Nate McLouth has followed the path of just about every other talented players the Pittsburgh Pirates have had lately, when he was traded to the major league Atlanta Braves. The Braves gave the Buccos three minor leaguers (Gorkrys Hernandez, Charlie Morton, Jeff Locke) in exchange for the All Star/Gold Glove centerfielder. Pittsburgh’s GM was quoted as saying the organization got three above average prospects for arguably the best player on their team. Last year the Pirates were involved in a three team trade, whereby the Dodgers got Manny Ramirez, the Red Sox got Jason Bay, and Pittsburgh acquired Andy LaRoche. I sure wish the White Sox GM Kenny Williams had been hanging around with the Pirates GM, we sure could’ve used McLouth, and we had better prospects to include in a deal.
Category: Trades
Prodigal Son Returns to San Diego
Tony Gwynn Sr broke the good news to his son, while his son was eating breakfast, the kid was traded to the San Diego Padres. Gwynn Jr grew up in San Diego, following his father all over Jack Murphy Stadium, while the elder Gwynn was starring for the Friars, on his way to a Hall of Fame career. Although the sequel is seldom as good as the original, Gwynn is hoping a fresh start will help his career.
Tony Jr bounced back in forth between the Milwaukee Brewers and the minor leagues, amassing a .248 batting average in 242 big league at bats. With Nashville this season, he was hitting .309 with a .387 onbase percentage, with 15 stolen bases. The Padres sent outfielder Jody Gerut to the Brewers in exchange for Gwynn.
“From what it sounded like, I was going to get an opportunity to play a lot. I don’t know how that’s going to work out,” Gwynn said. “I’m looking forward to coming home and putting that Padres uniform on.”
As for those inevitable comparisons with his father, Gwynn said he’s not too worried about them and that he understands he has to be himself.
“At the end of the day, it’s my job. If you go out and perform, then all of that pressure is eliminated,” he said. “At this point I think people have seen me enough to know I’m nothing like my father. It’s a different style of baseball. I’m going and playing my game.”
Jake to Chicago After All?
The ball is in Jake Peavy’s court, he has a no trade clause in his contract, the White Sox have supposedly made an offer of Aaron Poreda, Clayton Richard, & two other pitching prospects for him, now it’s up to Peavy to decide if he’d like to pitch on the Southside of Chicago. Jake almost came to Chicago last season, the Northside, but the Cubbies couldn’t quite hammer out their deal. This might be one of those trades, which helps both ballclubs. The White Sox have been struggling, but are attempting to go for it, while the Padres are rebuilding in San Diego.
Putting Peavy at the front of a Sox rotation, which features Mark Buehrle, Gavin Floyd, John Danks, and Bartolo Colon, might be just what the doctor ordered to boost our drooping White Sox. The bullpen for the Palehose has been solid, the longball will come around, the team has good defense (especially when Jayson Nix is at 2B), but small ball will never be a part of this team’s arsenal. San Diego is still a long way from competing, but getting 2007 1st round pick Aaron Poreda, the lefty throws in the high 90s, and University of Michigan product Clayton Richard, would be a step in the right direction.
For those of you who say, Jerry Reinsdorf, Kenny Williams, & Ozzie Guillen don’t want to win. What are you talking about? But there are economics around running a major league ballclub, sometimes you have to let good players go, like, Aaron Rowand, Joe Crede, Jon Garland, & Javier Vazquez. Hoping that younger, cheaper, talent can get the job done, like, Brian Anderson, Josh Fields, John Danks, & Gavin Floyd. It’s a tough business, where hard decisions need to be made.
LET’S GO WHITE SOX!!!