The San Diego Padres acquired Ryan Ludwick in a three-way deal with the St. Louis Cardinals and Cleveland Indians. The Padres give up Corey Kluber, a 24-year-old AA pitcher with good strikeout stuff, and Nick Greenwood, a 22-year-old A-ball lefty from the University of Rhode Island.
Ludwick just turned 32 and is in his 8th year in the big leagues. He had a sensational year in 2008, cracking 80 XBH on his way to a .966 OPS (.406 wOBA and 5.4 WAR). His 2009 was not as impressive (.265/.329/.447), but 2010 has been much better (.281/.343/.484). He's racked up 2.6 WAR so far (2009 was only 2.0 WAR), and his .354 wOBA is right at his career average. He's a lifetime .832 OPS (117 OPS+) hitter, and he's considered an above-average fielder. He became a regular in 2007, after accumulating only about a season's worth of PA in his first four years. He had a stint on the 15-day DL earlier in the month. For perspective, only three Giants (Huff, Posey, Torres) are hitting above a .354 wOBA. The Cardinals apparently have a youngster (John Jay) ready to fill Ludwick's shoes in RF. St. Louis doesn't have that much of an offense, so it seems weird they'd let go of a good hitter. They obviously want another starter. We'll see what Westbrook can do. The real winner here is San Diego. They give up nothing and get a real bat for their lineup. He's not a game-changer, but he's a good player, and they don't lose anything on defense. He is immediately their 2nd-best hitter.
The Dodgers acquired Ted Lilly and Ryan Theriot in a "meh" deal that sends former 1st-rounder Blake DeWitt and prospects Brett Wallach and Kyle Smit to Chicago. Brett Wallach is Tim Wallach's son, he's a pitcher in A-ball. I don't think Lilly will solve the Dodgers rotation issues, but I suppose he's an upgrade over Carlos Monasterios.
--M.C.
5 comments:
I don't like our trades today too much. However, the Dodgers trades make me feel a little better. I can't believe that they just traded Joe and John away 8( At least get some bang for your buck. We trade TWO youngins for a thirty-something lefty reliever who has about a 1:1 K/BB ratio. He's like having a left handed Chris Ray (although Chris Ray is recovering from surgery and is still young and has actually pitched well in the past). The other trade for Ramon Ramirez is ehhh.
The Dodgers get Juan Pierre lite, Ted Lilly (mix Matt Cain's lack of run support with Zeet's fastball velocity and voila!, Ted Lilly), Ryan Theriot who is actually worse than the Infielder they traded, and Octavio Dotel. Octavio Dotel will help their bullpen but they paid way too much for him (their #3 prospect and a talented young arm).
It could have been worse. The Padres got Ryan Ludwick but at least I didn't hear of them getting any new starters. I think Miguel Tejada was a step back so they only marginally improved the team.
Let's just hope for the best. Go Giants!
I seem to remember Miggy Tejada getting most of the Orioles hits against us. Maybe that is what the Pads were thinking. I hope so, it shows they are running scared.
I hope John Bowker hits for the cycle or something real soon. I just love writing about ex-Giants.
I'm surprised these relatively boring moves are the topic, rather than another spectacular victory over the blue scum. I don't see Ludwick doing much and I bet the Cards know some reason why he's expendable. Unless he goes player of the month hot (which I don't see and that's the most you could hope for) he will just be another guy hitting deep fly balls in PetCo. When these Central Division guys stop hitting in Chi, Hou, etc and come out west, their power numbers tumble.
Lopez is having a good year...I hope one of these guys is a groundball type. I miss those Affeldt induced DP's.
Zito was god-like. I really like how upset he gets when they take him out. Good attitude. He is certainly winning me over, not just with his success. His ability to take the ball EVERYTIME is impressive.
I posted this before the game on Saturday. We left the house after that. See my Sunday post.
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