoffs for 2019 however, Walter was a big help.
To sum up the bullpen deals. Calgary picked up Parsons, Ocean and Walter. They contributed mightily to the team's pennant race - 4-1, 3 saves, 1.57 ERA and gave up 1 HR in 51.2 innings. The team went 40-14 after they were added to the bullpen. All 3 players had were traded by teams rebuilding and trying to get younger, so the deals made sense for them. The Marauders didn't give up too much either so the deals were good for Calgary.