San Fernando acquired 27 year-old 1B Yuu Suzuki from Pacific division rival Sacramento in exchange for one major leaguer and three prospects.
Suzuki is one of the premier--and more unique--sluggers in today's game. He slashed .340/.348/.545 in Sacramento's cavernous ballpark in 2060 while swatting more than 40 home runs for the first time in his career. Suzuki managed to produce 3.8 WAR while only hitting 6 doubles and taking 10 walks. He'll now play in a hitters paradise that aids batting average and home run power while suppressing gap power--a perfect fit for Suzuki.
Suzuki's also a rock solid defender at first base. That will be a welcome upgrade from Michael Schultz who no longer has a clearly defined role with the team.
In return, the Bears coughed up dependable lefty reliever Edmond Thomas. We'll need to find another lefty for our pen. 40-man roster prospect Pedro Carmona heads to the Mad Popes but his playing time would have been limited on a roster that now holds Suzuki. The real prizes are two of San Fernando's best pitching prospects, Felipe Ledesma and Juan Silva. They're promising pitchers who I liked a lot but they're also far from the majors and only have MOR at best potential.
This trade pretty much maxes out San Fernando's finances for 2061 (Suzuki received a $9.7M contract via arbitration) so expect us to be thrifty the rest of the offseason.
