The Tigers have announced the acquisition of outfielder Cameron Maybin from the Braves. In return, Atlanta has added lefties Ian Krol and Gabe Speier.
Maybin, 28, returns to the organization that made him a first-round pick back in 2005. He seems likely to represent a platoon mate for fellow center fielder Anthony Gose. If that turns out to be the case, he’ll essentially step into the role of free agent Rajai Davis. It’s also possible to imagine Maybin spending time in left, though Detroit has plenty of time to look for another addition there.
It was an up-and-down 2015 for Maybin, who went to the Braves from the Padres as part of the salary swapping that facilitated the (first) Craig Kimbrel deal. In the end, he slashed .267/.327/.370 with 23 steals and ten home runs over 555 plate appearances.
That’s useful-enough production for an up-the-middle player, but Maybin also sported career-worst defensive metrics. Generally considered an average or plus defender in center, the athletic outfielder garnered a sub-par -7.3 UZR rating and a disastrous -16 DRS tally last year. That could be a short term blip, but it’s certainly an area of concern.
The Tigers will take over the extension that Maybin signed with the Padres. He is due $8MM this season, while a $9MM club option for 2017 comes with a $1MM buyout. The Braves, though, will apparently pick up part of the overall tab, as MLB.com’s Mark Bowman tweets that the swap will save Atlanta something like $6.5MM.
It’s likely that the cash savings played a significant role in Atlanta’s interest. But the arms coming over do have some value. Krol, 24, has struggled to keep runs off the board but has a big arm. He’s worked to a 4.91 ERA in 88 total MLB innings, with 7.8 K/9 against 3.9 BB/9. And the 20-year-old Speier — a minor part of the Yoenis Cespedes-for-Rick Porcello swap — put up a 2.86 ERA in 44 innings of relief at the Class A level last year, with 7.4 K/9 vs. 2.5 BB/9.
With the move, the Braves seem set to utilize Michael Bourn in center, with prospect Mallex Smith coming as soon as the middle of this coming season. It wouldn’t be surprising to see him supplemented with a signing — or, perhaps, a more significant trade for a young player. Elsewhere in the outfield, Nick Swisher represents a reserve option behind presumptive starters Nick Markakis and Hector Olivera.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports images.
What the……. Didn’t see this coming…
Not surprised he was traded…didn’t know who would take him though
I’m not surprised either.. It just happened so fast
you didn’t see another salary dump coming?
Deal shows the “interest” in Cameron Maybin was way over blown as expected.
Maybin was a good sell high candidate, although im not sure what to think about the return for Atlanta… MORE PITCHERS!
Hoard pitchers with potential, end up with a rotation similar to the Mets.
They’re bullpen arms. If they can just be LH specialists that would help the future bullpen that already has a future closing options (Withrow, Folty, Vizcaino). If Roriguez can come back to go with these guys, and we have a few power arms in the ‘pen, not to mention Shae Simmons’s return.
All they need is Andrew Miller and it’ll be like the Miggy trade never happened
For two relievers? What is Coppy thinking?
He didn’t have a ton of value
Maybe I shouldn’t trust Braves beat writers anymore.
Maybin called any offensive value he had last year because of his glove.
Mix that with the fact his bat didn’t have much value anyways
DOB is an idiot if thats who you were referring to, never trust him. And Maybin wasnt that good, I feel the ghost of BJ upton just made Maybin seem way better.
Perhaps something is in the works for a more permanent option in CF?
Yeah…clearing room for Mallex smith
AJ Pollock… It’s happening
Pollock isn’t happening, not unless we unload the farm for him…he has become a star
If that’s who the Braves asked for when they inquired on Miller, perhaps we could throw in a couple of prospects with Miller and make it happen. I agree I think it’s a reach, but that would be awesome
As bad as the Dbacks were fleeced once, I doubt they’d do it again.
Ahh come on it was fun though right?!
For Braves fans, no doubt. Dbacks, probably a few drowned in the pool, on purpose.
Pollock is one of the best outfielders in baseball.
Shelby Miller’s ERA was close to 4.00 in the 2nd half.
Shelby Miller was far better than his numbers indicated. The guy was the ONLY one you could rely on to go deep into games and pitch over 100 pitches per outing because the bullpen was so bad. Also, your ERA would be high too if every time you walked out on the mound you knew you’d get no run support.. That poor guy probably never wants to pitch in Atlanta again. He would have won 18 games with a contender.
That ERA is slightly inflated by Gonzalez leaving him in games longer than a lot of managers would, considering how bad the bullpen performed last year.
Pollock was also a bench player 2 seasons ago. Miller had one of the most obscure MLB records ever. It wasn’t his fault he had no run support. I don’t blame him for having his ERA spike. You’re losing from May til the last day of the year? Come on man…
Sike
Wow. On the surface seems like a money dump. Mark bowman said it would save the Braves around 6 million. As for The return, I have no idea
Ian Krol is a dumpster fire. Spier is a young relief prospect
His numbers are bad…
Kroll is a hard throwing lefty, who hasn’t been able to get lefties out. Think of him as a young Phil Coke. Love your sarcasm Jordan!
Thought we would of got a little more than that for Maybin… Probably just did it to dump payroll
The money saved trumps the prospect package though when it comes to a player as inconsistent as maybin
Decent obp last year. If he can do that while playing solid defense in LF and spelling Gose in CF, I like it
yeah, the post says platoon with gose but this has to be for LF, right? his D has gone downhill and tigers only have collins there right now
I am assuming they will look to add another piece. But it’s worth mentioning this possibility, so I added a line to the post.
Would prefer to see him platooning with Gose and being available to PR. Lets find someone else for LF, either a high average hitter like Span/Aoki, or a power hitter from the right side to platoon with Collins.
Welcome back to Detroit.
Surprised Detroit didn’t bring back Austin Jackson, you could expect about the same production with the bat as Maybin, better glove, and not give up any players.
A younger version of Raja to play off the bench and spell Gose I hope. Not what I’d want in LF. Thanks for everything Raja, and gl.
It will be interesting to see what happens with LF. I would love to take a chance on Denard Span to play LF and lead off. Seems like a team leader too.
Ummm Hitting ??
overrated.
Hitting is overrated? LOL. In reference to offense, the Braves need some offense at some point…
Pitching wins ballgames. Consider the 2016 World Series won.
I will be on record as well recognizing that we do in fact need hitting. However, you know what is really wild.
In 2014: The Atlanta Braves Offense compiled 573 Runs
In 2015: The Atlanta Braves Offense compiled 573 Runs
In 2014 we were next to last in baseball to The Padres, and in 2015, we were dead last. That being said I think it is crazy in the midst of a rebuild that our team jettisoned it’s best hitters (Upton, Heyward, Gattis) and we still scored as many runs as we did the previous year in 2014.
The key here is even with the offense as woeful as it was (dead last). The Braves have to be more alarmed at the 760 Runs the team gave up in 2015. Which is why I think you are seeing more pitchers being acquired. In All of baseball only The Rockies (844) and Tigers (803) teams gave up more runs than The Braves 760. I think that is an eye popping stat for any Braves team.
Good points BUT… The Braves already have a ton of young pitching with which to improve on the runs given up. I’m certain the starters will be much improved in 2016 with the experience they have gained. There have been no moves to improve the offense except putting Olivera in LF (hahaha) and maybe Aybar will have 20 more hits than Simmons (wow). Sure it’s an interesting dynamic to put together a team that will produce runs since a ton of heavy hitters (Blue Jays) doesn’t necessarily get you to the promised land when a light hitting team that knows how to manufacture runs (Royals) does. I would like to see the Braves make some moves EVENTUALLY !
You can never have too much pitching.
Even if Allard, Newcomb, Fried, Teheran and Miller (example) is the rotation of the future, then you can go and use the remainder of the pitching in the farm to fill the offensive holes.
There is a reason the Braves are ‘rebuilding’ and not ‘retooling.’
And if you’re going to give up on Olivera because of 87 league-average at bats, you’re never going to be satisfied.
I think with The Atlanta Braves. We want to batten down the hatchets so to speak. Our club gets ate up with so many Tommy John surgeries that our club decided to pack the club with Pitching prospects just in case some falter which they will or if they have Tommy John Surgery. Then if we have an excess then we can always trade them for a bat later on down the road. Despite the ugly numbers posted by the Braves major league pitchers in 2015. Our Minor League Coaches have a strong knack for working with arms and optimizing their value. Our hitting coaches in the minors have mixed results. It’s been awhile since our hitting coaches down on the farm have produced MLB quality bats.
sorry to quibble but it’s “batten down the hatches” as it is a nautical term for locking the hatches into the hold before a storm at sea.
I am really sorry, I got into typing really quickly and didn’t even think about it honestly. I like your profile pic too by the way.
Also, if it will make you feel better. In terms of the discussions mentioned by Ken Rosenthal earlier with The Braves and The Cubs. The Braves are said to be seeking young position players back in return for either Shelby Miller or Julio Teheran. The Cubs definitely have some intriguing hitting so they would make a perfect match and a deal with them might start filling in the holes that we have down on the farm with our offense.
I am really surprised with this return as a Braves fan. As I feel what is coming back is a tad on the light side. However, I am glad Maybin got his value back up enough so he could be more than a player who The Braves were forced to acquire so The Padres would take on Melvin Upton Jr.’s contract. The Braves have Michael Bourn for 2016 and with hopefully enough playing time he can recoup some value between now and the trade deadline before Mallex Smith can take over the reigns in 2017, or in late 2016 if Bourn is dealt and Mallex shows enough to be called up.
The Braves bullpen should be better in 2016 with Chris Withrow, Shae Simmons, Daniel Winkler, and Jason Grilli coming back. If even two of those come back and can contribute at the major league level which Grilli should be able to. The pen will look a lot better. The thing is that all of these relievers are Right Handed, and our one viable left handed option Paco Rodriguez is down with Tommy John Surgery and will miss all of 2016. So I get the trade from that standpoint, and Speier looks like a good young lefty reliever in the making with his numbers.
Even though I wish we could have kept Maybin. I am glad that we don’t have to worry about his value reverting to what it was back when we got him from The Padres.
As a Braves fan, it was a delight to watch Spider Maybin. I wish Maybin lots of luck with his new team and the team who drafted him before he was sent to The Marlins as the center piece in The Miguel Cabrera trade.
Braves front office: “We have 30 young pitchers and nothing on the offensive side of ball so how about we trade Maybin for two more pitchers? Yep, yep, good idea, guys.”
Perhaps they’ll deal Miller and Teheran for another clubs top 2 pitching prospects.. The Braves goal is to have a monopoly on the future pitching generation, I guess….?
Because Maybin is that good of a hitter? You could go sign Alejandro De Aza and get similar production over a full season.
Not the point. Braves fans are waiting for Coppolella to start working on the offense. Maybe Maybin could have been packaged with a couple of young starters for an upgrade in CF or 3B.
It’s still very early in the offseason.
Exactly.
Or maybe Maybin just has no value, and the upgrades you’re waiting for aren’t going to come via trading away arms + a mediocre outfielder.
Olivera, Freeman, Markakis and AJ isn’t a bad start. The SS of the future is on the way, and you can still trade Aybar.
The Braves whole plan rests of being ready to go when the new stadium comes. Thats why they traded CJ for Bourn and Swish. Its why they’re loading up the farm system now.
The Braves FO has only made 1 move that absolutely made no sense to their plan so far. Thats the Olivera/Wood/Peraza deal.
That deal still makes no sense almost 6 months later.
The offensive end needs to be worked on however. They do have some decent hitters–if Olivera actually works out–but can’t depend on this however. Just like you can’t depend on hitting. You never know what’s going to happen. Did anyone really think that Uggla and Upton were going to be completely washed up ?? Right now the team is stockpiling pitching. I wish at some point they did SOMETHING with position players.
They will at some point — but whats the point of making plays for hitting now when they’re going to be battling with the Reds for the worse team in baseball next year.
They most likely will give ABs to Bourn, Swisher, Markakis, Aybar and AJ in hopes of them adding value to later be flipped.
Also remember this, after 2016, the Braves have a good 40M off the books.
There are already a wealth of rumours surrounding them moving pitching for position players (most recently with the Cubs). Add that to the coming IFA where right now it appears they’re going to get at least one major positional prospect.
It’s simply way too early to get worked up about it.
And pay about the same money for a guy that played less games and has less speed. .
My thoughts exactly. I wonder at what point is team going to work on the offense which to me is clearly way worse than the starting or relief corps. You can always put together some relievers (minus the total disaster from last year), and the team has way more starters than they have positions (and they will be much better in 2016) but getting an effective offense? That’s a different story. Clearly having a supposed stacked line up doesn’t do it (second to the last in offense 2014) nor does slapping the ball around with few strike outs (last in offense in 2015). There is a certain dynamic that must work and AT SOME POINT, management needs to figure it out.
The Braves weren’t going to get anything good on offense for Maybin. The Braves simply wanted to unload a good chunk of his salary. The offense will come from moving Teheran, Miller, and some of young pitching prospects the Braves have acquired.
There’s too much inconsistency from the braves pitchers to be satisfied though. Still not sure if Teheran can become an ace or if he’s a 3 starter at best. You’re not going to win this season anyways, why not just amass arms and keep your favorites?
Like the trade from both sides. Braves moved an expendable piece in Maybin and got mediocre pitching in return. I’ve seen Spier pitch, not great but could be a serviceable relief pitcher in the long run
Here is the problem with Maybin as a platoon with Gose. He his RHP better than lefties and he hits them better than Gose does. Gose will be spelling Maybin in CF, not the other way around.
More likely he is playing LF.
Then the Tigers are in trouble. 2/3 of the OF below average in OPS and power numbers. You really want a power bat at the corners.
Maybe Gose is part of another trade discussion… That would make some sense to me
When I say platoon, I don’t necessarily mean that Gose would take the majority of the time. Just that they would share the position.
Obviously both could also see time in left as well, but I’ll be surprised if they roll out Maybin-Gose-JDM as the starting alignment. I tend to see KRod+Maybin as lower-cost additions that set up bigger adds in other areas.
Regarding the Maybin-Gose- JDM rollout, I would be depressed. I am afraid that is exactly what they will do and have Collins as the 4th outfielder
I can’t see Detroit carrying a 5th outfielder so unless they move one, that will be their set up.
Double Wow!
Love this trade from the Tigers perspective.
Speier was the THIRD player in the Porcello for Cespedes deal.
Krol was also the third player in the Fister deal.
Tigers took two “leftovers” and got themselves a plus defender in center or left field which is another center field in Comerica.
Maybin’s defense was terrible with the Braves.
As a primary LF, I am confident that he will be a plus defender. He had one bad defensive year.
“plus defender”
I hate to disappoint you…
I bet he plays more LF than CF.
He is insurance for Gose in CF and the primary LF.
He’ll be above average in LF. He can sub for gose, but i wouldn’t want him to start in the CF everyday
I disagree with your assessment of Krol. He was definitely a more important part of the Fister package than Lombardozzi. I’d say he was the 2nd player in the deal and arguably the first. He didn’t turn out very well and that deal was widely panned, but that doesn’t change the fact that he was the second best piece in it.
Robbie Ray was definitely the core of the Fister trade, not krol
Love this as a Tigers fan. I see him as LF, not a CF, especially in Comerica. He just doesn’t have the range anymore, but he play some very solid LF and he has a very toolsy bat.
I like this trade if he is a back up to Gose, and bench depth. There have to be better options for LF.
With Maybin they now have 4 outfielders and I don;t see them carrying 5. Not sure I like this set up. Nori Aoki would have been a much better choice and about the same cost.
It is possible to keep Maybin, in the same role as Davis, find a replacement for Cespedes in LF, and either trade Collins or keep him at AAA as depth. That would be 4 OF’s.
So who won the Padres/Braves trade?
Lol, was there a winner?
Gose and JBJ would make an interesting platoon. They are basically the same defensive player from different sides of the plate. They are also both extremely streaky on offense.
Guess Bradley has reverse platoon splits so far, but both are lefties. And JBJ didn’t show that in minors, where he was more like a neutral guy overall.
FWIW
Maybin getting traded shouldn’t come as much of a surprise. The Braves have too many OF’s getting paid starter salaries and only 3 positions to play them. Somebody was bound to go, and Maybin seemed like the most likely candidate. He’s 28, coming off a solid season, and he was going to make $8M this upcoming season. We have Bourn to play CF until Mallex is ready, which could be next year, but more likely by 2017.
The return for Maybin seems a little light, but since we’re dumping his contract on the Tigers, we were bound to get a lighter return. As for the two relievers, Speier is young and looks to have some promise. He’s not going to be the next kimbrel, but he can maybe develop into a solid 7th-8th inning option a few years from now. It’s good to have some solid relief options developing in your minor leagues. As for Krol, he’s struggled mightily since showing brief promise with the Nats, but he gives the Bravos a lefty to compete for a bullpen spot in an otherwise bleak bullpen. He’s not much to be excited about but he’s still young, so maybe he can turn his career around and give us a couple good seasons. If not, we still got a young reliever with potential and dumped Maybin’s salary. Not a great trade, but not a bad one either.
Everyone needs to stop trying to get an “upgrade at CF” because we have that already. Mallex Smith will start the year as the CFer and if his numbers hold up he will have a LOT better offense and defense than Maybin. Not to mention his speed on the bases should get him 40 SBs a year at least.
This trade as a salary dump in order to get some money for the BP.
Hey There Brandon, It’s me Richie from CBS.
I think that The Braves also want to see what kind of value they can get from Michael Bourn if he can rehabilitate himself in 2016 and be a trade deadline candidate. Much like they will do with Aybar since both are in the last years of their deals. Maybin and Bourn are both outfielders and Maybin had the more value now so he was the one jettisoned and The Braves will hope they can catch lightning in a bottle twice with Bourn.
Is Bourn expected back at the beginning of the season?
Yes, I believe so.
There is a lot of logic to that and it wouldn’t surprise me to see Bourn as the starting CFer for the first half of the year. It will depend on the moves they make the rest of the off season. If they make a few more offensive moves then I could see them going for broke.
I see no point in bringing Mallex up in 2016 now.
With Kroll having been the lefty that Ausmus used late in games, I am hoping that this indicates the Tigers are finally going to acquire a bonfire left handed reliever. I would love to see Jake McGee in Detroit, but Tony Sipp and Anthony Bastardo are both FA’s and would not cost any players. The Tigers seem like they haven’t had a solid lefty in the pen since Willie Hernandez.
To be fair, while not flashy, Blaine Hardy has been fairly consistent and effective
Very true. Now that Detroit thinks it has their outfield set for “pennies”, maybe they will spend some Dollars on Pitching.
They really have talked up Collins as their 4th man so,sadly, Maybin is all they get for the outfield. I hope I am wrong, but it doesn’t look that way.
Yes, Hardy has been. Ausmus, however, does not tend to use him late in games, when they have a lead. They need someone who can be used late when they are winning. They need flashy.
This trade irked me at first but it makes a fair bit of sense. Olivera and Markakis are gonna be trotted out every day and Bourn is a very expensive backup. He also played very well once joining the Braves (some terrible luck really broke down his conventional numbers.)
Still, with Cunningham in LA the Braves are gonna have to trust in Eury Perez(who I like a good deal), rush Mallex if they think he’s ready, or go after a defensive minded backup who could take a leadership role.
Barnes, Stubbs, Heisey or Grossman really come to mind but I’ve always wanted to see Gerardo Parra in a Braves uniform.
The Braves don’t need to waste their money on another OF. Mallex will be up at some point in 16, he already has a few months at AAA and has delivered. I could see them having him there until mid June or July in order to get the extra year of control. Bourn was never going to be traded because they think that Mallex is much like Bourn and wanted him to have Bourn as a mentor.
I really don’t see the point of bringing up Mallex in 2016.
If I thought they were gonna have a competitive team in 2017 (like they claimed) then yeah bring him up and get him used to the big leagues
But this team is so far from competitive. A generous estimate is like 2019.
Might as well wait and bring him up 2017, or even 2018.
The headline should say: “Braves Win! Tigers Acquire Camerin Maybin.” My Tigers lost this deal. Overall, Cameron Maybin has little Baseball sense.
As for the Braves, its hard not to think that this deal is part of a larger plan. The Braves need hitting but they will NEVER get the quality they need for Maybin. Ian Krol is a better pitcher than his record. Recent Tiger Managers have demonstrated how to mismanage a pen. Krol will pitch better anywhere else and has good value for the Braves in 2016 or for use in a trade package.
I look at Ian Kroll as a younger version of Phil Coke. Now that the Tigers have traded him, I am hoping it is an indication that they are finally going to get a quality Lefty reliever. I would love to see Jake McGee in trade, or Tony Sipp/Anthony Bastardo as FA’s. As to Tigers mismanagement of the bullpen, it has pretty much been they have chosen the wrong players, not that they have used them wrong. Coke and Chamberlain have failed to catch on elsewhere. It was them, not how they were used.
I have to disagree with the part about not using the pitchers wrong. While it is true that the Tigers bullpens have been weak because of the pitchers, it is also true the last two managers did a horrible job of using these pitchers as well.
Shhh, both the usage of pitchers and choices of said pitchers contributed. The Tigers management is currently saying Ausmus is the right guy for the job, so… it can’t be his fault.
During the 2013 Playoffs, the Tiger Manager had Joaquin Benoit, Jose Veres, Al Alburquerque, John Smyly, Phil Coke, Phil Coke and Rick Porcello at his disposal. All in all, not a terrible bullpen. If you watched that series and wasn’t convinced that the true problem was the Manager, you don’t watch what I watch. Phil Coke and Don King should’ve been left off the roster but were almost the feature players for the Tigers.
I’m a long suffering Tiger fan and Also like the Braves. I gotta say this looks like we traded mediocre players. Do not get excited about Kroll guys. I predict he’s out of baseball in two years. His command is about as erratic as Maybin’s glove.
Ausmus knows Maybin well, who knows wat he could do in that lineup
Don’t like from the Tigers’ perspective. Too much money for the right-handed side of a platoon. Unless they plan on moving Gose, it does not make much sense.
He is actually cheaper than Raja (with the Braves picking up $) who, for the most part, was the right-handed side of a platoon.
As a Braves fan, I am always happy to trade with The Tigers. Remember Jair Jurrjens and John Smoltz.
Hopefully this will be the revenge for that trade!! lol
Bourn CF
Aybar SS
Markakis RF
Freeman 1B
Olivera LF
Pierzynski C
Peterson 2B
Garcia 3B
It doesn’t look so bad to me. Everyone is screaming about the offense. This is the offense. I like it. Got a better lineup? Post it.
Except Fredi in his stupidity will probably bat AJ first, and Peterson 4th. 😀
Looks like a great 2010 lineup!!!
Markakis RF
Aybar SS
Freeman 1B
Garcia 3B
Pierzynski C
Olivera LF
Peterson 2B
Bourn CF
(Bethancourt vs LP
Castro vs LP
Perez vs LP)
After a week or so of simmering over the Simmons trade, I am completely spent. So to now comment on this deal, would be pointless & a waste of time on my part. So I now say bring on April 4th/16′, hosting the Nat’s & let us all see how this rebuild start’s to take shape. Hoping like hell that it is on a more than positive note, as well.
Well, technically, you shouldn’t judge it based on 2016. But wait a year for 2017.
Perhaps you misunderstood me, Mack. I am not at all saying or expecting ‘our’ team, as it is currently constructed to contend for a wildcard/playoff spot for at least 3 years. However, with all the (very significant) changes made to the team last year & thus far, this off-season, I really don’t think that it is to much for Braves fans to wish for some improvement in our overall win/loss record in 2016, do you?
What the Braves need is a 3B. Or maybe they move Aybar to 3B and bring up Albies for SS. They probably end up trading Aybar, but they still need a 3B.
They want to see if Garcia can be Gattis 2.0 and then flip him. Braves have been trading for pitching because they plan to get all of their offense out of Cuba and other international signings.
Of course they’ll trade Aybar. The first team that offers a mediocre cheap relief pitcher will get ’em
I love both of Avila’s trades. Low risk, medium upside moves. Exactly what the Tigers need to do
KRod fits that description, but the upside on Maybin is zero. It’s all ok if they’re trying to conserve cash for a #2 SP
but talking to Fister is disturbing.
Maybin in that lineup, intruiging…..
Classic Braves. Anybody on their roster can be had for a couple of middling pitching prospects
We have the third pick in the draft and I wish we would take a proven college position player like dansby Swanson who can get to the bigs in 2 years or so and contribute but we most likely will take a pitcher, per usual.
Tigers had to platoon someone with Gose, but Davis was the better option, and the fact that he would have been a tad more expensive reinforces my belief that they’re only interested in putting a minimum required talent on the field at the least possible cost. They’re now interested in Fister? That pretty much cinches it.
Based on current trade rumors, what should be the Braves remaining off season plans:
Teheran and lower pitching prospect (guy we got from tigers yesterday?) for soler. Shelby miller, mallex smith and foltyniewiscz for aj pollack. Sign David price even at $25+ million/year and Ben zobrist. Trade nick markakis back to orioles to clear salary and sign some bullpen guys
CF pollack
2B zobrist
1B freeman
RF soler
LF Olivera
3B Garcia
SS aybar (until albies is ready)
C pierzynski
Rotation: price, wisler, Newcomb, banuelos, minor? (Or sign a cheap veteran like Chris young until the pitching prospects are ready)
And we’d still have tens and tens of millions to spend and not give up any of our top tier pitching prospects
Based on current trade rumors, this should be the rest of their off-season:
Trade teheran and middling prospect for Soler. Shelby Miler, Mallex Smith, and maybe Folty for AJ Pollack. Sign David Price (overpay so he doesn’t ask for a no trade clause) and Ben Zobrist. Trade Markakis back to Baltimore for salary relief and sign some bullpen relief.
CF AJ Pollack
2B Zobrist/Peterson
1B Freeman
RF Soler
LF Olivera
3B Garcia (until Ruiz is ready)
SS Aybar (until albies is ready)
C Pierzynski
Rotation: Price, Wisler, Newcomb, Banuelos, Minor? (or sign a cheap veteran like Chris Young)
We’d still have 10s of millions in the budget to spend and wouldn’t have given up any of the top tier pitching prospects to fill out that rotation. Garcia, Aybar would be replaced by prospects once they are ready and we could sign some depth and a good catcher.