J.J. Hardy has been traded to the Twins. However, it was not for the starting pitching that many thought it would be for (Glen Perkins' name was mentioned). Instead, it came for the speedy center fielder Carlos Gomez.
Apparently this move does two things: Shows that Mike Cameron will not be back in center, and will allow Rickie Weeks to hit lower in the order.
Gomez is great in the outfield, and has stolen 59 of 80 bases in two seasons. He is arbitration eligible this year after qualifying with Super Two status, thus he will be under team control for another 4 years. Offense production has been another story. Gomez is a .246 career hitter with a .292 obp and a slugging of around .350. In Gomez's only full season ('08) he stuck out 147 times while walking only 25.
Hitting coach Dale Sveum apparently helped hitters to higher averages this past season, with marked increases from guys like Fielder, Braun, and Craig Counsell. Hopefully he can pump Carlos at least into the .260-.270 range.
So that's that. Escobar takes over at short. A young speedy center fielder (I wonder what this will do to the rise of CF prospect Lorenzo Cain). About 14 million dollars off the books (10 for Cam, Hardy was making over 4 with a raise coming) with which to spend on pitching. Interesting to see now who will be traded for pitching help (Gamel, Cain, Parra?) or if Melvin feels like he can free up the payroll enough to sign the needed help. Also on a side note it seems more and more likely that Looper will not be a Brewer next year after strong speculation that he would return. Brewers have 10 days to decide on his and Weathers' options.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment