38.4 No Way No Hsaio We Traded Manceau

[crobillard]

I loved the defensive combination between Dong-soo Chon and George Bluth last season, but it was a disaster offensively for me. I don't know if OOTP has a LOB stat somewhere I couldn't find one that tracked it. I'm pretty certain those two led my team in leaving running on base by a large margin though. Losing Chon to free agency, I wanted to give the middle of my infield an offensive upgrade this season. With the acquisitions of Francisco Ruiz from Brooklyn and Jubal Troop from Las Vegas, my pitchers became expendable a little bit. I decided to shop Maxime Manceau after his career year last season since I had concerns about a repeat given his recent lump in stuff from a 7 to a 5. I also didn't want to miss this opportunity to capitalize on his value if last year was a fluke.

Looking back on the deal, Manceau looks like the real deal. His high movement and all three of his pitches being solid are key. He doesn't allow many homeruns at all and that's his most valuable trait. He'll continue to do that for Phoenix even if he gets a few less strikeouts in the process. I think that 160-180 innings pitched in a season is his sweet spot though. Too many and you might see his ERA blow up like it did in 2036 at 5.22 in 205 IP.

I received second baseman Yi-ke Hsaio and starting pitching prospect Marco Morales in return for Manceau. I'm not confident Morales will amount to much more than depth, but he's at least mildly interesting. Hsaio is the main event in this deal. Solid 6 rating defense at second with a good double play turning ability at an 8. He hits LHP and RHP the same with 8/8/5/5/7 ratings. I like a good contact, good extra base hits ability as it plays pretty well in my park. This will be Hsaio's first full season. I'm not sure if he qualifies for rookie status since he played in 12 games in the majors last season. No idea how that works, but I'm excited about his potential for this season. In AAA last year he hit .310/.386/.517 in 300 at bats. If he can hit above an .800 OPS I'll be very happy and I think that's certainly within his wheelhouse.

This wraps up one half of the middle infield and potentially pushes Bluth to SS where is expert defense is probably better utilized. His ability to hit the ball is still very much an issue though, so it's better to find a replacement and use Bluth in a utility role. Soon after this deal I make another at SS. To be continued.......

[jiminyhopkins]

Hsiao is a tremendous hitter who will do very well. Since I have Barron entrenched at second base, I was able to deal that excess depth for a starter. A good deal all around