Quote:
Originally Posted by BigRedChief
My Rays fans are pissed. 
Looks like a solid deal. Looks like Martinez had more value than some people in here thought. |
Rays are trying to run down the Yankees and stay ahead of Boston.
The Yankees have Paxton and Happ in their rotation (lefties) not to mention a LH closer in Chapman. The Red Sox have Price, Sale, Rodriguez and Perez in theirs (potentially 4 more lefties).
You want to find a spot for a RH contact hitter who puts good swings on lefties but can't play defense to have significant value? My friends, I give you the AL East.
His value in a vacuum is iffy but he's actually a pretty damn good fit in TB for a team that's looking for cost effective ways to hang with two very talented teams with a lot of lefty pitching.
But yeah, your Rays fans should be pissed. And you can take this deal back to it's roots and give Mozeliak quite a bit of credit for it. Martinez was acquired from the Royals for nominal cash considerations and Arozarena was a relatively affordable international signing. Then a little luck to boot when they won the 'lottery' to get their comp balance pick in the A round after the 1st rather than the B round after the 2nd.
I mean the Cardinals gave up a player they acquired for free who simply didn't fit in the NL, a draft pick they were given due to the largess of MLB and an international signing who was largely unheralded at the time.
And in return they got a kid who was considered the best P prospect in his class during the pre-draft run-up (but scared teams off with the possibility of honoring his college commit; turns out he likely overplayed his hand) and who's pitched well since being drafted. Hell, even the C they got appears to have a hell of a stick. Reminds be a bit of Jhon Torres who they got in the Mercado deal; a 'who' of a prospect at the time but a guy who puts bat to ball with authority.