Analyzing the Reds-Padres Trade

The Padres traded pitcher Mat Latos to the Reds for a package of four players—top prospect first baseman/outfielder Yonder Alonso; righty starter Edinson Volquez; minor league catcher Yasmani Grandal; and minor league pitcher Brad Boxberger.

Let’s take a look at the deal for all sides.

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For the Reds:

The 24-year-old righty Latos has superstar potential. His 2011 numbers appeared to take a tumble from his 2010 work in which he went 14-10 with a 2.92 ERA. In 2010, he had an excellent walk/strikeout/innings pitched ratio of 50/189/184 and allowed only 150 hits and 16 homers in 31 starts. He finished 8^th in the National League Cy Young Award voting.

In 2011, Latos went 9-14 for the 91-game losing Padres; his ERA jumped to 3.47; his walk/strikeout/innings pitched ratio rose to 62/185/194. But his hits allowed and homers stayed consistent with 168 hits and 16 homers in those 194 innings.

The increase in hits allowed can be accounted for by the rise in BAbip from .275 to .288; the Padres defense in 2010 was appreciably better than it was in 2011 and the downgrade with the departures of Adrian Gonzalez, David Eckstein and surprisingly Miguel Tejada truly affected Latos.

The Padres intent in acquiring Jason Bartlett and Orlando Hudson was to shore up the middle-infield defense, but both players were far worse than the veteran stopgaps they had in 2010.

Brad Hawpe isn’t a first baseman and no one could’ve expected him to replace Gonzalez’s Gold Glove, but that was no consolation to Latos.

He’s been consistent at home (pitching in a cavernous ballpark) and on the road. He’ll allow a few more homers pitching in the hitter-friendly Reds home field, Great American Ballpark, but he’ll also have a better defense behind him and the Reds—second in runs scored in the NL in 2011; 1st in 2010—will be able to provide more runs than the Padres popgun offense did.

Reds manager Dusty Baker is a laid back and easy man to play for and that should suit the free-spirited Latos better than San Diego.

The Reds surrendered a large chunk of their farm system in this trade, but they’re trying to win now; the NL Central is suddenly in play again with the Brewers pending loss of Prince Fielder and likely suspension of Ryan Braun; the Cardinals loss of Albert Pujols and uncertainty with a new, neophyte manager in Mike Matheny.

Reds GM Walt Jocketty is aggressive. The Reds stumbled to 79-83 after winning the division in 2010; they needed a top-of-the-rotation starting pitcher and got one in Latos.

Alonso played the outfield in the minors, but they saw him as a first baseman—and they proved with a flourish that they aren’t trading Joey Votto; they had no place for Alonso to play. Ryan Hanigan and Devin Mesoraco were blocking Grandal; Volquez hasn’t been the same since his 17-game-winning rookie year in 2008, followed by Tommy John surgery and a PED suspension; Boxberger is a minor league righty with impressive strikeout numbers.

The Reds gave up a lot, but they got a lot in return.

Given the cost the Reds just paid in terms of players to get him, if I were Latos I would want to discuss a long term contract to buy out my arbitration years and first couple of free agent seasons as well.

They traded for him and have to keep him.

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For the Padres:

One thing you can say about Padres new GM Josh Byrnes is that he’s not afraid to make drastic and risky decisions.

The Padres have enough starting pitching to get by without Latos; their offense in 2011 was predictably rancid; their defense wasn’t what they expected; they’ve already lost closer Heath Bell and replaced him with Huston Street, who’s not as good.

They had to do something to upgrade their offense and they did with Alonso.

Grandal probably won’t be ready to start 2012 in the majors. Volquez is a question mark; Boxberger was relieving in the minors, but might be better-utilized as a starter.

This calls into question what the Padres are going to do with Anthony Rizzo. Rizzo was acquired from the Red Sox in the Gonzalez trade and has tremendous power and on-base skills; interestingly, he reminds me of Votto. He batted .141 in 153 plate appearances in the big leagues in 2011, but he’s only 22.

The Padres are desperate for offense and if that means they need to use Alonso in the outfield when Rizzo is ready to play in the big leagues, that’s what they’ll do.

The Padres aren’t in a rebuild-mode, but the NL West is a tough sell for them to contend until they find hitters and improve the defense.

They’re not done because they have a lot more to do to be respectable again.

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It’s not a cop-out when analyzing a trade to say it helps both teams if it indeed does help both teams.

The Reds had plenty of offense and needed a 200-inning starter; that he’s 24 and under team control for the foreseeable future makes Latos a good buy for them.

The Padres needed to replenish their farm system and acquire guys who can hit. They have enough pitching and could afford to part with Latos.

In short, the Reds are contenders; the Padres weren’t contending under their prior construction.

Each got what they wanted; whether the trade pans out or not, it’s a logical maneuver and an immediate win for each side.

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The Padres Generosity Of The Absurd

With the near end to the negotiations freeing Theo Epstein to join the Cubs as team president and the simultaneously anticipated and apparently agreed to deal for Jed Hoyer to the Padres to take over as Cubs GM, the differences in the machinations are stark.

The Red Sox are getting something for the right to poach their contracted employee and the Padres aren’t.

Epstein is under contract for one more season with the Red Sox and the club was being outrageous in its initial demands for compensation as they asked for Matt Garza; Hoyer is under contract to the Padres until 2014, but owner Jeff Moorad isn’t asking for anything in return.

It’s strange bordering on irrational.

And it’s making me wonder exactly what’s going on in San Diego.

Josh Byrnes is reportedly going to step right in and take over for Hoyer; he’s a qualified GM and was hired by Moorad when he ran the Diamondbacks.

Hoyer did a good job with the Padres considering the mandate he was under to trade Adrian Gonzalez and payroll constraints. The team made a shocking leap into contention in 2010, he acquired veterans Ryan Ludwick and Miguel Tejada (without giving up anything for them) to try and win; he got the jewels of the Red Sox farm system for Gonzalez; acquired top prospects for Mike Adams; and acquired Cameron Maybin for replaceable bullpen pieces.

Other deals, like the one for Jason Bartlett, haven’t worked out; and he should’ve traded Heath Bell before Bell’s yapping mouth and declining performance put the Padres in an unwinnable situation.

But he’s done the best he could with the hand he was dealt.

And he’s bailing.

There’s been an odd aura around the Padres for years.

From Sandy Alderson’s management style of cultivating factions; pushing Bruce Bochy out the door because Bochy rebelled against front office interference and he was making too much money for Alderson’s tastes; hoping that former GM Kevin Towers would get the Diamondbacks GM job in 2005 (that went to Byrnes), then putting Towers in a position where he was either going to get on Alderson’s train of dysfunction or get dragged behind it; to having Paul DePodesta operating what amounted to a spy agency independent of Towers; to the way things have developed under Moorad, it’s as if they like to have dysfunction over cohesion.

The tree of bizarreness for this is striking.

Clearly Moorad thinks a lot of the Red Sox because he hired both Byrnes and Hoyer from their positions as assistants to Epstein; what’s also clear is that Moorad prefers Byrnes as his GM. Why else would he simply let Hoyer go to another club in the same league and not ask for anything—anything at all—for him? Something?

What makes it worse is that Moorad made his name in sports as an agent.

One would assume that he knows the sanctity of a contract and why its terms shouldn’t be violated; or at least the team interested in an employee under said contract should provide something of value in exchange.

Perhaps he isn’t all that impressed with Hoyer to begin with and wanted Byrnes all along.

It’s bad business to have another club raiding his front office and for him to say, “okay, go” as if he doesn’t care one way or the other; Moorad being fine with it shouldn’t matter. No one wants to be perceived as the guy who can be stolen from without consequences; it’s a bad precedent to set.

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MLB Trades On 8.31 Means Eligible For the Playoffs

Braves re-acquire Matt Diaz for a PTBNL or cash.

Here are Diaz’s numbers against lefties in his career:

I	Split	PA	AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	BB	SO	BA	OBP	SLG	OPS	TB	BAbip	tOPS+
	vs RHP as RHB	966	880		232	38	7	14	103	51	211	.264	.320	.370	.690	326	.330	77
	vs LHP as RHB	911	840		277	52	7	29	108	44	135	.330	.369	.512	.881	430	.362	124
	vs LH Starter	1058	974	124	318	54	8	30	129	51	170	.326	.367	.491	.857	478	.368	118
	vs RH Starter	819	746	75	191	36	6	13	82	44	176	.256	.315	.373	.687	278	.317	76

Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Original Table
Generated 8/31/2011.

Here are Diaz’s numbers against the Phillies current pitchers:

	PA	AB	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	BB	SO	BA	OBP	SLG	OPS
Cole Hamels	39	38	10	2	1	1	1	1	6	.263	.282	.447	.729
Cliff Lee	12	11	4	0	0	1	4	1	2	.364	.417	.636	1.053
Kyle Kendrick	8	8	3	0	0	0	0	0	1	.375	.375	.375	.750
Ryan Madson	8	7	3	2	0	0	1	0	3	.429	.500	.714	1.214
Brad Lidge	5	4	2	0	0	2	3	0	2	.500	.500	2.000	2.500
David Herndon	4	4	1	1	0	0	1	0	1	.250	.250	.500	.750
Roy Halladay	2	2	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	.500	.500	.500	1.000
Antonio Bastardo	1	1	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	1.000	1.000	1.000	2.000
Total	79	75	25	5	1	4	10	2	15	.333	.359	.587	.946

Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Play Index Tool Used
Generated 8/31/2011.

He also hits Randy Wolf and Jeremy Affeldt very well.

Some Braves fans are voicing their concerns that manager Fredi Gonzalez is suggesting he’s going to platoon Diaz with Jason Heyward.

I understand the irritation at the treatment Heyward has received this season. But objectively, he looks like he’s playing hurt and is batting .188 against lefties; he doesn’t deserve to automatically be granted playing time, especially in a post-season situation. Diaz murders lefties and his defensive shortcomings will be mitigated by Michael Bourn‘s range and a Braves pitching staff that is leading the league in strikeouts and gets a lot of ground balls; late in games with a lead, Diaz will be yanked in favor of Heyward for defense.

In the short-term, Diaz playing against lefties instead of Heyward is a smart move.

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Giants cut some dead and expensive weight. (No, not Barry Zito.)

Say this about the Giants, they don’t let money stand in the way of doing what they think is right for the team whether they’re benching highly paid players or leaving them off the playoff roster entirely.

Today the Giants essentially severed ties with infielder Miguel Tejada and outfielder Aaron Rowand. GM Brian Sabean isn’t going to find a taker for Rowand with $12 million coming to him next year; someone (the Phillies?) will pick him up when he’s eventually released.

There might be a taker for Tejada with his contract expiring at the end of the season.

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Rangers acquire Mike Gonzalez.

It should give hope to Mets fans that the Rangers, not far removed from near bankruptcy and utter ownership disarray, are now able to buy, buy, buy to fill their needs.

Adding Mike Adams, Koji Uehara and Mike Gonzalez to their bullpen could be the difference between getting bounced in the first round and winning a World Series.

The Rangers built a super-deep farm system under Jon Daniels and they’re not afraid to use it to try and win now.

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Viewer Mail 4.14.2011

Kevin Guiney writes RE the Red Sox starting rotation and me:

The back of the bubblegum card tells me that Beckett, Lackey and Matsuzaka have all trended into 5+ ERA pitchers in the AL East. Ironically enough, it also tells me that you are an idiot and there’s a reason “we’ve never heard of you”.

Rather than present an intelligent and researched counterargument to my posting The Back Of The Bubblegum Card Tells Much, you offhandedly reference a negligible (at best) stat like ERA, and call me an idiot.

One of the most out-of-context statistics in baseball is ERA. One game can blast it into the stratosphere as evidenced by Jonathan Papelbon in 2009-2010; aside from a few games in which he got rocked all over the park his numbers were nearly identical; as a result, his ERA was two runs higher from one year to the next.

Are you able to grasp this concept?

Do you know how to examine that which you’re attempting to “discuss”? Naturally that’s contingent on calling your comment a retort to my posting instead of what it is—a simple hit and run job with no capacity to present a case for what you supposedly believe—based on ERA of course.

I suppose it’s easier to do what you did, mention a number, call me a name and recede into the sludge. Making a broad-based assertion followed by a pathetic attempt at an insult and then running away isn’t much of a challenge for me, but I’ll answer you anyway.

The mere mentioning of the AL East as if it’s the hideous beast of baseball is meaningless. Did you look at the individual records of Josh Beckett, John Lackey and Daisuke Matsuzaka before saying they all pitch to a “5+ ERA”?

Do you know how to research such a thing? It’s not difficult to find the information, but given your clear lack of skill and simmering anger stemming from the frustration of being a fan of the pitching-short Yankees, I can understand how you chose this tack.

Did you look at individual matchups? Gamelogs? Ballparks? Advanced statistics as to why the ERAs are as they are? Could you decipher this information and come to a rational and intelligent conclusion to dispute my posting that the Red Sox are going to wind up ahead of the Yankees?

It doesn’t appear so.

Do you remember when Lackey broke into the big leagues and the AL West was the powerhouse of baseball with three teams over 93 wins? Did that division not have hitters to reckon with? The 100-win A’s of Miguel Tejada (the 2002 MVP) and Eric Chavez? The last place team in the AL West that year was the Rangers who had Alex Rodriguez hitting 57 homers. Would that affect a pitcher’s ERA?

Is it simply the AL East that causes the ERA jump—by magic—or is it the relevant teams in the AL East and the players they have? Rosters are not static as evidenced by the Rays of 2011 in comparison to 2008-2010. Did you check individual circumstances with players and the Red Sox pitchers to see if they’re good or bad matchups?

Did you do any digging at all?

Are the Red Sox current struggles a permanent state of being that your allusion to the ERA implies? Or is it more than that? And would that require you doing something other than finding a number, calling me an idiot, trying—and failing—to offend me?

Here’s my advice: if you’re going to come at me, you’d better be prepared; and if you’re going to call me names in something baseball related, I’d suggest you have your position ensconced with verifiable facts and a coherent, organized presentation.

Maybe I’m wrong about you. It’s possible that you have acquired an innate understanding of baseball that Theo Epstein, Bill James and one of the best front offices in all of baseball has yet to grasp; something that says an ERA of 5+ is a clear indicator that you’re right and they’re wrong. Perhaps Theo has been blinded by the glare of his two championship rings to be able to accurately gauge the numbers any longer.

I doubt it though.

You’re overmatched beyond belief here, but are welcome to continue your masochistic exercise in making a fool of yourself. I’ll be more than happy to batter you again if you so desire.

It’ll be my pleasure.

****

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